NASHVILLEby Brett Weaver

THE NEW

artsthe company

NOVE

MBER

1-22

, 201

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After coming off of my last show at The Arts Company, which was primarily focused on abstract work, I began searching for ideas and inspiration for my next exhibition of work.

Back in the winter, after finishing up a large cityscape of New York City with all the energy and movement of the people and tall buildings and taxi cabs, I came up with the idea of taking all the growth and energy that’s currently happening in Nashville and capturing it in the same way I did in ‘5th Ave NYC’. When I presented this idea to Anne and everyone at the Arts Company they were so excited about it that Anne immediately said let’s go ahead, and set a date for the show. I was so pumped about their excitement that I went straight to work.

As I started looking for material I quickly became so frustrated. I had taken on what I realized was an impossible task. Nashville was growing daily and by the time I was done there would be more and more hip cool places that I hadn’t captured. And what were the hip cool places? Did I even know. How would I even do this in fifteen paintings? How do I make it feel mas-sive and full of energy like New York? ‘It’s impossible’ I said. So one day a big light bulb went off and just smacked me in the face and I realized -- Nashville is not New York City. It has its own energy -- it’s own identity. It’s not necessarily even about being hip and cool. It’s about the music art and culture and the people that make it that way. It’s about Nashville -- the New Nashville. That’s the thing that’s always made it what it is. New York is taxi cabs and subways, while Nashville is taxi cabs and pickup trucks. The big thing I keep hearing is that East Nashville is the Brooklyn of the South. Nashville is developing its own culture and its neighborhoods are evolving to create their own identity. These are the sort of things I wanted to capture.

One of the main reasons I began doing abstract paintings was to get away from my paintings being about specific places. A painting needs to be a good painting no matter what it is. This was more important to me in putting together this show than just going around copying places or locations. It has to be about the energy of the place and something that speaks to me about the place, with a strong abstract design as well. In order to do this I de-termined I needed to have a more permanent presence there. I had grown up with Nashville

ARTIST STATEMENT:

“...Nashville is not New York City. It has its own

energy -- it’s own identity. It’s not necessarily even about

being hip and cool. It’s about the music art and culture and the people that make it that way. It’s about Nashville --

The New Nashville.”

being the big city my family would go to when we needed something we couldn’t get from our small town. So I had always seen Nashville as a big place with lots of energy. I had even lived and worked there a few different times after college and still hung out there all the time. But at the time I was living in Chattanooga and decided, if I’m going to do this right I really need to be there. So I rented a studio in Germantown and moved up to Nashville in February to begin working on the show.

What is the New Nashville?

That was still the big question. East Nashville? 12 South? Downtown? Broadway? The Gulch? A TV Show? Yes. It was all that and much more. For me as an artist it was part of a journey. It was a highway leading most people somewhere to some type of dream. When I was a child it was the main interstate highway that took me there. I kept seeing a recurring theme of highways and crosswalks and patterns of lights both inside and on the streets. These common pathways would be incorporated into most of my designs.

“Nashville is no longer just about country music and conforming to some

stereotype. There’s some-thing here for everyone.”

In the past it was just about country music, but now I think it’s about so much more. Having seen Nashville changing in some form all my life and even hearing my parents stories of Nashville, it seemed that some things, whether it be old Nashville or New Nashville, never really changed. People had always come for the Ryman and for the music and they always would. Now they come to see all types of music there.

Nashville is no longer just about country music and conforming to some stereotype. There’s something here for everyone. It’s an international city. Sure it’s about the music, but not just country music. It’s crossing so many boundaries.

For me the feeling of a new Nashville really started back when I heard that Jack White moved there and produced an album for Loretta Lynn. Neighborhoods like East Nashville and 12 South have become hip places to live and hang out -- the food and culture now rival any other major city with so many good restaurants that when your favorite is packed out you have four or five more options on the same block that are equally as good. Local coffee shops are a vibrant part of the culture and identity of each neighborhood. We now have an art museum that features major international exhibitions and art collectors can go downtown galleries on 5th Ave and buy high end contemporary art without having to go to New York City. It seems like there are mas-sive amounts of visitors that come in droves to visit Music City compared to four or five years ago -- most of them are coming here for the music, art and culture. This is what the New Nashville is all about. There really is something here for everyone. These are some of the things I really wanted to capture in the show.

Some of the places I think of as being important to the Nashville culture that I didn’t have time to get to include The Frist Center, Grimey’s Record Store, Barista Parlor, the Nashville Ballet, The Gulch, Fido and Hillsboro village, the list goes on and on. arts

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Brett is primarily a self taught artist. His brief introduction to formal art training began as a Civil Engineering Student at Tennessee Tech when he was accepted directly into ‘advanced studio painting’ as a non art major after presenting a portfolio of work to the professor.

