It was a cold and frigid night in downtown Nashville the second Saturday of January for the monthly Art Crawl. To my great surprise, 5th Avenue was alive and booming with art enthusiasts swiftly moving from gallery to gallery, being welcomed with hot coffee, drinks, and warm munchies. The first stop on the crawl was Anne Brown’s The Arts Company—with bright eyes and smiling from ear to ear, Anne Brown can warm up the coldest of nights. Anne introduced me to the featured artist of the evening, Rod Daniel, who photographs in a distinctly contemporary black and white style. His current exhibit, Canyon de Chelly is showcasing western landscapes of Arizona.
Now, having a sweet tooth and the love for chocolate, I was most excited to be introduced to the Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Co. here in Nashville. The chocolate is all made with cacao beans. My new very best friend Casey Dailey graciously let me sample all of the chocolate goodies: sea salt, cinnamon chili, coffee, nibs, and more—incredible chocolate carried at The Arts Company. Sampling the chocolates (when I let them) were Madge Franklin, Lindsey and Hugh Queener (they were on a father-daughter date), Deby Samuels, and Frank Crowell.
Moving on to The Rymer Gallery—director Tonia Trotter gave me the tour of a colorful and dynamic show that certainly welcomes in 2010! The artists included Charles Clary, Jamey Grimes, Dooby Tomkins, Brandi Milosavich, Kristina Colucci, and Herb Williams. Grimes and Williams were present that evening showcasing their art, which was outstanding. Grimes had a ceiling installation that was imaginative and attention-grabbing, using synthetic materials in large scale.
Susan Tinney and John Reed welcomed me to the Tinney Contemporary gallery. As always Susan and John were glad to see me and share the latest artistic creations. Sarah Souther was there with her incredible hand-painted silk scarves, beautiful to wear and to frame. Other artists in the Tinney collection included Alysha Irisari Malo, Donny Smutz, Mary Long-Postal, and Sisavanh Phouthavong.
On to the Arcade—if you did not know, this is a great Nashville hidden secret for art. I met the most interesting artist, Olga Alexeeva, originally from Russia. She came to America with a dream in her heart of becoming an inspiring artist. Olga’s work reflects her philosophical meditation about “…the universe encompassed in a drop of water.” Using bold and intensive color reflects her active, playful, and enduring nature, with a positive outlook and hope for tomorrow. Olga’s art may be seen in her gallery, O Gallery. Nashville has become so very international.
My last gallery of the evening was Twist Gallery where I met the young artist Patrick Vagrant. Patrick’s art was a bit weird to me, but who am I to judge? His first piece was a pair of cassette tape players plugged into one another. He asked me to listen through the headphones to the static sounds they produced. (OK, he first told me the cassette players were antique bread toasters, and in truth this 26-year-old did think the players were antiques of the past (Oh Lordy, Lordy). The second of his works was a two-spined Bible: “Is it hyper-religious or hyper-irreligious?” he asked. All in all, Patrick explained that his work itself, comically Spartan in design and presentation, can be seen as nihilistic, if you please, hopefully guiding the patron to consider whether such things as these are superfluous or irreducibly complex. Did I mention this guy is in his second year of law school?
As the saying goes, “You have to crawl before you can walk.” Well, I certainly have crawled my way through some of Nashville’s finest art galleries. I am so proud of Nashville—who needs New York when the art is here, and it’s just as cold!
See you at the 20th Anniversary Antiques and Garden Show, (snow) shovel in hand!
By Ted Clayton
