May's First Saturday exhibits offer shelter from the storms

May's First Saturday exhibits offer shelter from the storms
Crawl Space
by JOE NOLAN
Nashville Scene



Writing this to a chorus of tornado warning sirens, I'm struck by how the May Art Crawl contrasts the windy, wet weather we've seen during these turbulent birth pangs of summer. May's First Saturday events are concerned with calm and comfort, finding galleries filled with cozy craftings, soothing sounds, good causes and simple beauty.

At 79 Arcade, Blend Studio opens an installation by Tiffany Dyer. Fortress explores ideas of home and security with a gallery-spanning environment fashioned from abandoned afghans and other crocheted items. Dyer will have small soft-sculpture houses for sale with proceeds benefiting Safe Haven Family Shelter, but the star of the show will be the installation itself, which promises "an experience of childhood memories and adult fantasies."

Street Crossings is an exhibit of new multimedia works by Joshua Penrose that will be making a noise at COOP Gallery at 75 Arcade this month. Penrose has a background in piano, percussion, composition and electronic music, and his COOP installation can be thought of as a duet between the surging sounds of traffic at a changing streetlight and the playful, electronic tones and phrases that Penrose superimposes upon this too-familiar music of the city. By decorating everyday sounds, Penrose draws attention to the intricate textures and vibrant dynamics of the seemingly mundane.

Twist Gallery at 73 Arcade will be hosting a new exhibit by Lauren Kussro, whose show is simply about beauty and its capacity to move us to yearning and delight. A Joyous Outpouring finds the artist creating multimedia objects that incorporate printmaking, sewing, sculpture and paper crafts in her colorful, organic assemblages. Her strongest pieces are illuminated affairs that glow with an abiding presence. At 77 Arcade, Twist Etc. hosts New York-based Canadian artist Jason Paradis. Gallery-goers may recall Paradis' show at Seed Space in 2010: The artist's installations are preoccupied with time as well as space, and his work acknowledges that even our deepest existential understandings are wrapped in a vast mystery.

The Froelich Gallery at 83 Arcade will feature Berlin, a series of striking photographs by Hunter Armistead. Armistead spent a year living in the German capital, and this is the first time he's shown his work from that period.

On Fifth Avenue, Tinney Contemporary sticks with their April exhibit Stealing Stories: New Works by Patricia Bellan-Gillen. Stealing finds Bellan-Gillen bringing meticulous detailing to the zoological illustrations that populate her dreamscape panels. Rymer Gallery will also hold over What We Carry, a show of Luke Hillestad's figurative canvases featuring narratives of birth, kinship, ritual and healing.

Down the block at The Arts Company, The Intimate World of Leonard Piha is an expansive show that sprawls across much of the gallery's large upstairs space. It's easy to mistake Piha for an outsider artist when discovering his religious, personal work. He paints on wood and cardboard and also fashions sculptures from rough, ordinary materials. In fact, Piha took his M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and we are waiting for Saturday to see if Piha's work plays the fool or plays for keeps. In addition, Slow Road to China — Drew Doggett's documentary photos of the Land of the Dragon — remains from last month.

Be sure to wander your way up Broadway to the Tennessee Art League for the 46th Annual Central South Art Exhibition. The CSAE is one of the oldest and most prestigious art competitions in the country, and it's the TAL's founding event. This year 419 works by artists from 26 states competed for 60 cash prizes. Saturday's opening will include an early awards presentation at 5 p.m., culminating with the Best in Show prize for Bill Bailey's lovely, light-filled watercolor painting "Humphrey's Mill."

Back at 44 Arcade, Mir Gallery founder/curator Miranda Herrick will be putting her own work on display in an eco-conscious show that resonates with the new frugality informing these money-lean times. Reduced, Reused, Recycled: Visual Art from the Recycling Bin features quilt-like tapestries, crocheted rugs, and crafted aluminum mandalas fashioned from grocery bags, candy wrappers, cereal boxes and beer cans. This will be the last show for Mir Gallery, and the May exhibit anticipates Herrick's rededication to her own creative projects. Since Mir debuted in 2008, highlights at the space have included a number of memorable print and pop-art inspired exhibits, and we hope it will be replaced by another art venue with an equally thoughtful curator. We already know of one new venue that will likely join the First Saturday fray in June, but that will have to wait until next month.

