If network is the key word for the recent era, then the new show going up at the CreateHere gallery is Chattanooga's homage to a new way of looking at the world. The ten artists showing their work at 55 East Main this month make very different work, and the only theme unifying them is that they each know an artist in Chattanooga's Southside.

"RESPECT" shifts the spotlight from the Southside's own talented artistic community to the artists they look up to. Creative people bow to each other. Whether conspicuously or inconspicuously, the mode of interaction between artists is to nod and take nods lest they fall into artistic myopia. The pieces going up in the gallery next week are individual capsules representing the broader network to which these artists belong.

Chattanooga sculptor John Petrey writes about his invitee, Tom Wargin, "I love that Tom doesn't hold back in his work, he propels the subject forward, careening into the viewer's space almost as if to force the viewer back a few steps to safety." The hope is that the reverence the artists show for each other will be conveyed to those who come to see the show.

Southside artists respect these national artists, who respect and are respected by other artists, nationally and internationally. But the conversation doesn't end there. We are all engaged in an ongoing share and share-alike of ideas and tools. Writes researcher Allison Fine, "the result (of this kind of networking) is a powerful array of communities and causes that operate on a scale many believe is unprecedented."

Banners hang in key places around town where you, an artist with your own method and your own arena, can write about who you respect and why. These banners and the comments you write will be showcased on Friday at the opening.

"RESPECT" is a celebration of the artistic community that finds its center on the Southside of Chattanooga. Pieces have traveled from Connecticut, Atlanta, North Carolina, Miami, Wisconsin, Washington, DC, and Chicago. Many of the artists will be coming into town themselves for the opening reception on Friday, July 18. Come to meet them, hear music by folk musicians The Binkley Brothers, and eat snacks from Niedlov's Breadworks.

A complete list of artists follows.

What: "RESPECT" opening reception
Where: CreateHere Studio, 55 East Main Street, Chattanooga
When: 5-7 p.m., Friday, July 18, 2008
Contact: Jan Chenoweth, Curator, at jan@createhere.org or (336) 953-5657

Amy Clyde invited;
CAROLINE ALLISON 2 photographs
Nashville, TN

Mimi Herbert invited
JACK BOUL 2 monoprints (Work owned by Mimi Holmes)
Washington, DC

Roger Halligan invited
KATIE CLAIBORNE 5 small paintings on paper
Greensboro, NC

John Tallman invited
BILL GUSKY 2 mixed media
Canton, CT

Jessica Westbrook invited
TIFFANY HOLMES Chair of the Department of Art video and Technology Studies at the School of
the Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, IL

Jan Chenoweth invited:
ROSS HOLT 2 photographs
Asheboro, NC

Ron Buffington invited
MICHAEL HOWARD 2 paintings
Milwaukee, WI

Helen Johnson invited
LUCINDA LINDERMAN installation with video

Jan Chenoweth invited
ANN ROWLES 3 hanging sculptures
Atlanta, GA

John Petrey invited
TOM WARGIN 2 sculptures
Menomonee Falls, WI

Posted by Charlotte