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In This Section

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Back to the Garden Dutch artist reveals a new kind of Eden in Papuan jungles

 

 

In This Issue

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Scene and Be Seen

Wedding Guide Winter 2006

Episode 26

Back to the Garden Dutch artist reveals a new kind of Eden in Papuan jungles

Held Up in Traffic, Not Minding at All Local writer explores life at a slower, happier pace

The Spin

Our Critics Picks THE WHIGS * FRIDAY, 28TH

 

 

By This Author

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Back to the Garden Dutch artist reveals a new kind of Eden in Papuan jungles

Chicago in Nashville Feminist artist Judy Chicago’s latest collaborative work takes shape at Vanderbilt

Common Currents Obsessive drawing and borrowed imagery figure in the work of two young artists at TAG

Comforts of Home Two women raid the linen closet and larder for the basic materials of their art

Africa as We’ve Never Seen It Seattle collection shows the work of dynamic, vital societies from the African continent

All Different Shades of Black Nashville photographer Carlton Wilkinson celebrates African American beauty

Vitreous States Two shows offer glass turned into sculptural objects and finely designed vessels

 

 

The Author

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David Maddox

David Maddox is a writer for the Nashville Scene.

 

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Selling art used to mean getting work into a gallery in a city—the bigger the gallery, and the bigger the city, the better. But in the last 20 years, art fairs have emerged as another way to bring together collectors and artists—or, at least, the galleries that represent them. In addition to providing an excellent excuse for creatures of the art world to dress like artists and look at each other, these fairs create conditions for serious buying.  

Carol Stein at Cumberland Gallery has made it a fundamental part of her business for at least 10 years because, she says, the fairs “expose our artists to the eyes and ears of important collectors and other dealers.” This year, Cumberland and two other Nashville galleries—Janice Zeitlin’s Zeitgeist Gallery and Jerry Dale McFadden’s TAG—are making an appearance at one of the best contemporary art fairs, Art Chicago, which runs April 28-May 1 in Grant Park. Among the Tennessee artists the galleries will be featuring are Chris Scarborough, Adrienne Outlaw, Marilyn Murphy, Mark Hosford, Alicia Henry and Jim Ann Howard.

While participating in the fairs involves significant costs, the galleries see it as an important step in their development. As McFadden says, “TAG has been growing and changing and positioning itself as a competitive national gallery.” And for Zeitgeist it’s an even bigger deal, as this is their first time to do one of these shows.

According to Lain York from Zeitgeist, the larger art markets are very interested in what’s happening “on the frontiers.” Nashville and other “second- and third-tier cities” are considered “very exotic to larger market collectors,” York explains. “The three of us are showing pretty varied work and I think that helps to reinforce the depth that the scene here has.”

If these galleries fare well at Art Chicago and similar events, artists may find it more appealing to stay in Nashville because they can do so without sacrificing the prospect of making a living the way any artist dreams of, by having people buy their work.