Beverly & Sam Ross Gallery

CURRENT ART EXHIBITION AT THE BEVERLY & SAM ROSS GALLERY

Dezmond Gipson: Generally Digital

One lesson that just won’t stick is “Stay on brand!

DEZMOND GIPSON

August 22 – October 31 
Reception: Friday, August 29 | 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Dezmond Gipson is a self-proclaimed “Digital Generalist”, he explores multiple modes of expression through digital media and blurs the line between personal output and commercial.

Dezmond Gipson, a native of Memphis, grew up in the Raleigh neighborhood and attended Craigmont High School. He developed a passion for art and technology during his adolescence, inspired by his stepfather’s enthusiasm for computers. In the early 2000s, he and his twin brother built computers when most households had only one. This access allowed them to create Dragon Ball Z fan edits and produce AMVs (Anime Music Videos) before realizing what an AMV was.
Newgrounds.com significantly influenced Dezmond’s creative journey by introducing him to amateur filmmaking and inspiring his first animations in middle school. His high school continued to support these interests through groups like Future Business Leaders of America and the Technology Student Association, which encouraged the creation of Flash games.
Dezmond later attended Memphis College of Art, where he initially focused on 2D animation. His exposure to cinema, 3D animation, graphic design, and digital photography led him to embrace the role of a “Digital Generalist” and lean into becoming a true jack-of-all-trades.
Dezmond’s creative career is shaped by his experience in photography, cinematography, graphic design, motion design, and video editing. As a Digital Generalist, he has achieved financial success and developed a deep appreciation for the power of communication through visual media.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

The phrases “You are what you eat,” “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck,” and “I think, therefore I am” highlight how my over eight years in corporate broadcasting have shaped my artistic perspective. While art school me encouraged viewer engagement, the corporate version of me now focuses on clear and concise communication, often aiming for bold statements within a minute. There’s a desire to omit details and target only the intended audience while avoiding everyone else.

One lesson that just won’t stick is “Stay on brand!”. I won’t be adhering to the style guide. Instead, I plan to reinvent myself at least once every quarter. As a Digital Generalist, my diverse skill set is showcased through my extensive body of work.

Upcoming Exhibition — SEAN LATIF HEISER: Time is a Hearer

November 7, 2025 – January 9, 2026
Reception: Friday, November 7 | 5:00 – 8:00 pm

Using abstraction as a framework, Sean Heiser’s paintings shift between imagined landscapes and architectures, often using symbolism and abstracted imagery collected from life as a way to insert his own lived-experience and memories into broader compositions.

Sean Latif Heiser (b.1990) is a Malaysian-born artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2017 and his MFA from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2023. In 2023, he was invited to hotelpupik, an international artist residency program in Schiefling, Austria. He was an MFA Live/Work residency fellow at Loghaven Residency in Knoxville, TN, in 2022, and in 2019 was a resident at Anderson Center in Redwing, Minnesota. He has exhibited work internationally, with recent exhibitions at Arcade Arts, Nashville, TN, Ortega Y Gasset Projects in Brooklyn, NY, hotelpupik in Schiefling, Austria, and The Alice Wilds in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His work was published in New American Paintings in 2022.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I approach painting as a place to mix form and color with thought, memory, fantasy, and reality. I’m interested in the idea of world-building, and how non-objective painting can be used in ways that are resonant of, and shift between, landscapes, architectures, and the subjective. I continue to be concerned with the act of looking and its relationship to perception and imagination. and dreaming. I see painting as a mediary between myself and less certain things.

The Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery is located on the lower level of Plough Memorial Library in the center of campus on the Buckman Quadrangle, easily accessible from the Central Avenue parking lot and the East Parkway entrance. All exhibits are free and open to the public.

CONTACT

Scott A. Carter, MFA
Assistant Professor and Gallery Coordinator • (901) 321-3243 • scarte20@cbu.edu