Crawl on, crawlers!




http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/mays-first-saturday-exhibits-offer-shelter-from-the-storms/Content?oid=2420738

Artist statement: Lauren Kussro May 2011 space #73

Artist statement: Lauren Kussro May 2011 space #73

A Joyous Outpouring

The pursuit of beauty, and bringing it into the sphere of the viewer
is one of my most imperative roles as an artist. I believe that the
contemporary art world has lost a sense of the importance of beauty
and it’s enriching and nurturing influence on the human soul. Thomas
Moore in Care of the Soul, states it very well here: "If we are going to
care for the soul, and if we know that the soul is nurtured by beauty,
then we will have to understand beauty more deeply and give it a more
prominent place in life. “ Regrettably, beauty has become a somewhat
taboo subject in the art world in recent years. Discord, dark emotions,
desecration, and violence have become more prevalent in contemporary
art, all in the name of artistic expression. Beauty is often seen as trite,
sentimental, and saccharine.

In this show, I want to create an environment that places the viewer
in an arena where beauty is relevant and acceptable and is used as
a vehicle for evoking essential emotions such as joy, hope, delight,
excitement, happiness, and yearning. I continue to explore the use of
paper, printmaking, drawing, sewing, sculpting, light, texture, pattern…
utilizing all of these materials and techniques to create objects that are a
joyous outpouring, a leap towards truth.

“Wherever beauty lies in wait for us, the desire to pre-empt its appeal
can intervene, ensuring that its still small voice will not be heard behind
the scenes of desecration. For beauty makes a claim on us: it is a call to
renounce our narcissism and look with reverence on the world.” Roger
Scruton, The Flight From Beauty

May we allow beauty to claim us, and may we never stifle the still small voice.

J. Todd Greene painting class

For those interested...
"Tapping into the Genius," Painting class taught by Todd Greene, 6 weeks, in 12 south area, next to Burger Up. $200 includes supplies. April 28-June 2 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm.

Lauren Kussro at Twist Art Gallery May 2011 in space 73

ARTIST STATEMENT
LAUREN KUSSRO My work references the inherent design and beauty found
within the natural world, even though the forms I create are rarely copies of an
actual physical object from nature. I find it more challenging and enjoyable to
design sculptural forms from my imagination, as if I am creating pieces that could
exist in a parallel universe. A successful juxtaposition of recognizable organic
forms such as flowers and leaves with more abstract forms is satisfying to create,
as well as being satisfying visually for the viewer. Through play and
experimentation, which are my favorite steps in the art-making process, I discover
which forms I like and wish to recreate in multiples.

When assembling a piece, I focus on craftsmanship and detail and am very
concerned with achieving a visual balance. I like the sensory richness that can
be achieved by combining various materials such as paper, wood, paint, ink,
thread, and wax. To give the work an added layer of texture and detail, I design
and draw ornate patterns and hand print them on paper using silkscreen, woodcut,
or linocut. Although building the sculptures takes a great deal of time, all the
processes of designing, drawing, printing, cutting, sewing, and building are
important, and the more work I put into the pieces, the more there is for the viewer
to explore.

As a printmaker – I enjoy using repetitive forms and designs to create continuity
and a layered visual history. As a sculptor – I enjoy designing and constructing
three-dimensional forms that can physically enter the space occupied by the
viewer. Both of these elements come together to form environments. The
idea that I can radically change a space by superimposing an environment of
my own creation is one that drives my work. I am fascinated by the fact that
merely altering the appearance of a space can change a person’s perceptions
or their mood, and I am interested in the ways that this can occur. I have been
experimenting with this in recent work by coming up with different ways of using
light. I am also interested in pursuing the use of sound or smell to change the
space, as well making work on a much larger scale.

