Exhibitions
CODY TUMBLIN: TODAY'S SPECIAL
mild climate / 507C Hagan St. May 6, 2017 - June 24, 2017
Cody Tumblin
mild climate presents Today’s Special, the second solo exhibition from Nashville-based artist Cody Tumblin at the space. Today's Special features a community potluck dinner and additional food-centric programming TBA.
Cody Tumblin is hosting Today’s Special at mild climate. Today’s Special is an enormous one-night community potluck. The gallery asks that you bring either an empty stomach or a plate of food (or both!) to the opening night. All cuisines and pot sizes are welcome (even if it’s just a plate of peanut butter crackers, bring them over). Tumblin asks that guests do not aim for culinary prowess, simply bring something to eat. The artist has re-fired an assortment of secondhand ceramic plates for the event. Each plate is decorated with excerpts from his notebooks over the last five years. All we ask is that you grab a plate and help yourself to food and drink. At the end of the night, take home leftover food and a plate (if you like! available upon request).
*** We ask that you notify the gallery of any allergens your dish may contain, or even bring a small slip of paper with the ingredients on it. For any food you bring to the opening, use a disposable container so that we can properly toss it later, or take your dish back home with you at the end of the night! ***
You haven’t experienced True Love until you let someone cook for you. Let someone tell you how they love you with a little bit of salt, olive oil, and rosemary and you’ll see what I mean. It could do you some good. I mean have you ever tasted a perfectly ripe, perfectly caramelized fried plantain? Have you ever ripped open a fresh round of sourdough to find steamy ghosts of desire haunting your olfactory senses? I truly believe that when Dante pierces the skin of the universe and looks upon the Love that moves the earth and stars, he was gazing into a deep bowl of warm tomato soup with a sprig of fresh basil on top.
It’s a lot like learning anything, really. Cooking is a little awkward at first, but it’s honest work. A few burns, grease fires, and a couple years of overcooking chicken can actually teach you the deeper mysteries of life. Just grab a few things you like and boil them, fry them, bake them. Little by little you’ll find small miracles. A pinch of sugar to ease the acidity of a ripe tomato, a drizzle of honey to tenderize a hunk of meat, and a single bay leaf (what the hell is a bayleaf really?) can teach your chicken noodle soup a mighty trick.
The “meal” shouldn’t be a desperate grab for what leftover stillness we have in our busy lives. “Comfort Food” isn’t fried chicken and green beans at a Cracker Barrel, it’s sharing that last can of pinto beans in your pantry with someone because you happen to have half an onion and some tortillas lying around. Haven’t you ever read Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul? When you’re down on your luck and you’ve got nobody around to love you, try putting a little bit of butter, sugar, and cinnamon on a stale biscuit and broil at 400 for 3 minutes. Your heart just might soar, if even for a moment.
Today’s Special is whatever you’ve got left in the fridge, whatever you’ve got the energy to put together in a pan or a pot at the end of long day. Today is Special because it’s you, me, and a plate of something good between us.
Born and raised in Tennessee. Cody Tumblin currently lives and works in Nashville, TN. He is a person and he likes things.
