Nashville Visual Arts this weekend

I missed a bunch of stuff for this weekend, so let me pick up what I know I missed. And of course there’s a whole bunch of stuff coming up next weekend.

By the way, I’ve gotten notice that Jim Brooks is retiring as President at Watkins. On balance, it seems like he’s done a good job. He’s been there for 6 years, and during this time they moved into Metro Center and started building dorms. The dorms are a big deal, both in terms of changing the nature of the school and as a reflection of the school’s ability to inspire support from the community. Of course the whole thing with Terry Glispin came down on his watch, but it’s probably the case that he brought the school back from that crisis as well as imaginable.

If someone wants to get added directly to my list for the email version of this listing, send me an email at dcmaddox@comcast.net. To get taken off the list, email to that effect at the same address.

Jan. 25

Renaissance Center. The Secret Show group was a bunch of Watkins students (Amanda Dillingham, Jason Driskill, Derek Gibson, Eve Peach, Jaime Raybin, Heather Spriggs Thompson, Iwonka Waskowski, Kristen Burton and Will ClenDening) who started out doing quarterly shows in borrowed space, then rented their own space on Chestnut, and now they’ve gone off in separate directions. Most of them are still in the area, a couple are in MFA programs. And of course they’re including work by Will ClenDening who died in a motorcycle accident in 2006. They’re having a sort of reunion show at the Renaissance Center in Dickson. Under curator Armon Means, the Ren Center seems to be doing something interesting most months. In addition to the Secret Show exhibit, they’re showing an installation by Memphis artist Sara Good, and work by Jeffrey Morton.

Parthenon, Victoria Boone and Marla Fath. It’s been a while since I tracked on an exhibit in the Parthenon (maybe Carlton Wilkinson’s show), but this one caught my eye. Boone’s got abstract paintings here based on symbols she created for her teenage diary to keep her secrets. That sounds like a pretty good start for something. And she’s got a great title: “Gravity and Merit.” And Fath is doing portraits of women that cast them in a mythological light. They’re doing a reception on the 25^th from 6-8, and then the exhibit stays up through April 5.

Jan. 26

Zeitgeist, Print Portfolio Zeitgeist has commissioned a print portfolio with contributions from 5 of its artists—Jim Ann Howard, who makes images of nature broken, rendered in pigments drawn from natural materials; Brady Haston, whose paintings show the mark of graphic representations in the landscape, Patrick DeGuira, maker of conceptually demanding sculptures that address very down to earth human experience, Hans Schmitt-Matzen, involved in clever transfers of material between media, and Will Berry, who in the past has built a kind of abstract travel account of distant places he has lived or visited. This seems like a very good idea for the gallery and the artists, giving people another way to bring this art into their lives.

Plowhaus, Out of Here. Plowhaus is leaving its space on 17^th Street and wrapping up there with this show, which looks like it includes most of the people active in the group. In their press they say they’re cooperating with the Art House to find new space, and at least one of their press statements say they have leads but no new space yet. So I imagine they will be on hiatus, but I hope that’s really short. They seem to have a large enough membership that I’ve got to think they’re going to come up with new space. I’m sure there will be updates on their website.

Jan. 30

Vanderbilt, Ingram Studio Art Center, Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler. It looks like more of the Mel Ziegler Austin connection—Hubbard’s a professor at University of Texas. She and Birchler collaborate on videos and video installations that seem to have some common ground with photographer Gregory Crewdson. Their work has been shown all over, including the MCA in Chicago, the Venice Biennale, an upcoming show at the Hirshhorn, and they’ve been featured on PBS’ Art 21. They’re delivering a lecture on their work at 7:00 on the 30^th.