Artist of the Week: Nashville, Saturday, July 20, 1946

On this one afternoon and evening, photojournalist Edward Clark, Nashville native, recorded the familiar weekly ritual of the Grand Ole Opry at The Ryman Auditorium. People arriving by truck, bus, and car from North Carolina to California; standing in line, hanging out backstage, on stage, and in the standing room only audience, and autograph seeking at the stage door. These photographs combine many legends - The Ryman, The Opry, many revered country music artists, whose careers were already at high tide in the 1940s - and Clark himself.

Clark had already recorded, or would soon record in LIFE Magazine, many of the images by which we remember the 20th century. Clark literally captured moments in time when the country music fans of fifty years ago lined up and the stars revved up for an evening at the Opry at The Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

Ed Clark's Opry series contains over 100 images. The photographs were neither printed nor published at the time. The negatives were tucked away in obscurity until 1994 when a chance discovery led to the development of a collectors' portfolio of selected images. Photographs from Clark's personal collection, including the entire Opry series, can be seen at The Arts Company so come in and visit!

Brother Mel Book Update: Only One More Week

With only one more week until Brother Mel is here for FirstArtSaturday you can feel the energy lifting in the gallery. His new works are being hung downstairs and should be up by this weekend. The works are a great mix of paintings in both acrylic and watercolor and of sculpture- rust works and some painted metal. In addition to these exciting and fresh works, we will be previewing the Brother Mel book in its full form on our Apple TV that will be positioned amongst the art. It will be a perfect combination of artist, art, and books that evening. Here is another page from the Brother Mel book to check out! Enjoy and come visit us on June 6 from 6-9PM!

Brother Mel Book Update

With only two more weeks until the big Brother Mel opening things are starting to change around the gallery. We are pulling all of Brother Mel's artwork out of the inventory room and mapping out where it will hang. In addition to the physical work many hours have been put into the Brother Mel book also being previewed the night of the opening. The book is looking great and taking on a form true to Brother Mel. As promised here is another page to pre-preview.

We hope you enjoy!

Can't wait to see everyone at the opening, June 6, 6-9 PM.

WHAT’S BROTHER MEL UP TO THIS YEAR?

Many of you are familiar with Brother Mel and his work and love him just as much as we do here at The Arts Company. Even if you are not in the know about Brother Mel he will not take long to win over your heart. In two weeks, Brother Mel will be here for our FirstArtSaturday opening  ( June 6, 6-9 PM) as he makes his 11th annual pilgrimage to Nashville, TN. This year Brother Mel will celebrate his 81st birthday, including over 60 years of being a Marianist brother in a Catholic Community and over 50 years as a full-time artist. 

In addition to presenting his annual exhibition, The Arts Company is in the process of publishing a book about Brother Mel's lifetime of making art.  The book follows Brother Mel from his early years and continues through his joining the Marianist community, his education, his travel, and the prolific body of artwork he has produced over the last 50 years.  The 200-page book will be previewed in June and available in early fall.  It is filled with images of the diverse styles and mediums he has employed in his work that numbers over 10,000 documented pieces.  It also details the story of his life and work heretofore available, offing insight into a most unusual artist.

Below is a page from the Brother Mel book for your viewing pleasure. Please enjoy and we will make sure to post additional pages in the weeks that lead up to Brother Mel's arrival here in Nashville.  

Click here for a larger view

Artist of the Week: The less-traveled path

Star and Tibia, platinum/palladium print, 4 x 5"

From Polaroid Film to X-Ray Negatives To Platinum Prints

The less-traveled path

Don Dudenbostel is one of the rare breed of photographers who uses an x-ray machine with Polaroid film, and then prints the resulting negatives as platinum prints. Add to that the fact that Polaroid 55 film is no longer available, nor is the traditional paper for making platinum prints. He has definitely chosen the less-traveled path.

In the best of times, platinum printing is a complex mix of art and science, never mind that the platinum solution costs $2,000 an ounce. This kind of photography combined with this kind of printing is a true mix of art and science, the dual basis of photography. Most of the components he uses are virtually extinct. But those who love the beauty of platinum printing will know that his efforts are worth it for the resulting prints. They are rare and luminous in the depth of black and white color they yield.

The exquisite 5” x 7” prints he has produced in editions of 25 have just about reached their end point. A couple of years ago, he stockpiled film and paper. The supplies are running out. He has printed some of the images in larger sizes through the archival digital process, and they, too, are gorgeous prints, but for platinum aficionados, they are not the same.

Don Dudenbostel, a Knoxville-based photographer, is an award-winning photographer who has documented Appalachian culture over a 40-45 year period. There will be a traveling museum show of that work beginning in January 2010. Meanwhile, The Arts Company has some of his small exquisite platinum prints. His subjects are typically flowers, shells, instruments and other objects. He presents them all as equally elegant.

To see more of Don Dudenbostel's work click here.

posted: AB