Ultimately I seek to create echoes of nature in works of art that invite you to
slow down and enjoy the acts of observing and investigating. Anyone visiting the
artwork should encounter an environment where they can be met and beguiled by
beauty.

twistcooparcadia

Amelia Winger-Bearskin

we pity the fool who misses April's First Saturday art openings

We pity the fool who misses April's First Saturday art openings
Crawl Space
by JOE NOLAN
Nashville Scene

First Saturday Art Crawl
6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 2, downtown

April showers bring May flowers, but spring has already blossomed in Nashville and the first big art season of the year is upon us. Saturday's Art Crawl promises moving images, Japanese treasures, a floating butterfly and a stinging bee — no fooling!

Dance Sequence, Amelia Winger-Bearskin's new show at Twist, features a projected video/song installation alongside 200 tiny paintings mounted in water. Winger-Bearskin, an assistant professor of studio art at Vanderbilt, also has a piece in the Material Apparatus show currently on display at Cheekwood's Video Installation Galleries. Titled "AmbienTTransformation," it shows the artist revealing her face beneath layers of black paint, gold leaf and honey. If "AmbienTTransformation" is about the subconscious mind, Dance Sequence is pure id. Winger-Bearskin promises surprises for early attendees at Twist this Saturday.

Twist Etc. is teaming up with COOP Gallery to present Neon Sigh, a collaborative exhibit by Adam Henry and Emily Mae Smith. Smith is currently visiting artist-in-residence at both Vanderbilt and Watkins. Incorporating painting, sculpture, drawing and collage, Neon Sigh attempts to reorder the perception of expectation and desire, dovetailing nicely with Matt Christy's work from last month's Twist Etc. show. The curtain that separates the two spaces has been removed to create "Twistcooparcadia," spilling from Arcade 75 into Arcade 77.

Blend Studio co-founder Ben Vitualla has taken on more of his gallery's programming duties, and now he finds himself with a fight on his hands. This month's collaboration between local artists Andee Rudloff and Lindsey Bailey and filmmaker Allie Sultan is a return to form for Blend, and these ladies are ready to rumble. Composed of a number of multimedia pieces and a video installation, Floats Like a Butterfly Stings Like a Bee: Who controls Art? fits in nicely with Blend's community-conscious ethos, engaging viewers in a dialogue about creative control. Saturday's audience can purchase specially printed wooden nickels to cast their vote. The nickels can be kept as souvenirs or donated to a number of creative causes.

Last month, we mentioned that we'd like to see galleries consider leaving exhibits up for more than a month. Estel Gallery has never fully embraced the 30-days-and-out scheduling, and this month's repeat of Just So... will give art-abouts a second chance to see this group show of work by four contemporary painters: Mark Bradley-Shoup, Claire Brassil, Kelly Williams and Chris Scarborough. If you missed this in March, take advantage on Saturday. Also, be sure to stop by Tennessee Art League for something completely different: A timely show given recent events, The Dolls of Japan – Shapes of Prayer, Embodiments of Love includes 72 examples from various Japanese doll-making traditions, allowing viewers to experience the regions, culture and customs of The Land of the Rising Sun through the decorative figures.

On Fifth Avenue proper, Tinney Contemporary is opening a show of mixed-media drawings, prints and paintings by Patricia Bellan-Gillen, Stealing Stories. Bellan-Gillen sets her meticulous zoological illustrations within surreal, pastel dreamscapes. Rymer Gallery opens What We Carry, a solo exhibit by Minneapolis-based figurative painter Luke Hillestad. Hillestad often explores still lifes, but his narrative portraits are the highlight of the show. The Arts Company's From Slow Road to China to Fashion and Beyond showcases work by fashion photographer Drew Doggett placing his commercial work alongside documentary photographs from his trek through China. The gallery will also be hosting the Fifth Annual Nashville Film Festival Official Preview in their Avant-Garage space. Pop in, knock the rust off your red carpet strut, hobnob with film fest big wigs and enjoy sneak previews of this year's NaFF offerings on the big screen.

And make sure to stop at the Arcade's BelArt Gallery, which is showing Marleen De Waele-De Bock's latest creations. Her newest paintings are inspired by Nashville's recent (and lovely) springtime weather, which looks like it's here to stay, y'all.

Happy crawling!

Email arts@nashvillescene.com.