In November, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft Donor’s Circle visited the magnificent art collection of Lexington Mayor Jim Gray. Mayor Gray’s home is situated in the Gratz Park Historic District, one of the most beautiful areas of Lexington, Kentucky.
Lexington Artist Louis Zoellar Bickett offered us a tour through Mayor Gray’s well-appointed rooms, several of which feature Bickett’s assemblages and containers. In the entrance hall, we admired a large black-and-white piece entitled Welsh Oaks (#3) (1998) by Vancouver School photographer Rodney Graham.
Our group especially enjoyed becoming acquainted with the work of Lexington-area artist Mark Goodlett, who assembles ornate picture-boxes out of wadded paper while lying in bed.
Mayor Gray’s residence houses work by many world-renowned contemporary artists, such as Joseph Kosuth, Yinka Shonibare, Kara Walker, Richard Long, Vik Muniz , Claes Oldenburg, Yayoi Kusama, Robert Mapplethorpe, Gerhard Richter, and Fred Tomaselli. Bickett informed us that Mayor Gray regularly rotates pieces in the house with others from his vast collection.
Great favorites amongst this art loving group were two pieces by English artist and Turner Prize winner Rachel Whiteread. While viewers may be familiar with Whiteread’s plaster casts of vacant/negative spaces, the sculpture Untitled (Trafalgar Square Plinth) (1999) surprises with its use of resin to create a ghostly double.
Another of Whiteread’s works, “Switch” (1994), creates a more subtle, playful effect.
On that perfect fall day, the group ventured on to galleries around town. We are grateful to Mayor Gray and to Bickett for their hospitality. Please join us on a future trip!
–Leslie Millar
KMAC Board Member
photos courtesy of Jody Howard
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