The Weight of the Stone and the Light Behind It
by Avery Anderson
There’s a specific kind of quiet that lives in a monument shop. It’s the heavy, dust-flecked silence of memory being carved into granite—a trade of permanence. For Rhys Meatyard, that silence is ancestral. When your mother designs headstones and your grandfather is a legendary Ybor metal sculptor like Jerry Meatyard, "art" isn't some lofty, abstract concept. It’s a physical reality. It’s work. It has gravity.
For years, that lineage felt more like a shadow than a spotlight. How do you find your own voice when your family tree is practically a forest of Florida art history?
This month at The Werk, we’re finally seeing the answer. Rhys is stepping out from behind the monuments and into a light that is entirely his own.
The Long Read: Love as an Act of Resistance
Walking into "CEREMONY" feels less like entering a gallery and more like stumbling into a secular cathedral. The space is filled with pieces that demand a different kind of attention—not the quick-scroll glance of the digital age, but the slow, deliberate pulse of a ritual.
Rhys’s work is a masterclass in the "human heartbeat" we talk so much about. As a third-generation queer and trans artist living in St. Pete, Rhys isn't just making pretty things; he’s building a case for staying alive. Drawing on the philosophy of Viktor Frankl, the show grapples with a heavy truth: without purpose, we lose our humanity.
You see it in the Graveyard series, where "Rest in Peace" isn't for people, but for the toxic traits we finally bury—like Co-Dependent Tendencies etched into a vibrant, orange-flecked headstone. It’s witty, grounded, and deeply cathartic. Then there are the Reliquaries, where cats are elevated to the status of icons, complete with golden halos and sacred hearts.
Why this matters now
In a moment where the "collective grief" feels like a permanent weather pattern in Florida, Rhys is using his technical precision—honed at PCCA and Eckerd College—to create space for joy. It’s a reminder that grief is just the tax we pay for loving something, and according to Rhys, it’s a price we have to keep paying if we want to remain human.
The Deep Dive: Artist Talk with Rhys Meatyard
- When: Sunday, April 19, 3pm
- Where: The Werk Gallery
- Why it matters: If you want to hear about the "parking lot conversations" and the grit behind the gold leaf, this is the one to attend.