Draped in Velvet
Draped in Velvet
Memento Mori Gallery and Tattoo
6451 West Colfax Avenue, Suite B, Lakewood, Colorado 80214
February 2-24, 2024
Admission: free
Review by Maggie Sava
When I thought of velvet paintings, I had a particular image in my head: a flea market find of a unicorn from some 1970s teen bedroom or an Elvis portrait in a grandmother’s house. In fact, my biggest impression of them for many years involved my memories of visiting the craft store with my mother and begging her to buy me velvet coloring posters with mythical creatures or complex geometric designs clearly made for eight-year-olds who dreamed of all things Lisa Frank.
An installation view of the exhibition Draped in Velvet at Memento Mori Gallery in Lakewood. Image by Maggie Sava.
As someone drawn to kitsch (a taste that lasted, unlike the many velvet posters I never finished decorating), I was immediately excited by the theme of Memento Mori Gallery and Tattoo’s current exhibition Draped in Velvet, which features artworks by eleven artists experimenting with velvet as material and as canvas. [1] I had not previously seen this type of art represented in gallery spaces, and, obviously, I had my own misconceptions of the genre.
Roger Carver, White Roses on Velvet, 2024, oil on velvet on panel. Image courtesy of Memento Mori Gallery.
Through a sense of wit and showcasing of technical dexterity, Draped in Velvet looks towards the wider possibilities available within velvet painting, challenging its characterization as cheap souvenir art while celebrating its distinctive aesthetic qualities. [2] The artists in Draped in Velvet, selected by the Memento Mori team from an open call, show an appreciation for the medium through their attention to and experimentation with the multifaceted material. Simultaneously, many of the featured artists are not afraid to lean into the genre’s pop tradition, making for a playful, self-aware, and fun show. [3]
Lynon Aksamit, Myrtle the Turtle, 2010, oil on velvet. Image courtesy of Memento Mori Gallery.
One of the first paintings I am drawn to in the gallery is a regal portrait of what looks like a cryptid or B movie monster outfitted as an aristocrat. Lynon Aksamit’s Myrtle the Turtle (2010) is styled like a classical painting you could find in most art museums, except that Aksamit depicts a human-turtle hybrid. The shading is well-executed and the contrast between the bright figure, the dark tree in the mid-ground, and the crisp blue sky in the background creates a clean and dynamic image.
An installation view of Draped in Velvet with Lynon Aksamit’s Myrtle the Turtle on the left . Image by Maggie Sava.
Aksamit’s layering and blending of colors alongside clear, sharp lines is impressive considering how highly textured and fibrous velvet is compared to canvas. Myrtle the Turtle juxtaposes beauty with an unexpected subject, providing a humorous take on both velvet pictures that depict larger-than-life celebrities and upper-class portraiture that would hang in a family estate.
Carol Cooper, Coming Back, 2015, mixed media. Image courtesy of Memento Mori Gallery.
Carol Cooper takes a distinct approach to the theme by physically deconstructing the typical velvet painting in Coming Back (2015). Cooper uses what appears to be canvas, and pins swatches of velvet on top of it. On the canvas, Cooper depicts a dreamy landscape where a woman sleeps at the bottom of a waterfall while another woman appears to be trying to wake her up. The velvet pieces create fissures or tears in the landscape through their visual and textural interruption.
A detail view of the images on black velvet in Carol Cooper’s Coming Back, 2015, mixed media. Image by Maggie Sava.
Rather than serving as the background, the velvet causes tension in the picture plane. On the velvet, Cooper paints what appear to be photos and memories, perhaps ancestral connections. It becomes a visual marker of memory—a storytelling mechanism in an artwork that seems more narrative than any other work in the show.
Michael La Breche, There Goes Tokyo, 2024, acrylic on velvet. Image courtesy of Memento Mori Gallery.
Erica Astbury, Felix, 2024, oil and acrylic on velvet. Image by Maggie Sava.
Of course, the show would not be complete without some nods to pop culture heavyweights, like in Michael La Breche’s There Goes Tokyo (2024), which depicts the world’s most famous fictitious reptile, Godzilla, or Erica Astbury’s Felix (2024), which shows its namesake cartoon cat reclining on a crescent moon.
