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Nashville Scene Critics’ Pick

Carrie McGee and Jeri Eisenberg at Cumberland Gallery
Artist Carrie McGee is one of my Cumberland Gallery favorites, and her stained and painted assemblages of acrylic tiles can be found in collections and displays all over the city. For years, McGee has wired her works together in suspended grids and columns that speak to both the practice of hanging paintings on walls as well as to the silent omnipresence of gravity. I’m anxious to see this show of new work, because it features a novel twist on the familiar aesthetic and repackages McGee’s translucent, colorful abstractions in the form of stacked cubes. Also in the gallery is Jeri Eisenberg, who uses an oversized pinhole camera and out-of-focus lenses to capture images of flowers and foliage, which she then infuses with encaustic wax and prints on sheets of Japanese paper. The results are sensuous studies of the ephemerality of memory.
— Joe Nolan

Unconventional – Nashville’s Music City Center

Unconventional – Nashville’s Music City Center is a stunning 152-page book documenting the artwork found throughout Nashville’s new convention center. Through striking photography and informative essays it explores every work of art, making those of us privileged to be a part of the collection feel quite special!

For more information or to order visit www.nashvillemusiccitycenter.com

Procession installed at First Bank’s new Green Hills Branch

Janet and Jim Ayers continue to make Tennessee art a significant aspect of First Bank’s growth and interface with local communities. A collection of artwork is highly visible within each branch, with the collected work organized around a theme relating to the surrounding area. My suspended sculpture Procession was created specifically for the new Green Hills branch slated to open in December. For this branch the theme relates to the arts and progress.

Aesthetically, Procession draws inspiration from the First Bank construction site, in particular, the skeleton frame which supports the building but is now hidden from view. This underlying structure conveys growth, stability, and elegance, while also serving to remind us of the dignity of labor and the contribution of all individuals to progress. Taking a ring form, the piece echoes the circular nature of the First Bank architecture, and is composed with the intent that it be an exciting work from all available perspectives – simultaneously illuminating the space and a progressive community culture.