Exhibitions
SHIMMER: DREAMING THE POSTHUMAN
Frist Art Museum / 919 Broadway September 25, 2026 - January 3, 2027
Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman features 16 artists working with both analog and emergent technologies to visualize the interrelationship between humanity, other species, and the earth itself. Using mediums such as digital animation, augmented and virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, artists Ian Cheng, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Marguerite Humeau, Josefa Ntjam, Jacolby Satterwhite, Saya Woolfalk, and others challenge the view of human exceptionalism that prevents an ethics of care for the planet. Like the surrealists, these artists tap the transformative agency of the marvelous, the uncanny, and the unpredictable. In their fluid and floating creations, images morph, flicker, and dance, forming psychologically charged archetypes within a new collective unconscious.
While providing otherworldly moments of awe and enchantment, the exhibition is centered on real-world disciplines. The first section, taking a biological and ecological perspective, focuses on such subjects as extinction, evolution, and interspecies entanglement. The second, relating to psychology, offers visions of guiding avatars, “angels in the machine” who help distract, redirect, or open intellectual boundaries. The third relates to ontology—the philosophy of being. Bridging ancestral and present belief systems, particularly those outside modern Western traditions, artists in this section employ new technologies to reawaken humanity’s sense of interconnectedness with the earth.
Organized by the Frist Art Museum
image: Saya Woolfalk. Floating World of the Cloud Quilt, 2022. Brooklyn Academy of Music, Rudin Family Gallery at BAM Strong. Copyright Saya Woolfalk, Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects. Photo: Etienne Frossard.
About Frist Art Museum:
Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Frist Art Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art exhibition center dedicated to presenting and originating high-quality exhibitions with related educational programs and community outreach activities. Located at 919 Broadway in downtown Nashville, TN, the Frist Art Museum offers the finest visual art from local, regional, national, and international sources in exhibitions that inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways. Housed in Nashville’s former main post office building – the city’s treasured art deco structure that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 – the Frist Art Museum is a 124,400-square-foot facility with more than 45,000 square feet of combined exhibition and public space. On site, there is a gift shop, Café Cheeserie, and the award-winning, interactive Martin ArtQuest gallery, where guests can create their own works of art. Information on accessibility can be found at FristArtMuseum.org/accessibility. Gallery admission is free for guests ages 18 and younger and for members, and $20 for adults. For current hours and additional information, visit FristArtMuseum.org or call 615-244-3340.
Press Contact: Buddy Kite, bkite@fristartmuseum.org, 615-744-3351
