Graphic design magazines like HOW and Print have various annual editions each year. One of those is a Regional Design Annual. It’s interesting to see how design looks in a particular region, but over the years I’ve seen less “regionality” as everything begins to look the same regardless of origin. It’s probably due to a combination of atrophying print design skills and a general global homogenization due to the Internet.
But when it comes to local art, that is, Nashville art, I can’t say I’ve ever noticed a “Southeastern” or “Nashville” or “Tennessee” style in the galleries I’ve been to or on the art crawls.
Nashville Arts Magazine seems pretty eclectic.
Maybe I just haven’t traveled enough to know what’s outside of Nashville. I don’t travel much.
So maybe what looks like “normal” art to me is plainly “local” to an outsider.
Now, I know there are regional styles out there. Southwest is the first that comes to my mind.
I have no idea if there’s a particular style coming out of L.A. or New York right now.
I can say, though, with what limited exposure I have, that it looks like Boston art collectors favor tighter, more realistic paintings, given the communication I’ve had with Quidley & Company. I did a painting for a show there last year, and the exhibition’s organizer kept asking me to make it more crisp. Melrose Interchange is more crisp than most of my work. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s not my usual style, either.
Back to Nashville: I’m sure there’s a local style, but it’s a bit eclectic and hard to pin down. In short: there’s a lot of “low-brow” influence from comics/comix, outsider/self-taught/naive art, plus postmodern sculptures and installations along with classical-inspired figure painting. It’s a pretty mixed bag, and I like it that way.
Image credits: From the August 2013 issue of Nashville Arts Magazine: Cano Ozenger, Susan Simmons, Bruce Munro, Mark Hosford, Greg Pond, and Richard Greathouse
