Joey Norwood – The Age of the BarMoth Has Ended!

This exhibition round includes works provided by Joey Norwood which will be on view in the Second Floor Connector Gallery from March 4 – May 30, 2026.  Lowe Mill A&E invites patrons and art lovers to join us for Open Studio Night, a building-wide experience when our over 150 studios will be open to the public.  The evening also includes receptions for all seven of our gallery spaces. This series gives the public a chance to meet and interact with visiting artists and discuss their work as it is on display and available for purchase. Come out, enjoy a pleasant evening, and maybe you’ll find that special piece of art that speaks to you!  The Open Studio Night reception is Saturday, May 30 from 5-7 pm.

 

About the exhibit:

“I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.”

– Walt Whitman

“The Age of the BarMoth Has Ended!” is a personal shrine to the popular Five Points establishment, 1892 East Restaurant & Tavern, which closed its doors in May of 2025, after over fifteen years of indulging the appetites of its many patrons and matrons. Its bar was a wonderful place to have a casual conversation with strangers or to develop lifelong friendships, all while quaffing local brews or sipping magical elixirs concocted by their many talented mixologists.

A centerpiece of this installation is the collection of “bar napkin art” loaned by Ben (Going), who, for several years, was the loquacious Wednesday night bartender.

These paper napkins were stained almost exclusively from high gravity, dark beers (such as Unobtainium, a bourbon barrel-aged Old Ale, locally brewed by Straight To Ale) or stouts, then were subsequently embellished with ink pen, creating surreal imagery.

Other objects d’art of this installation are made from former 1892 East advertising signage. Some of these were designed by another bartender, Allen (Meeks), whose resounding laughter was often heard during his tenure there.

This installation is dedicated to the many waiters and waitresses, chefs and kitchen staff, and hosts and hostesses who knew the BarMoth by name; and especially to the bartenders (and *mixologists!) and closers who most inspired the artist with their openness and fast friendships (and, of course, marvelous *concoctions!): Allen, Anna, Ben, *Christina, **Chuck, Dylan, Jordan, Juna, *Kimbo, *Mary, *Mike, Miriam, and *Timothy.

The BarMoth’s C8H11NO2 (3,4-Dihydroxyphenethylamine) receptors are forever grateful!

 

About the artist:

Joey Norwood is an Alabama native whose art tends to focus on installations featuring abstract concepts. He has exhibited in Lowe Mill since its conversion into an artist’s haven over twenty years ago. The current installation is the fourth in a biennial winter/spring series, which includes “Ha-i-ku-ba-ti-o-n (in the yurt)” (2024), “Hyperfactual” (2022), and “Hind-Sight is Twenty-Twenty” (2020), but harkens back to another from nearly thirteen years ago: “Quinceañera” – a celebration of fifteen years of marriage to his extraordinary and lovely wife, Beth. Celebrating another fifteen year span of time, “The Age of the BarMoth Has Ended!” commemorates the rise and fall of a local “Restaurant & Tavern” which enriched the artist’s life with delicious food, large quantities of spirited libations, and extra, heaping helpings of camaraderie with the bartenders, waitstaff, kitchen staff, and regulars at the bar of 1892 East.