Jesse Neumann, Wood Nymph (Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Troll), 2024, acrylic on velvet. Image courtesy of Memento Mori Gallery.
Wood Nymph (Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Troll) (2024), one of the works in the show by Jesse Neumann, owner of Memento Mori, builds off a picture of the actress from the cult-classic film. Neumann takes advantage of the velvet’s rich, dark color to create a chiaroscuro reminiscent of Renaissance paintings, further underscored by the title that casts the actress as a mythological character common to that era.
Like Aksamit, he toys with art conventions and pulp. Without the cues from the title or the context of the film, Wood Nymph would appear as a dramatic depiction of a Greek myth. It is almost as if Neumann plays off the aesthetic to question why one type of story is more highly elevated than another.
Cami Thunder, The Scully Effect, 2024, acrylic paint on faux velvet. Image courtesy of Memento Mori Gallery.
Cami Thunder’s three-dimensional, shadowbox-style work titled The Scully Effect (2024) recreates a photo of Gillian Anderson from the famous X-Files promo photoshoot by David LaChapelle. The unreal atmosphere of the sci-fi-inspired portrait comes through not just in the rendition of the many eyes in the background and Anderson’s skin-tight latex dress, but also in Thunder’s frame that looks almost like a vintage TV screen.
Referencing the phenomenon in which Anderson’s character Dana Scully inspired greater interest in pursuing STEM among women, Thunder’s work conveys the positive social impact that pop-culture icons can have and, in doing so, refuses the idea that they are shallow or mundane subjects for art. [4] Stylistically, The Scully Effect also seems to ask: what is so wrong with a little camp?
Erin Astbury, Clown of Love, 2024, oil and acrylic on velvet. Image courtesy of Memento Mori Gallery.
The artworks featured in Draped in Velvet do not rely on the art world’s traditional qualifiers of high-brow or fine art to assert their validity. In some cases, they even manipulate them to glorify the very subject matter that for many years defined velvet paintings as common or low brow. I find myself particularly intrigued by the way the show pairs impressive skill with cheeky subject matter and titles, and it leaves me asking, where else are artists pushing this genre?
An installation view of Draped in Velvet at Memento Mori Gallery . Image by Maggie Sava.
With only one sculptural piece in the show displayed off the wall, I wonder what other departures from traditional artists working in velvet are taking or may take to expand the medium while acknowledging its roots. Draped in Velvet demonstrates an interesting and adventurous exhibition style that invites a deeper exploration of this genre, acting as a springboard for further investigation into its history and its contemporary reimaginings. [5]
Maggie Sava (she/her) is a writer based in Denver, Colorado. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and English, creative writing from the University of Denver and a master’s degree in contemporary art theory from Goldsmiths, University of London.
[1] The experimental style of Draped in Velvet pairs well with Memento Mori’s various programs provided to engage artists and community members. In addition to the circulating shows, the gallery features art and merchandise by member artists that is for sale and regular events include figure drawing sessions and film screenings. To see their event calendar, visit https://mementomorigallery.co/events.
[2] For a deeper exploration of the history and evolving cultural view of velvet paintings, see Lisa Hix’s “Velvet Underdogs: In Praise of the Paintings the Art World Loves to Hate,” Collectors Weekly, December 4, 2013: https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/velvet-underdogs-in-praise-of-the-paintings-the-art-world-loves-to-hate/;
[3] All the art in Draped in Velvet is available for purchase, with prices listed on the labels.
[4] For an explanation and study of “The Scully Effect,” see 21st Century Fox, The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and J. Walter Thompson Intelligence’s “The ‘Scully Effect’: I Want To Believe…in Stem,” accessed February 13, 2024: https://seejane.org/research-informs-empowers/the-scully-effect-i-want-to-believe-in-stem/
[5] For more examples of how artists are revisiting and recasting the narratives around velvet art, particularly through cultural traditions, see Sarah Rose Sharp, “The Rich Chicano Tradition of Black Velvet Paintings,” Hyperallergic, April 12, 2018: https://hyperallergic.com/436744/chicano-black-velvet-paintings-mexicantown-detroit-elena-herrada/
