Art walk: an exclusive peek inside Nashville’s booming art scene

Two people crouched on the floor at the Nashville Art Gallery looking at an art piece which features lots of sunglasses inside a big lit up glass box on the floor

Select members joined top gallerists to explore Soho House Nashville’s new neighbourhood

Friday 21 January 2022 By Abigail Hirsch Photography by Daniel Meigs

With the Nashville House opening less than a month away, Clarence Edward of Cë Gallery, Red Arrow Gallery’s curator Ashley Layendecker, and Crystal Churchwell Evans, development director of the Frist Art Museum, welcomed the Soho House Nashville community with a guided art walk through the neighbourhood.

On Saturday, following an exclusive glimpse of the new House, members toured the Julia Martin Gallery, Cë Gallery, David Lusk Gallery, and The Packing Plant – a small selection of the 12 galleries within a one-mile radius of the building. Chef Molly Martin of Juniper Green developed a curated menu for members to enjoy while taking in the exhibitions.

Close up of someone holding the Nashville Art Walk leaflet that is on a pink piece of cardboard with illustrations of the artists featured

Symmetrical shot of one of the new showers in Nashville House

One of the art pieces hung on the wall at Nashville House

A close up of one of the counters at Nashville House which is a light blue/green colour with a dark wooden top and beautiful detailed tiles on the floor

Someone looking at a piece of art that is hung on the wall at Nashville House

The iridescent gold leaf and abstract lines of Andy Ness’s series, The Satellite, caught members’ eyes as soon as they stepped inside the Julia Martin Gallery. According to Martin, ‘a crucial part of what makes a great artist is the unlearning of things. Andy’s unlearning results in dazzling freak flags of perfectly imperfect perfection.’ The mix of material, pattern and colour exude a freedom and blatant disregard for rules that the artist himself cites as inspiration.

One of the art pieces featured in the Nashville Art Walk

Two of the artists posing for the camera with their artwork in the background

Wide shot from the back of two people stood looking at a piece of art on the wall at Nashville House

One of the artists posing for the camera in front of a piece of his art

Ness’s blend of materiality and colour on canvas, while 2D, give the illusion of a three-dimensional depth – not to Martin’s surprise. ‘Andy’s background in sculpture makes him uniquely gifted at manipulating materials,’ she says.

And the painter’s explanation for the shift away from sculpture? ‘I want to make my objects, my forms, exist in space,’ says Ness. ‘I want them to float in space. I don’t want them to have to contend with gravity.’