We’ve been tracking a trend of abstract painting in Nashville’s gallery scene lately, and Ward Schumaker’s exhibit
Geography Lessons, opening tonight at Zeitgeist, will add another voice to the conversation. Schumaker is an award-winning San Francisco-based designer and illustrator, but his fine art on paper and his handmade books have a distinctly Eastern sensibility. With Ward, however, such influences result in the aforementioned abstract art, and not the more Japonist style that marks the work of Impressionist painters. Ward also uses a fair amount of stenciled text in his work, meaning that this show also dovetails nicely with the text/art/book frenzy we’ve been noticing all season.
— Joe Nolan