Originally from Amory, Mississippi, Greely Myatt lives and works as a sculptor in Memphis. He received his BFA from Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi in 1975 and his MFA from the University of Mississippi, in Oxford in 1980. Myatt joined the University of Memphis Department of Art in 1989. He teaches sculpture at the U of M and is currently the assistant chair of the department of art. Myatt’s sculptures and installations have been 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, and Alternate Roots, Atlanta. Myatt is the recipient of the 1994 Mississippi Arts and Letters Visual Arts Award, and was an exchange artist to Israel in 1998. “Cloudy Thoughts” a temporary project for UrbanArts, Memphis, was selected as among the best in the nation in the prestigious Public Art Year in Review, which is assembled by the Washington, D.C.-based Americans for the Arts organization. He is represented by David Lusk Gallery in Memphis, Sandler Hudson Gallery in Atlanta.

Five sculptures by Greely Myatt installed in the gardens at The Dixon will be on view through November 14, 2009. They have been created over the past three years; however, they draw inspiration from earlier pieces and experiences. All five works play with a mixture of abstraction and realism, or, at least, stylized realism. The most recent pieces reference "sweets," deriving their forms from cakes, pies and ice cream cones. Two earlier works are more abstract in form, but both are inspired by observations of natural occurrences.

"In my work I have consistently attempted to combine art historical references with vernacular influences. As a native of the rural south I have a tremendous respect for work that is made by hand and guided by the heart and eye. However, as an educated artist, I understand the importance of the mind in the process. To state my approach to the making of art in the simplest and most direct manner, I have tried to use these-the hand, the eye, the heart, and the mind-to shape my work in both the making and the viewing."