Happy New Year!

A humongous thanks to all the artists, curators, writers, photographers, interns, sponsors, patrons, followers, family and friends that have helped Ground Floor Gallery + Studios continue to grow and thrive!

It has been an incredible year as we decided to move in the middle of 2014 to add more gallery space and provide more studios in a year-round, climate-friendly environment; however the Chestnut building and spirit will forever be in our blood.

So this is a good time to announce and kindly ask for you to help me welcome all the new artists—Shana Kohnstamm, fiber artist; Desiré Hough, painting and mixed media sculpture; Morgan Higby-Flowers, new media artist and Professor at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film; Anna Merrill, ceramicist; and Zachary Gray, fashion and music photographer. Look for future posts on their upcoming events.

We’ve also had some terrific solo and group shows this past year:

GfG closed its original location with our 2nd annual juried exhibition’s ‘Best of Show’—Jake Weigal’s Meet of the Matter, where quantum physics was paired with balance and graphite. 

Utopia by Culture Laboratory Collective made the new gallery come to life with their group installation, a fitting name for the first show, however an unintentional coincidence as they were going to exhibit with us before we moved. Ryder Richards, a founding member of the collective, installed the show (with help from Brian Jobe and Ian F. Thomas) and gets a special thank you because of his Redaction of Labor II project on our gallery wall which is now sheetrock and no longer solid block, and hides a “Home Depot Orange” painting, by him. Click here to see his video. All the artists’ in this group are top-notch and I hope to show them again.

Our very own studio artist, Heidi Martin Kuster, exhibited Rock, Paper, Plastic—asking us all to consider our past, present and future lives’ parallel to the solid yet ever-changing material world.

A.I.R. Gallery’s traveling show—Refreshed—was where NY and national artists showed side-by-side for the first time in history documenting multi-cultural and generational artistic similarities and differences, while advocating for women in the arts.

Plus, our newest intern Evelyn Walker put on a fantastically inventive, audio, musical and performance-based show about identity and the classification of objects called Impulse: Playing House as a Blank Artist.

Currently on display through January 30th is our 3rd annual juried exhibition—The Artist’s Alphabet, which displays regional and national established artists’ growing wheelhouses and is curated by local artist Jodi Hays. This show is sure to give us another amazing solo exhibition later in 2015 by David Willburn!

Thanks again for all your love and support,

Janet Decker Yanez

 

Join us on Thursday for the opening reception of The Artist’s Alphabet, a juried art exhibition featuring work from artists David Willburn, KJ Schumacher, Charmaine Ortiz, Briena Harmening, Desire Hough, Kelly Jones, Brittany Vega, Jen Pappas, and Jeremy Jones.

Reception to take place from 5:30 – 8:00 pm, this Thursday December 18^th. The show will remain on display through January 30^th. 

Please come help us congratulate David Willburn for being given the honor of  ‘Best in Show!’

Special thanks to our juror Jodi Hays, who carefully selected amongst the work of many wonderful artists. Jodi summarizes her process with the following:

“In this juried exhibition I chose works from artists who seem to be following their own practice, with their own rules or “alphabet”, to quote painter Charlene Von Heyl. I generally sought multiple works per artist whose creating a context (even if a small one) for the artist’s works.

In terms of process, several artists use cutting or sewing (incised marks on a photograph, exact-o knife for masking tape, needles for thread) on a fairly conventional support (canvas, paper). But results are fresh and seemingly effects of an artist getting to know one’s own alphabet; abstract shapes taking on silhouette narratives (David Willburn), a 4×6 photograph (yeah, those real ones that we used to print) loaded with all it’s conventions of time and space masked with layers of colorful Martha Stewart­like tape (KJ Schumacher) and thin scratchy, barely visible lines recalling mapping and geography incised on printed photographs of an azure sky (Kelly Jones).

The juried show format at Ground Floor Gallery stands for such an important milestone in a working artists’ professional life, and I loved seeing the work. Thanks to everyone who submitted and for their commitment to their practice.”

­Jodi Hays November 2014

We hope to see you all there! Look for yellow door on left just past McCann Street. Street parking is available across 4th Avenue on Oak Street, alongside the Nashville City Cemetery, if our lot is full.  

Opens September 4th, 5-8p with a reception for solo artist, Heidi Martin Kuster. Please join us!

 

 

 

See Utopia: Can it Stay Dream? before it’s gone…

August 2nd 7:30-10p

942 4th Ave South

Join us for some cheap wine, chocolate and Lucky Charms!

                                 

This Saturday, July 5th, 7:30-10:00pm, will be our 1st show at 942 4th Ave South called Utopia: Can it Stay Dream? Curated by Brian Jobe and Ryder Richards.

To me this show has been as much about mystery and anticipation as it has been about an idea of a perfected society (unintentionally fitting since we booked this for the old space). Co-Curator Ryder Richards has been an “artist-in-residence” of sorts, coming in early to help with the build out–we needed a sheetrock wall instead of a concrete one–be sure to ask him about the large, “Home Depot Orange” square he painted underneath the new 12×20′ wall he built in a matter of a couple of days!

Boxes and tubes have been coming in from all parts of the US from the other members of the Culture Laboratory Collective and as this show was accepted based on their reputation as a cohesive, professionally operating artist collective, an idea, and only a couple of images released so far, the show will ultimately be a celebratory surprise. Please join us!

Czann’s has generously donated a delicious beverage and has now opened their own tap room.

Please welcome our newest painter, Wendy Walker to our new space! When Wendy told me she would join our space I was transported to a zen-like place. Aside from the exquisite paintings she’ll bring to our space, her presence alone gives off an elegant, calming affect.

Artist Statement

In my work, I am trying to capture-and on some level make tangible-those rare transcendent moments when I feel completely present. I find that these moments are often inspired by a strong sense of place, and objects from the natural world which hold a personal meaning.

Bio

B.F.A., Studio Art, Louisiana Tech University Wendy Walker grew up in the piney hills of North Central Louisiana, and has called Nashville, Tennessee home since 1999. She spent several years as a muralist and decorative painter and was the sole proprietor of Fetching Studio. Her art has been featured on four album covers to date. Her paintings have been described by artist and gallery curator Laura DeVille as “delicately dramatic.”