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For Immediate Release

Circuitous Succession Gallery 500 S. 2nd Street Memphis, TN 38103

901.229.1041 director@circuitoussuccession.com

Regardless, if you are a regular attendee of Circuitous Succession’s exhibition events or you rarely make it out to the show openings, this is the exhibition event not to miss. If curator Jason Miller were to die tomorrow, he would feel that he went out with a strong show featuring Jason Stout, Juan Rojo, Robert Moler, and Christopher St. John. However, far from a summons of dying, in addition to “Four Painters [] Four Walls” we have the life’s work in painting of Evon Gokturk in our newly opened United Picture Building Gallery located in the front space of Circuitous Succession Gallery. We also have an announcement that our focus project to launch in 2017 is The Richard Knowles Legacy Project!

Circuitous Succession Gallery has been a steady whirlwind of curation that has held numerous exhibitions featuring extraordinary contemporary artists. Simultaneously, running parallel to the Gallery exhibitions at the 500 S. 2nd downtown space, the 825 Union Avenue space has been home to expansive group exhibitions and annual survey shows such as CSE 1, 2, and 3. Now, all of these efforts by curator Jason Miller have combined towards the announcing of a new focus and dedication that will build upon the previous missions. The Richard Knowles Legacy Project is a non-profit directive that pairs Miller’s love for curating with his interest in promoting the legacy of a select few artists who left behind prolific bodies of work. It is vital that artists such as Richard Knowles not fade from the conversation of the Memphis art scene, especially, when their voices live on through their artwork. Knowles is the first artist to be represented under the legacy artists portion of the project. The other portion of the project puts focus on exhibiting the work of living contemporary artists working in diverse arrays of mediums ranging from painting and sculpture to photography and digital art. Circuitous Succession Artists are the first lineup of contemporary artists to be shown under The Richard Knowles Legacy

Event Date / Time / Location

Sunday, December 4th, 2-6pm

at Circuitous Succession Gallery

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Project, and such genuine artists are the sort Knowles would be proud to put his name behind. The RK Project is to be the primary future focus in Miller’s curatorial endeavor.

On Sunday, December 4th, 2-6pm at Circuitous Succession Gallery there will be a special exhibition event that is open to the public featuring Evon Gokturk’s “A Life’s Work” (2-4pm), Gallery Talks by Juan Rojo & Robert Moler (4-6pm).

As a celebration you are invited to attend the Gallery on Sunday, December 4th, 2-6pm. There will be vegetarian catering and a wine / beer bar. From 2-4 we will enjoy refreshment and conversation among the artworks of Evon Gokturk’s life’s work of painting. From 4-6pm Juan Rojo and Robert Moler will deliver gallery talks in the main gallery in honor of the “Four Painters [] Four Walls” closing reception.

Evon Gokturk “A Life’s Work” Corrie Evon Gokturk was born November 20, 1938, to Durward L. Simmons, Sr. and Corrie Selena Simmons in Germantown, Tennessee.  Her mother, a champion archer, died in 1944 when Evon was only 5.  Her father remarried Mary Alley Megel soon after.  Evon grew up in Germantown with her twin brother, Durward, and siblings Lynn, Bill and Cathy.   She graduated from Mabel C. Williams (Germantown) High School in 1956.  While in high school, Evon won two National Science Fairs.  In 1956, at age 17, she won for a science project titled “Three-Dimensional Periodic Chart.”    After graduating high school, Evon attended the University of Knoxville where she met Dr. Turgut K. Gokturk while Evon was studying to be a medical technician.   In 1958, at age 20, she left the United States to marry Turgut in Turkey.  While living there, they had two daughters, Angela Nuran and Diana Nevin, and Evon also was stepmother to Turgut’s first daughter, Ferda.  Evon learned how to speak Turkish and how to prepare Turkish cuisine, very quickly adapting to life in a foreign country.  They all survived several earthquakes while living in Ankara. 

