The Naked Truth

806 art gallery to showcase nude artwork

By Leslee Rasco
The Amarillo Independent

February is infamous for its cold weather and a lovesick holiday.

Photo by Ralph Duke Body Language: Mardy Lemmons, with one of his own paintings in the background, talks about the all-nude art show scheduled for next month at The 806 coffee shop on Sixth Avenue.

This year might be different.

Ditch your coat and hat, leave your layers on your doorstep.

And spew your anger at romanticism for a naked good time at The 806, a coffee shop on Sixth Avenue.

The venue will host local artists showcasing some of their best nude artwork in The 806 Group Nude Show.

Mardy Lemmons, a local artist and the exhibit's organizer, has been painting since 1994. His primary focus is on expressive figurative art, including nudes.

"I don't think of myself just doing nudes, though," Lemmons said, "(But) you are able to come across with feelings of vulnerability and emotion with nudity."

Lemmons' paintings won't be the only pieces with vulnerability and emotion. Twenty-eight other artists plan to have works in the show of various media including sculpture, glass art, mixed media, photography and ceramics.

Artist styles will range from classical pastel nudes to linear, graffiti-inspired works, Lemmons said.

"These are artists that don't necessarily always show nudes but they do them, they paint them, they have them in their studios," he said.

Although some would expect the art shows at The 806 to bring in a young crowd, hipsters of all ages are interested in the art shows, Jason Barrett, the owner of The 806, said.

More people show up to the first Thursday art openings, he said.

With young and old in tow, Lemmons said, "I forget that not everybody knows that art nudes are a legitimate art."

Barrett wants to set his coffee shop and this show apart from the Amarillo mainstream.

"My expectations for the show are to do something different. You don't see a lot of this around town," Barrett said.

As part of The 806's against-the-grain outlook of the lovesick holiday, Slamarillo will perform an anti-Valentine's Day poetry slam with an unloving look at the hearts and flowers day.

Slamarillo is the local group that participates in poetry slams, a form of art in which participants recite about three minutes of original work to be judged by the audience.

The art show's opening will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7, and will be open to the public with a performance by HypGothika, a tribal goth belly dance group.

The slam poetry show will be at 9 p.m. Feb. 14.

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Posted: January 31, 2008