THE FOCUS

NOTE: Atlanta-based sculptor Christina A. West was interviewed by Ashley Layendecker to coincide with her current exhibition, Stage Left, on view at the UT Downtown Gallery (Knoxville, TN) through March 8, 2018. Christina West, Connector Interview, February 2018 (feat. Christina West: Stage Left at the UT Downtown Gallery, Knoxville, TN) Ashley Layendecker: There seems to be a sense of intimacy in the installation, not due to the naked figures per say, but more an intimacy of someone’s private space that the participant is...

I chose to ask four painters about the role politics might play, however broadly, in their practice. The interview with Mark Brosseau, Brian Edmonds, Christina Renfer Vogel, and Donna Woodley is in conjunction with the exhibition, Eyes Like Enemies [at ESPS: East Side Project Space, Nashville, TN]; a show in which I present two painters whose work allows for formal concerns to be “disrupted” by other “informants” like language, history and biography. No space is apolitical. Each space (including gallerie...

At The New Gallery at Austin Peay State University, I am still thinking about space, but am shifting gears with the second exhibition of the season: Michi Meko: How Far We Haven’t Come. Unlike the Jamey Grimes exhibition, this work is not a celebration of space, but an investigation of space by asking, “How do you exist in public space when public space is a threat?”  To find out more about Michi’s work, read his interview in the Octo...

At Austin Peay State University, we are beginning our new academic year in a new building. With that comes a new contemporary exhibition space, aptly named The New Gallery. With the first exhibition in the new gallery space in the new Art + Design building, I began thinking about space as a primary art element. I wanted to bring in an artist whose work deals with the transformation of space and was instantly reminded of the work of Jamey Grimes – work th...

Jana Harper: It’s Sunday, August 6th and You Can’t Make Love to Concrete opened last night at COOP Gallery here in Nashville. This three person exhibition was curated by Jennifer Baker and includes works by Marie Bannerot McInerney, Catalina Ouyang, and Bret Schneider, with a title inspired by Audre Lorde’s poem Making Love to Concrete. This morning I am having coffee with Jennifer and Marie. Jen, I’m curious to hear you talk about how your experience as an ar...

Locate Arts: What has compelled you to engage with contemporary art in your life and profession? Mark Scala: My parents were both trained as scientists, but had a broad appreciation for culture, especially literature. But they also kept a library with art books, and had a few reproductions of significant works, which I thought were magical. But I wasn’t sure I had what it takes to be an artist, so started school in pre-law, but soon decided to...

Gary Yeh is a senior at Duke University studying art history and economics. He developed an interest in contemporary art after visiting an Yves Klein retrospective at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. Since then, Gary has engaged more directly with the art community by supporting emerging artists, traveling to art fairs, and running an online art gallery in high school. He currently manages ArtDrunk, an Instagram account with over 20k followers and serves as a co-chair on the...

Locate Arts: How did you get connected with Tennessee based curators and artists for the Asymmetric Kin project? Naz Cuguoğlu: I met Jonathan Rattner when we were both at CeRCCa art residency in Llorenç del Penedes (Spain). We wanted to work on a project together. As he is a member of COOP Curatorial Collective (Nashville) and I am co-founder of Creative Çukurcuma art collective (Istanbul), we wanted to involve our communities in this project. He invited Paul Collins (mem...