The family moved back to the US in 1963, settling first in Richmond, Virginia where Dr. Gokturk practiced medicine.  Another daughter, Ayla Maria, was born.   In 1966, the Gokturks returned to Evon’s home town, Memphis, and the fourth child, son Selim

Levitt Shell, 2012 - 2014Oil on canvas,18”x24"

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Kemal, was born.  Evon’s paintings date from the 1960’s to present.  The large English Tudor family home at 2335 Massey Road in East Memphis became a showplace for gourmet dinner parties, oriental carpets, and Evon’s paintings.

The couple divorced in 1980.  Evon kept the Massey house which became a mecca of sorts for local Memphis artists, poets and musicians to gather, including Charlie Miller, Dan Spector, Jim Collins, Dan Zarnstorff, Michael Pulliam and others.  Evon went back to school and became an RN, reaching the position of head nurse at St. Francis Hospital East.   In 1985, she downsized from the Massey house to a townhouse in Cordova.   She never stopped creating her art works.   When her hands became severely compromised by illness in 2009, her painting style underwent a significant change.  Although her health deteriorated, she continues to paint. Evon’s Memphis ties: Evon’s father was the architect for the home which later became Elvis Presley’s Graceland. She'd play on the grounds of the estate when she was a little girl. Her father also designed the Germantown Charity Horse-show Arena and the Big Shoe. Evon’s brother was a Germantown police officer.  Her ex-husband was a prominent anesthesiologist, practicing predominantly at Methodist Hospital. Evon’s oldest daughter worked for Mayor Wyeth Chandler and for The Commercial Appeal newspaper.  All her children attended either Memphis State University or Christian Brothers University.

Four Painters [] Four Walls (featured gallery talks*)

Robert Moler * Rob Moler earned his MFA in painting from Radford University in 1989. A native Virginian, the artist has lived in Kentucky for over 25 years. Rob made the move to Memphis, Tennessee in February, 2016.

Rob has taught visual art on the private school and college levels, managed and operated a college art gallery, and

Nessie, 2012 Oil on canvas, 20”x30"

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directed his own retail gallery for many years which showcased the work of Kentucky artists and craftsmen. While his gallery was in operation, Rob organized over 50 regional, national and international art exhibitions for the Danville, Kentucky community. The artist’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has been included in both university and private collections.

Having earned his second master’s degree in social work in 2013, Rob has most recently been employed as a therapist in the Kentucky public school system and encouraged children and youth to explore their emotions through expressive art therapy.

Rob is the author/illustrator of a pop-up children’s book, IF I WERE A HALLOWEEN MONSTER (Little, Brown & Company), which was inspired by his three children when they were wee ones. Rob enjoys the new title of “grandpa” with the recent arrival of his first grandchild in May, 2016. He is represented in Memphis by Circuitous Succession Gallery is an inaugural artist featured as part of The Richard Knowles Legacy Project.

Juan Rojo * Juan Rojo uses painting, video, photography and printmaking to call into question traditions of representation, and conventions of the depiction of women. He creates tumultuous wrestling matches between representation and abstraction, between contemporary fragmentation and historical representation, between accepted heights of taste and intoxicating trips of high pitch colors. He employs everyday materials like scrapbook patterns, crochet or paper doilies to create naive, hyper-decorative works that merge disparate subject matters and exhibit a high-contrast between form and content, exploring the perversions of our patriarchal society trying to define and control the definition of the feminine.

Rojo was born in Valladolid, Spain in 1977. He graduated from the University of Salamanca (Spain) with a degree in Fine Arts and he obtained his Masters degree in painting and video at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has exhibited extensively in the USA and Europe and he is currently living in Memphis, Tennessee. He is represented in Memphis by Circuitous Succession Gallery is an inaugural artist featured as part of The Richard Knowles Legacy Project.

