"WUNDERKAMMER"
the comic and sideshow art of
J.D. Wilkes
Artist's reception Thursday, March 23rd,
6:30 to 10:30pm.
Show is 4 days only; closing on Sunday, March 26th.
Alarm Magazine recently featured Wilkes' elaborate graphite sketches,
describing him as the "Ambassador
of Genuine Traditional Southern Culture" and compared his unique
storytelling abilities to that of other
Southern voices such as William Faulkner, Johnny Cash and Muddy
Waters.
Wilkes is also the artist behind “Legend has It...” the American
folklore-based comic strip published
weekly by Nashville’s “The Tennessean.” Samples of the comic
will hang alongside Wilkes’ large-scale,
eye-popping sideshow banner art. Several of these “freak
show”-style banners have been featured as
the album cover art for Wilkes’ band th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers.
J.D. Wilkes is also a founding member of the Plowhaus Artists' Coop.
Borrowing from the title of one of his
other comic strips ("Urban Plowboy") for the first part of
our name, J.D. Wilkes and Franne Lee started
what has become to be known as "that intriguing East Nashville
creative experiment."
Without J.D.'s intuitiveness and grass roots background, the Plowhaus
would not have been conceived in the way it was.
We owe a lot to J.D. in this 5th anniversary year for our beginnings.
So come out and enjoy an evening of music, beer and
the left-of-center visual stimulation of J.D. Wilkes'
WUNDERKAMMER.
Show Hours:
Thursday March 23, 6:30 to 10:30
Friday March 24, 5:pm to 7pm
Saturday March 25, 11am to 6pm
Sunday March 26, 1pm to 6pm
PUBLICATIONS:
Nashville City Paper: Sideshow banner exhibit marks Plowhaus’ fifth anniversary
"The co-founders named the cooperative Plowhaus, drawing the word “plow” from Wilkes’ published comic strip Urban Plowboy, and “haus” from Bauhaus, a German artist cooperative made famous in the 1920s and 1930s. The synthesis was to convey the ideals of the German success, but also to hint at Southern roots."
From the Nashville Scene Critics Picks:
"J.D. WILKES Plowhaus Artists Cooperative opens “Wunderkammer: The Comic and Sideshow Art of J.D. Wilkes” with an artist reception 6:30-10:30 p.m. Thursday, March 23. A genuine Kentucky Colonel, Wilkes brings the same cockfight-on-crack fury to his elaborate graphite sketches that he does to his performances with his group, Th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers. His “freak show” banner art has graced the band’s CD covers and will be on display, along with samples of Wilkes’ “Legend Has It...” comic strip. The show closes four days later on Sunday, March 26. —JOE NOLAN"
LINKS:
Check out the th' legendary shack shakers website
and
th' legendary shack shakers myspace