Greely Myatt

b. 1952, Aberdeen, MS
To state my approach to the making of art in the simplest and most direct manner, I have used these – the hand, the eye, the heart and the mind.
Big Star
Big Star

Greely Myatt is widely recognized for his whimsical sculptural objects and monumental installations made from found materials. Engaging with surrealism, pop, folk and outsider art, he has developed a compelling visual language of truly reimagined but recognizable forms. His works provoke a dialogue with the viewer around a plethora of relationships, connections, and effects among genre and style, form and content, scale and site, identity and place, time and space, art and its history, and concepts of art and craft. Myatt explores these exchanges through continuous reinterpretations of literal motifs— like the comic strip and speech bubbles— and other more conceptual frameworks. His choice of materials create initial accessibility and personal connection for the viewer. Found objects such as flooring, neon lights, metal scraps, discarded signage, and cookie tins feel familiar, but enigmatic. Elements like plants, quilts, and rugs reference his Mississippi childhood, while abstract elements such as light, air, negative space - even movement - function as tangible content. Throughout a broad diversity of works, his materials and themes play multiple roles as subject, concept, form, method and/or media. Within these intersections and re-arrangements, we experience honest conversation with seemingly infinite limits.

Greely Myatt was born in Mississippi, teaches in Memphis, and lives and works in West Memphis, AR. He received an MFA from the University of Mississippi and a BFA from Delta State University, Cleveland, MS, and is a long-time professor of art at The University of Memphis. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the United States, Europe and Japan. He has received grants and fellowships from the Tennessee Arts Commission, The University of Memphis, The University of Georgia, Alternate Roots, Atlanta, and received the Mississippi Arts and Letters Visual Arts Award in 1994. In 2009, a twenty-year retrospective of his works was exhibited across Memphis in nine museum and gallery venues. His work has been reviewed in Art in America, ArtNews, Sculpture Magazine, ArtForum, Art Papers, Number, Juxtapoz and American Quilter. His work is in numerous private collections and the following public collections, including: City of Memphis; City of Portland, ME; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art; Memphis Cook Convention Center; Mississipi Museum of Art, Jackson; Tennessee State Museum, Nashville; Tennessee Brewery, Memphis; Tennessee Interstate Sculpture Project, Hartford; and Urban Art Commission, Memphis.

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Big Star
Big Star
Big Star (alternate view)
Big Star (alternate view)
Star (curtain rods)
Star (curtain rods)
Star (angle tail)
Star (angle tail)
Star (file)
Star (file)
Star (blue, black and white)
Star (blue, black and white)
Star (blunt)
Star (blunt)
Star (quarter round with neon)
Star (quarter round with neon)
Star (on block)
Star (on block)
Star (barbwire)
Star (barbwire)
Star (pins)
Star (pins)
Star (arc)
Star (arc)
Star (plastic straw)
Star (plastic straw)
Star (bronze rod)
Star (bronze rod)
Star (with vine)
Star (with vine)
Star (firecracker 2)
Star (firecracker 2)
Star (tubes)
Star (tubes)
Star (pins)
Star (pins)
Dancing Star
Dancing Star
Dancing Star (alternate view)
Dancing Star (alternate view)
Cosmic Dust (install)
Cosmic Dust (install)
Cosmic Dust (install)
Cosmic Dust (install)
Cut Flowers
Cut Flowers
High Voltage
High Voltage
Wear Orange
Wear Orange
Flowers For U
Flowers For U
Kataegis
Kataegis
Such as the Wind-Flower
Such as the Wind-Flower
Broadway Boogie Woogie
Broadway Boogie Woogie
Small Talk
Small Talk
Talking (More)
Talking (More)
Talking
Talking
Talkinbg (Lily)
Talkinbg (Lily)
Talking (Zipper)
Talking (Zipper)
Big Star
Big Star
steel and neon, 168x216x288
2023
Big Star (alternate view)
Big Star (alternate view)
steel and neon, 168x216x288
2023
Star (curtain rods)
Star (curtain rods)
metal curtain rods and rivets, 25x25x4
2024
Star (angle tail)
Star (angle tail)
steel and aluminum angle and rivets, 77x27x17
2024
Star (file)
Star (file)
metal folder file, bottle rockets, aluminum, ruler, wood, rope and bamboo, 19x22x14
2024
Star (blue, black and white)
Star (blue, black and white)
electrical wire, 8x9
2024
Star (blunt)
Star (blunt)
cardboard, 4x4
2024
Star (quarter round with neon)
Star (quarter round with neon)
reclaimed wood, steel and neon, 116x80x4
2023
Star (on block)
Star (on block)
plastic, copper, steel, broken neon tube, match. bamboo and wood, 66x17x6
2023
Star (barbwire)
Star (barbwire)
steel, barbwire and wire, 19x19x11
2024
Star (pins)
Star (pins)
pearl tipped stick pins, 2.75x2.75
2024
Star (arc)
Star (arc)
woode, steel adn cable clamp, 15x10x1
2024
Star (plastic straw)
Star (plastic straw)
plastic straw, oak, zip tie, paper and wire, 11x10x1
2024
Star (bronze rod)
Star (bronze rod)
bronze, 12x12x.25
2023
Star (with vine)
Star (with vine)
tree branch with vine, nail, wood and metal, 69x39x13
2024
Star (firecracker 2)
Star (firecracker 2)
firecrackers, wire, 10x11
2024
Star (tubes)
Star (tubes)
metal tubes, wire, 8x8x1
2024
Star (pins)
Star (pins)
pearl tipped stick pins, 2.75x2.75
2024
Dancing Star
Dancing Star
aluminum, air, Japanese cedar, 180x144x36
2024
Dancing Star (alternate view)
Dancing Star (alternate view)
aluminum, air, Japanese cedar, 180x144x36
2024
Cosmic Dust (install)
Cosmic Dust (install)
mixed mediums and sizes
2024
Cosmic Dust (install)
Cosmic Dust (install)
mixed mediums and sizes
2024
Cut Flowers
Cut Flowers
cut and polished aluminum, air on cherry, 39x14x4.5
2023
High Voltage
High Voltage
found object, 33.5x9x2.75
2023
Wear Orange
Wear Orange
painted and cut aluminum, found wood, bricks and air, 103x73x12
2022
Flowers For U
Flowers For U
cut and painted aluminum, air and concrete base, 87x24x4
2022
Kataegis
Kataegis
reclaimed metal and air, 33x36x2
2022
Such as the Wind-Flower
Such as the Wind-Flower
reclaimed metal and air, 57x90x3
2022
Broadway Boogie Woogie
Broadway Boogie Woogie
reclaimed wood and steel, 45x43
2018
Small Talk
Small Talk
reclaime wood and steel, 11.5x10x1.25
2014
Talking (More)
Talking (More)
reclaimed wood and steel, 20x14x1.5
2018
Talking
Talking
reclaimed wood and steel, 19.75x17x2
2018
Talkinbg (Lily)
Talkinbg (Lily)
recalimed wood and steel, 17x19.5x2
2006
Talking (Zipper)
Talking (Zipper)
reclaimed wood and steel, 11x24x2.75
2006

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