An oral history project chronicling the stories of the visual arts in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis Material is a podcast celebrating the personal histories, intimate stories, and the studio practices of some of the people who help shape the creative landscape of our city.
From Carrol’s great website (https://www.carrolhardingmctyre.com/):
In 1969, Betty Crocker (http://www.bettycrocker.com/menus-holidays-parties/mhplibrary/parties-and-get-togethers/vintage-betty/the-story-of-betty-crocker) and Donald Judd (http://www.juddfoundation.org/) had an affair. Their brief but significant union produced one child – me. Like any offspring, I have absorbed certain characteristics from my parents and those traits tend to manifest themselves in my work.
My work is object based and idea driven. The material, the size, the imagery all follow. My approach is a clean visual organization with a sampling of American kitsch. It is seriously playful and occasionally humorous.
My intent is to meander in and out of the human experience, creating work that takes a sociological perspective.
2 Oct 2026
Roy Tamboli Part 2
Roy Tamboli is an artist based in Memphis, Tennessee, best known for large-scale abstract and figurative works in bronze and steel, as well as paintings and experimental, conceptual pieces across diverse media. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the Mitsukoshi Museum of Art in Japan, and Galerie Enrico Bucci in Chile. His pieces are held in public and private collections, including those of Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art; the Mississippi Museum of Art; the Hyde Foundation; Nortel Corporation; B.B. King; John Lee Hooker; and Harrah’s Entertainment. In 1992, he co-founded Delta Axis, a nonprofit connecting the visual arts communities of Memphis and New York.
The grandson of Italian immigrants who settled in the Mississippi Delta, Tamboli was shaped by Catholic ritual and Memphis gospel in a city where spiritual richness and social turmoil exist side by side. He often begins his sheet paintings abroad and finishes them in his Memphis studio, merging disparate energies into single works. Since his 1989 series Ancient Satellite Fragments, his work has questioned human consciousness and contact with otherworldly neighbors. Largely self-taught, he traces his real education to foundries, studios, museums, and remote cultures across six continents—beginning at 23, when he talked his way into the stacks at Windsor Castle to draw from boxes of uncovered Leonardo da Vinci drawings.
In today’s episode I mention this NYT The Daily episode (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/18/podcasts/the-daily/ufo-pentagon-program.html) and reference this podcast (https://radiolab.org/podcast/91520-space) from Radiolab (https://radiolab.org/).
25 Sept 2026
Roy Tamboli Part 1
Roy Tamboli is an artist based in Memphis, Tennessee, best known for large-scale abstract and figurative works in bronze and steel, as well as paintings and experimental, conceptual pieces across diverse media. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the Mitsukoshi Museum of Art in Japan, and Galerie Enrico Bucci in Chile. His pieces are held in public and private collections, including those of Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art; the Mississippi Museum of Art; the Hyde Foundation; Nortel Corporation; B.B. King; John Lee Hooker; and Harrah’s Entertainment. In 1992, he co-founded Delta Axis, a nonprofit connecting the visual arts communities of Memphis and New York.
The grandson of Italian immigrants who settled in the Mississippi Delta, Tamboli was shaped by Catholic ritual and Memphis gospel in a city where spiritual richness and social turmoil exist side by side. He often begins his sheet paintings abroad and finishes them in his Memphis studio, merging disparate energies into single works. Since his 1989 series Ancient Satellite Fragments, his work has questioned human consciousness and contact with otherworldly neighbors. Largely self-taught, he traces his real education to foundries, studios, museums, and remote cultures across six continents—beginning at 23, when he talked his way into the stacks at Windsor Castle to draw from boxes of uncovered Leonardo da Vinci drawings.
Who has been a guest on Memphis Material
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Tom Lee
Brittney Boyd Bullock
Nancy Cheairs
Fredric Koeppel
Lauren Kennedy
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 35 / 100
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Quality
57
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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