THE FOCUS

This is a selection of works from artists who live and/or work in Tennessee. All six come from immigrant families, and use photography either literally or referentially. As Tennesseans, their work is made against a diverse—and increasingly divisive—political backdrop. We are less trusting of the news, of photographic evidence. While the rhetoric crescendos around borders, global migration, and scarcity, photography reminds us that we have many ways of seeing "evidence." Truth is not scarce, it's...

"A sewing needle pierces through threads, creating holes and separating material. This activity straddles the line between construction and deconstruction. The pulling apart and separation of threads is necessary in the creation of new forms." Virginia Griswold, Studio Visit, 2019. (photo: Tracy Treadwell) "My work incorporates and appropriates objects and artifacts. I remain attentive to the gap between the previous existence of an object or material versus how it exists presently, even posing the question of what it could become." Virginia...

Look for the emblematic lawn chair, a banner that hangs outside the unassuming brick duplex. Near Plaza Artist Materials and next door to the storefront for Third Man Records, you’ll find Unrequited Leisure. Pie Town’s new artist-run gallery, which opened in January, addresses Nashville’s appetite for experimental, outward-facing programming. Unrequited Leisure, Gallery Visit featuring work by Judy Rushin, 2019. Photo: Elysia Mann. It’s worth the mile-plus trek from the arcade where the First Saturday Art Crawl concentrates. An outli...