Happy Birthday Elvis!

 

Gregg Chadwick

 “Suspicion (Elvis Presley)” 

36”x36” oil on linen 2016

“Gregg Chadwick takes the opposite stance in the oil-on-linen 'Elvis Presley (Suspicion).' Here, a familiar depiction of the singer is rendered in blurry, shadowy lines, as if his memory is slowly fading and becoming the stuff of rumor and legend tending toward oblivion.”- Fredric Koeppel, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee

Since my artwork was included in a series of Elvis themed exhibitions at the L. Ross Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee, I have been reading and re-reading Ray Connolly’s book Being Elvis: A Lonely Life which deftly examines Elvis’ life through the lens of Memphis in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Childhood poverty and class aspirations spurred Elvis on in a way that left no room for error in his art but left his life dangerously open to misfortune and eventual tragedy.At the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in Tupelo, Mississippi on September 26, 1956, Elvis played a powerful, homecoming show in the town where he was born in a two-room shack 21 years before on January 8, 1935. Elvis had left Tupelo when he was thirteen. In the interim, Elvis had become Tupelo’s most famous person. As Ray Connolly recounts in Being Elvis: A Lonely Life : “Elvis put on a special show that day…It was staged outside the fairgrounds in front of a large tent, and, as he sang in the afternoon show, he could see over in the background, a long freight train rolling past.” Starting on that day, as the concert closed, Elvis and the band slipped off stage through a trapdoor. No encores that day nor in the future. Instead an announcer would express over the PA system that “Elvis has left the building.”

Gregg Chadwick 

Elvis Wearing Headphones

monotype, oil, and pastel on paper 14"x11" 2017

Gregg Chadwick 

Memphis Train - Elvis with Portable Record Player 

oil on linen 40"x30" 2016

Shake, Rattle, and Roll Opens Tonight in Memphis

   

Gregg Chadwick

Pink Cadillac (Elvis at Graceland)

24”x30” oil on linen 2017 

Shake, Rattle and Roll, L Ross Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee

        August 3 - 25

        Opening Reception: Friday, August 3, 2018.   6 – 8 pm

L Ross Gallery continues the August celebration of all things Elvis with an exhibition of contemporary southern artists titled "Shake, Rattle and Roll."

The exhibition opens Friday August 3 and continues through August 31 with a rockin’ reception honoring the artists Friday, August 3, 6 to 9 pm, with music provided by Memphis’ DJ Leroy, tribute artists welcome!

L Ross Gallery invited several artists to interpret Elvis’ magic in their unique variety of voices and mediums. Diverse examples include Kurt Meer’s stunning oil portrait of Elvis, Matthew Hasty’s oil on canvas of the Graceland Media Room, Jeni Stallings’ dreamy encaustic work, California artist Gregg Chadwick’ Pink Cadillac and the mixed media folk art of Karen Bottle Capps and Sloane Bibb.
http://lrossgallery.com/exhibitions/shake-rattle-and-roll/

GALLERY TALK:
with Rhodes Professor Dr. Kenny Morrell
"Elvis as Hero" 
Saturday, August 4, 11:30 am

Fun exhibit of Elvis-themed art at @lrossgallery -- "One in a Million."

Fun exhibit of Elvis-themed art at @lrossgallery -- "One in a Million." Review here >> https://t.co/UM4fgaUKUZ pic.twitter.com/EehKYQ3ug3

— GoMemphis (@GoMemphis) August 9, 2016

“Gregg Chadwick takes the opposite stance in the oil-on-linen "Elvis Presley (Suspicion)." Here, a familiar depiction of the singer is rendered in blurry, shadowy lines, as if his memory is slowly fading and becoming the stuff of rumor and legend tending toward oblivion.”
- Fredric Koeppel, The Commercial Appeal

Off to Memphis!

by Gregg Chadwick

Gregg Chadwick

Elvis Presley (Suspicion)

36”x36” oil on linen 2016

In the Exhibition:
One in a Million 

L Ross Gallery

August 2 - 27, 2016

Reception 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, August 5, 2016. 

