It could be argued that few acts or organizations have done more to elevate Chattanooga’s art scene to where it is today than the Shaking Ray Levi Society.
Founded by Bob Stagner and the late Dennis Palmer and the late Julian Norwood, the organization has for the last 30 years pushed the envelope as far as it could go in nearly all aspects of performance and visual art. In that time, the founders produced or presented film, visual, music and spoken-word events, almost all with an experimental focus.
In some cases, Palmer and Stagner were featured performers as the Shaking Ray Levis, playing improvisational music. In others, they served as hosts.
A retrospective looking back at the organization’s three decades of influence will take place at Apothecary Gallery on McCallie Avenue today through Monday, Oct. 15-19. The multimedia exhibition includes videos, photos, marketing posters and music.
Tom Landis, an assistant district attorney, met Palmer and Stagner in junior high school and has been involved as a fan and board member since the beginning. He will give a closing talk on Monday.
The works could be described as avant-garde, or just plain weird, depending on your own tastes. Their influence would fall under the rubber-band theory of change, where if you stretch a rubber band as far as it will go, it will snap back, but never exactly as it was before.
That’s what the Shaking Ray Society did for arts in Chattanooga, Landis believes.
“They’ve blown the lid off of it,” he says. “They made it a town where a lot of artists are now comfortable here. They brought things to their hometown that would never have been here. A lot of it was way out of the mainstream, so they didn’t have huge crowds, but there is value in that. Some shows did have huge crowds. They expanded it and took it out of the box and gave it a true freedom.”
Among the artists who have appeared at SRLS shows over the years are improvisational guitar pioneer Derek Bailey, singer/songwriter Cat Power, musician/storyteller Laurie Anderson, NPR correspondents Andrei Codrescu and David Sedaris, Emmy Award-winning artist Wayne White and folk artist Howard Finster.
“The theory was to present anything that wasn’t getting outside airtime and didn’t break any laws,” Landis says.
Landis credits the Shaking Ray Levi Society for another important addition to the the art scene – actually a three-for- one deal.
“They brought Ann Law and Bruce Kaplan to town, so we have them and CoPAC [Contemporary Performing Arts of Chattanooga, the organization behind Barking Legs Theater], because of Shaking Ray.”
Kaplan, who has produced numerous concerts at Barking Legs, has said he and Law, his wife, relocated from New York to Chattanooga more than 20 years ago because of the work being done by SRLS. Several SLRS shows have been staged at the Dodds Avenue venue over the years.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.
If you go
‘ What: “The Shaking Ray Levi Society: 30-Year Retrospecitve Exhibition”
‘ When: 5-7 p.m. today-Monday, Oct. 15-19. Opening reception and music performance, 6 p.m. today. Closing talk by Tom Landis, 6 p.m. Monday
‘ Where: Apothecary Gallery, 744 McCallie Ave.
‘ Admission: Free
‘ Website: www.shakingray.com