Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A Fresh Art Summer 2012 / At The Arts Company


At The Arts Company, we know the summer will be long and hot, but we are making every effort to fill it with fresh art, cold lemonade, artists and other friends to visit with, and a special exhibit, Great American Artwork: by Thornton Dial and Gee’s Bend Quilters.

Fresh Art Summer / June 2012

The month of June is a great sampling of what we intend, introducing new work by five gallery artists, plus continuing our favorite annual exhibition—the work of Brother Mel.  We stand ready to welcome you to the special experiences we have in store for you.

We have had such fun working with each of these artists for the June exhibit:

Deciding which frames would work best to showcase Anne Goetze’s new color photographs selected from her original sepia series, Clotheslines of Leiper’s Fork;

"Blowing in the Wind" by Anne Goetze

 
Painting one wall to make sure Rusty Wolfe’s new Mosaics series would pop off the wall to enhance the pristine minimal background for the mid-century retro designs to which he gives new life;

"Mosaic 5" by Rusty Wolfe


Working with David Robert Farmerie, a master photographer by any definition, to present his 21st-century version of the Seven Deadly Sins, to which he is adding an eighth sin to represent the new century.  He will be inviting guests to help name the new sin.  The model for the series will be with him during the opening weekend to answer questions about how they collaborated to make this series come about.  This series was originally commissioned by The Customs House museum in Clarksville, Tennessee;

"Wrath" by David Robert Farmerie


Enjoying every new piece Wayne Brezinka, master paper-cut collage illustrator, has brought in for his exhibit over the last three months.  Some of the pieces are originals he was commissioned to do for a range of clients—from Actors Theatre in Louisville to the Boston Globe to the NY Times to new album covers for Nashville musicians.  Seeing his interpretation of a hand holding a trombone is worth a trip to the gallery;

"Pretty Baby" by Wayne Brezinka


Realizing that one of our newest gallery artists, Jerry Park, never disappoints.  He has provided us with larger images from his Workspaces series, based on dramatic images from Nashville iconic businesses such as Percy’s Shoe Shine shop, the Omohundro Water Works plant, and more.

"Omohundro Filtration Building" by Jerry Park


We will kick off the summer with our 5th Avenue Collectors Art Night, Friday, June 1, with a conversation—hosted by Paul Polycarpou, executive editor of Nashville Arts Magazine—with Wayne Brezinka and David Robert Farmerie.  They have both made work for publications, businesses, and sometimes individuals.  Both artists will be speaking at 7:15 in the gallery.  The First Saturday Art Crawl follows the next night, Saturday, June 2, 6-9 pm.


Fresh Art Summer / July 2012

New work by Thornton Dial (left) and the Gee's Bend Quilters (right)

And the month of July will soon follow, with what we consider an important exhibit, presenting recently-recognized great American artists, Thornton Dial and the quilters from Gee’s Bend, Alabama.  We first presented Mr. Dial’s work over 10 years ago, showing large paintings and his drawings from the 1990s.  We presented an exhibition of the quilts of Gee’s Bend in September 2003, hosting some 75 of the quilters and their friends for lunch at the gallery as they stopped on their way to their exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Because the current exhibit of Dial and the Gee's Bend quilters--Creation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and The Art of Thornton Dial--continues through September 23, our exhibit will offer an additional opportunity for visitors to expand their options for learning more about the incredible work of these major American artists whose work has just been presented in major museum shows in the last decade.  

Stay tuned to our blog and forthcoming announcements about this July exhibition.  We will be adding special programs related to the exhibit.

Fresh Art Summer / August 2012

While the Dial and Gee’s Bend exhibit will continue through August, we will also add an exhibit Upstairs at The Arts Company—presenting new paintings of Harry Underwood. Often known simply as Harry and based in the Nashville area, he has created a niche for himself as an outsider artist whose narrative paintings incorporate words.  His distinctive style is known way beyond his Nashville base.  We will schedule opportunities for visitors to get to know Harry and his work.

In addition, The Arts Company 16th Annual Avant-Garage Sale will be presented in August.  And the Dial / Gee’s Bend exhibit will continue through August 24.

A summer full of fresh, original, contemporary art, for sure, at The Arts Company.  Join us for the good times with art, artists, and friends.






The Arts Company
215 5th Ave. North
Nashville, TN 37219
615-254-2040