5040 Sanderlin, Suite 104, Memphis, Tennessee 38117

901-767-2200  

Gregg Chadwick Artist Talk on Feb 27th 2016 - Last Week for Mystery Train at Sandra Lee Gallery and More Studio Notes from Gregg Chadwick - Winter 2016

  I reorganized my paints yesterday after fervent months in the studio painting the work for Mystery Train. Tubes of oil paint squeezed into empty twisted shells and stray caps marked only by a tell tale ring of color  were discarded. Brushes, newly cleaned, stand at attention ready for new work. A clean glass palette now sits on top of a used stack of brightly daubed surfaces. Painting trains seems to bring daily reminders of change, of process, of journeys. When a train or plane turns around for its trip back home, there is little time for introspection. Vehicles are cleaned, engines refueled, often a new crew is added - new passengers and new travels await. As Mystery Train prepares to depart San Francisco, I ask you to celebrate with me at a closing party and artist talk on February 27th at the Sandra Lee Gallery (details below) if you are in the Bay Area. I have listed below a series of events, exhibitions, press, and more that give a glimpse into the excitement around Mystery Train and my art. Thanks for taking the time to look at and ponder my paintings!
Hope to see you soon. - Gregg Chadwick

1. Artist Talk and Closing Party for Mystery Train on Saturday, February 27, 2016 2-4pm 

      Santa Monica-based artist Gregg Chadwick  has been painting for three decades. His current studio is an old airplane hangar where the flurry of takeoffs and landings on the runway outside seems to creep into Chadwick’s paintings as he explores movement and travel within his light-filled paintings.  His current series of paintings is entitled ‘Mystery Train’ and evokes the railways of America that Chadwick says run in his blood. His grandfather worked as a fireman, stoking coal in steam engines before advancing to train engineer on the Jersey Central Line. Chadwick often says that family gatherings brought the rhythms of the rails home. The sounds of railroad workers echoed in the music that Chadwick’s relatives played in the shadows of the train lines outside. For Chadwick and many others such as writer Greil Marcus, filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, and musicians Junior Parker and Elvis Presley, the enduring mythos of America and its legacy is wrapped in the blues notes of the song ‘Mystery Train’. Chadwick will speak about these influences and how they shaped his current paintings.

       Sandra Lee Gallery 

      251 Post Street, Suite 310

San Francisco, CA 94108

415.291.8000

art@sandraleegallery.com

2. Gregg Chadwick's 'Mystery Train' Celebrates the Rhythms of the Rails! by Kathy Leonardo
Read more about Mystery Train in the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-leonardo-/gregg-chadwicks-mystery-t_b_9203570.html?utm_hp_ref=arts&ir=Art

3. Much thanks to Alan Bamberger for his photos and comments on the "Mystery Train" opening at Sandra Lee Gallery on Feb 4 -
Sandra Lee Gallery: Mystery Train - Gregg Chadwick.
Comment by AB: "Dreamy dynamic portrayals recall the heyday of rail travel and the nostalgia it evokes."
More from Alan at: http://artbusiness.com/1open/020416.html

4. Mystery Train: Influences and Inspiration (Videos and More) http://www.greggchadwick.com/Gregg_Chadwick/Mystery_Train__Influences_and_Inspiration_%28Videos_and_More%29/Mystery_Train__Influences_and_Inspiration_%28Videos_and_More%29.html

5. A selection of Gregg Chadwick’s paintings from the Mystery Train series was exhibited at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair from February 11-14 in the Sandra Lee Gallery booth. 
(Photo by Eric Minh Swenson) Gregg spoke at the booth on February 12, 2016. Jersey Rain (Across the Tracks) was illustrated in the catalog and Gregg’s talk was featured as well.
http://www.palmspringsfineartfair.com/gregg-chadwick/

6. A solo exhibition of Gregg Chadwick’s paintings entitled Cities in Time, hangs through March 2016 at Vedder Price in Century City, California.

7. Gregg Chadwick’s painting Pigalle is featured on the cover of the latest issue of
    Black Fox Literary Magazine.
http://www.blackfoxlitmag.com/

8. A Balance of Shadows: Gregg Chadwick's Paintings 
    Authored by Kent Chadwick
    Hardcover – February 6, 2016
     Available Online at Amazon