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Jason Stout Jason Stout was born in 1977.  He received his BFA in studio art from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2001 and a MFA in Painting from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2004.  Stout’s work visually deals with elements of formal and figurative abstraction, while exploring such themes as power, history, and identity, especially through the guise of southern culture.  His work exists in several private and public collections, including the University of West Georgia, Jacksonville State University, and the

University of Tennessee at Martin. During his career he has participated in several solo exhibitions and has been a part of several group exhibitions as well. Stout has won several scholarships and individual awards for his work.  He is currently an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Tennessee at Martin and is represented by REM gallery in San Antonio, Texas. Stout was recently named TAEA Higher Education Art Educator of the Year for 2015-16. He is represented in Memphis by Circuitous Succession Gallery is an inaugural artist featured as part of The Richard Knowles Legacy Project.

Christopher St. John

Christopher St. John is an American born painter. He has been professionally active as an artist for over thirteen years. His art is his preferred method of escape and his steering mechanism. He has been exhibited nationally in the United States and internationally in France, Japan, and Bulgaria. St. John’s work is in the permanent collections of two American museums. He is represented in Memphis by Circuitous Succession Gallery is an inaugural artist featured as part of The Richard Knowles Legacy Project.

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If you want to sponsor The Richard Knowles Legacy Project please contribute to one of the fundraisers below. Any amount will help support this non-profit initiative. Your support may be private as an individual or you or your organization may be acknowledged in the sponsorship credits online and in select print materials. If you wish to contribute and have a business or organization or designated party

acknowledged instead of your name, then your specified logo may be included and linked to the business or organization website or page. This project is happening regardless of the amount of monetary support raised through fundraising, but the fundraising is appreciated and all w h o s h o w s u p p o r t w i l l b e appreciated and in the gratitude of curator Jason Miller on behalf of the

RK Project! Contributions will go into the following budgetary funding lines and you may request the specific area you would like to fund. Funding areas include: Preservation of the paintings and maintenance of all materials, archival cleaning of works requiring repair from the toll of time,  upkeep of online presences, staffing solutions, storage solutions and overhead expenses, creation of signage, didactic materials, exhibition text panels Cases, vitrines, installation hardware, lighting, promotional presences and advertising. The Project also is accepting donation of bases, vitrines, wall cases, and other exhibition related materials. If you represent an institution that wishes to contribute by donating materials, please let Jason Miller know.

Contributors will receive updates demonstrating how their contributions are being used to benefit the Project. This is the official release of these project fundraisers, and so you will be among the first backers.

Thank You

Crowd Rise Goal 5000.00

https://www.crowdrise.com/the-richard-knowles-legacy-project/fundraiser/richardknowleslegacyproject

Kickstarter Goal 5000.00

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/richardknowles/the-richard-knowles-legacy-project

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Richard Knowles was a Mid-South painter with an extensive record of exhibitions, commissions, and teaching. He was a retired Professor of Art (Distinguished Emeritus) from the University of Memphis (1999). He has produced paintings, drawings, and photography for exhibition at many local, regional, and national sites. His work is represented in collections and installations in Boston, St. Louis, Kansas City (KS), Little Rock, Nashville, Memphis and several city art museums, universities and private collections. He is represented in Memphis by The Richard Knowles Legacy Project - Contact Jason Miller 901.229.1041.

Recent activity includes group exhibitions at the Memphis College of Art (2007), University of Memphis (2007), Northwest Mississippi Community College (2008), and the Sage Farm Art Contemporary Gallery, Taos, New Mexico. Recent mural commissions include Harrah's Inn and Casino in East Chicago and the Westin Hotel in Memphis. Collections include the State Museum, Nashville, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, The University of Memphis, Arkansas State University, and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

"My aim as a painter is to record the dynamic forces of nature from mostly wilderness areas. Through experiments with abstract form and color I establish visual equivalents for the energies of deserts, mountains, canyons, forests, and the sea that my wife Carol and I have been visiting for many years. I also have an interest in the complexity of nature's forms, with emphasis on the apparent chaos one sees in wilderness areas, for example, rather than the reductive wastelands and geometries in nature created by human development."

–Richard Knowles

Richard KnowlesUnderwater1984Oil on canvas14x18 inches