“Shinique Smith: Wonder and Rainbows”
October 9, 2015–January 10, 2016
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (August 12, 2015)—Highly expressive paintings and sculptures by New York–based artist Shinique Smith will be on view in the Frist Center’s exhibition Wonder and Rainbows from October 9, 2015, through January 10, 2016. Ms. Smith, who was featured in the Frist Center’s 2013 presentation of 30 Americans, is celebrated for bringing dynamic energy to her work and employing common found objects within bold compositions.
Ms. Smith’s practice reflects influences as diverse as dance, fashion, Eastern philosophies, graffiti, Japanese calligraphy, poetry, lyrics and childhood wonder. “Smith’s kaleidoscopic sculptures and paintings are graceful yet forceful combinations of many different materials and ideas,” says Frist Center Curator Katie Delmez. “The works are meant to convey her personal history as well as a greater sense of cultural concern and connectivity.” By bringing together items both cherished and cast-off from multiple sources, each packed with its own history and aspects of the previous owner’s identity, Ms. Smith creates a compelling cross section of time, place and meaning.
In the Frist Center’s Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery, Ms. Smith will debut a new sculptural work of cut wood and collage, Open Word Lattice: Black and Rainbow, which will correspond to a site-specific wall painting in the central space. Ms. Smith’s engaging artworks and installations often use the ceiling and the floor to create what she calls an immersive “aura of enchantment.”
The other galleries will contain approximately ten vibrant collage-based paintings in which seemingly insignificant items such as artificial flowers, butterfly decals, and old toys intertwine with the artist’s energetic brushwork and fragments of colorful textiles. They will also showcase four of her well-known hanging “bundle” sculptures of clothing and accessories bound together with knotted cords and ribbon. Many of Ms. Smith’s works contain keepsakes and cast-off objects—a comment on the vast excess and waste in American consumerist society—but also a demonstration of how personal possessions can inspire memories and shape our identity as individuals and as a society. One bundle pays homage to Jimi Hendrix by incorporating a T-shirt Ms. Smith herself owned; the shirt displays the cover of Hendrix’s second album, Axis: Bold as Love, a visual reference to a Hindu deity. The title of this plush sculpture, Tongues became flowers, was inspired by a poem from the thirteenth-century Persian mystic poet Rumi, whose writings have been a source for several of her works.
Color, particularly the entire spectrum, is a focus of this exhibition and reflects Ms. Smith’s interest not only in nature, but also in whimsy and childhood wonder. Like Kandinsky, Ms. Smith believes that each hue can have a particular psychological impact and reflect an individual’s inner state. A highlight of Wonder and Rainbows will be a new large-scaled wall piece of individual panels of color corresponding to the rainbow and composed entirely of ribbon and cloth. “More than a pretty decorative motif, rainbows can represent unrestrained dreams, harmony after turbulent times, and diversity,” notes Ms. Delmez.
Shinique Smith earned international attention in the groundbreaking 2005 exhibition Frequency, a survey of emerging artists of African descent at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and in 2007’s Unmonumental: The Object in the 21st Century, the exhibition that inaugurated the new home of New York’s New Museum. Her work was also featured in 30 Americans, a nationally touring exhibition from the Rubell Family Collection based in Miami that surveyed works by emerging and established African American artists working since the mid-1970s.
The artist’s early years of writing graffiti in Baltimore, alongside her classical training at the Baltimore High School for the Arts, where she studied with the likes of Jada Pinkett Smith, Josh Charles and Tupac, remain evident in her exuberant calligraphic strokes, which she intermingles with materials from popular culture and her personal life. While in her Master of Fine Arts program at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Ms. Smith explored the relationship between graffiti and Japanese calligraphy as influencers on her handstyle. She sees a link between the two forms, noting that “in both you can’t back up, you must have a confident hand when you put your brush to the surface…There’s no erasing.”
The exhibition Ink, Silk, and Gold: Islamic Art from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will be concurrently on view at the Frist Center and will display numerous examples of calligraphic work, including Qur’an manuscripts. Drawing a connection between the two shows, Ms. Delmez says, “Smith has been interested in the expressive and meditative qualities of writing for many years. The lyrical lines found in her work today—whether in thick black ink or bold waves of color—have a similar sense of energy and elegance that is seen in many of the Islamic texts.”
Exhibition Credit
Shinique Smith: Wonder and Rainbows was organized by the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.
Sponsor Acknowledgment
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts is supported in part by the Metro Nashville Arts Commission, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Public Programs
Saturday, October 10
Artist’s Perspective Shinique Smith: Wonder and Rainbows Presented by Shinique Smith
Noon
Frist Center Auditorium
Gallery admission required; members free
First come, first seated
New York-based artist Shinique Smith is widely acclaimed for her highly expressive paintings, sculptures and installations. The assemblages of used clothing and everyday objects, which often interact with energetic brushwork, reflect her personal history as well as broader cultural concerns. In this lecture, Smith will provide insight into her artistic practice and the myriad sources of inspiration from which she draws, ranging from graffiti to poetry to Eastern philosophies.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Buddy Kite: 615.744.3351, ”
Ellen Jones Pryor: 615.243.1311, ”
High-Resolution Images Available
~ ~ ~
About the Frist Center
Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts 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, Tenn., the Frist Center offers the finest visual art from local, regional, national, and international sources in a program of changing exhibitions that inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways. The Frist Center’s Martin ArtQuest Gallery features interactive stations relating to Frist Center exhibitions. Information on accessibility may be found at fristcenter.org/accessibility. Gallery admission is free for visitors 18 and younger and to members; $12 for adults; $9 for seniors and college students with ID; and $7 for active military. College students are admitted free Thursday and Friday evenings (with the exception of Frist Fridays), 5:00–9:00 p.m. Discounts are offered for groups of 10 or more with advance reservation by calling 615.744.3247. The galleries, Café, and Gift Shop are open seven days a week: Mondays through Wednesdays, and Saturdays, 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays, 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; and Sundays, 1:00–5:30 p.m., with the Café opening at noon. Additional information is available by calling 615.244.3340 or by visiting fristcenter.org.
# # #