After painting landscapes for 10 years, Weaver began also painting abstracts to open up a new world of creativity allowing him to experiment with colors and expression in the use of paint, be-yond that which he has experienced in the landscape. Opening up this new perception of color and composition has also allowed him to develop more expressive landscapes. His abstracts are primarily minimalist and non representational. They are based on ideas, emotions and en-ergy that develop as each painting evolves through layers of color and texture. He believes that being safe and obligated to one style can only stifle ones creativity and keep you from growing as an artist. His main goal in his abstract work is to say very much with very little and take the viewer to a state of seeing and experiencing what is perhaps not even there.

Weaver’s influences range from Edgar Payne and Twachtman to Diebenkorn and de Stael. Brett has won numerous awards with his landscapes and his work is in public and private col-lections including the Tennessee State Museum.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

As you walk up 5th Avenue by the Ryman there’s this giant billboard with the words ‘Core of Country Music.’ To me the Ryman is just ‘The Core’ of Nashville and had to be included within the large painting titled ‘The Core’ as really the most important work in the show.

The CoreOil on canvas, 48 x 48 in.

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In a similar fashion Union Station had always been there welcoming you to downtown Nashville, whether it was by highway or rail and its powerful towering presence could not be denied as always being what I think of when I think of Nashville. ‘Thumbin My Way to Nashville’ depicts a musician arriving to Nashville with a guitar on him back and Union Station towering above him welcoming his arrival. He’s walking in the road because it’s what has taken him there and the highway has become his home.

Thumbin My Way to NashvilleOil on canvas, 30 x 30 in.

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Some of the earliest pieces I did for the show were interiors. The first one was of the oyster bar in ‘Urban Grub’ on 12 South. I became very excited anticipating my food as I sat there watching the art of chefs in the open kitchen in front of me as they prepared the food. As amazing as the food was, it almost wouldn’t have mattered because the experience and atmosphere was so alive and filled with energy.

Urban GrubOil on canvas, 36 x 36 in.

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The next painting I felt like I had to do was ‘The Patterson House’ because the first time I ever hung out there with friends back in 2009 Jack White and his crew were hanging out there and nobody made any attempt to bother them or ruin their evening. I could see then that Nashville was becoming more sophisticated, a place where people could come to be left alone with no paparazzi and celebrities didn’t always feel the need to elevate themselves above everyone else. To me ‘The Patterson House’ represented that aspect of Nashville.

Patterson HouseOil on canvas, 36 x 36 in.

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The third interior painting was of Bar Lines in the new Omni Hotel complex. A group of us went there after my show at The Arts Company last October. The hotel and bar had just opened and was getting all the hype, so we wanted to check it out. Just down the large interior hallway were also the new Country Music Hall of Fame and the relocated Hatch Show Print Shop. Everyone’s first reaction sitting there was ‘This place is cool! It doesn’t feel like Nashville? It feels like we’re in a bigger city.’ I guess we were. I wanted to include ‘Omni Bar‘ to represent this aspect of the direction Nashville is going. This painting is very minimal with only one man at the bar, and the monochromatic way it is painted represents the simplicity, sophistication and individuality of the new Nashville.

Omni BarOil on canvas, 30 x 30 in.

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I also wanted to include ‘Hatch Show Print’ because of the way they managed to bring it forward by relocating to this important new development of downtown Nashville, while still maintaining the vintage atmosphere and integrity of its past.

Hatch Show PrintOil on canvas, 36 x 36 in.

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Later I began introducing cityscape street scenes done in a similar fashion as the 5th Avenue painting I had done of New York City. I wanted to represent the thriving new downtown without just painting the tourist-filled honkytonks that have always been the typical downtown Nashville. I attempted to capture this through ‘4th Ave’ which features the quintessential Nashville AT&T ‘Batman Building‘ as well as the ‘Pinnacle of Music City‘ with the Pinnacle Building representing the banking aspect of Downtown.

4th AvenueOil on canvas, 24 x 24 in.

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Later I began introducing cityscape street scenes done in a similar fashion as the 5th Avenue painting I had done of New York City. I wanted to represent the thriving new downtown without just painting the tourist-filled honkytonks that have always been the typical downtown Nashville. I attempted to capture this through ‘4th Ave’ which features the quintessential Nashville AT&T ‘Batman Building‘ as well as the ‘Pinnacle of Music City‘ with the Pinnacle Building representing the banking aspect of Downtown. Music and culture is represented as well by including obscure portions of the Schermerhorn Symphony and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Pinnacle of Music CityOil on canvas, 24 x 24 in.

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Then I decided to push to a more abstract level with ‘Church Street’ --an elevated rooftop view from the Paramore Digital Agency on Fifth Avenue to represent a more modern contemporary side of downtown. The painting is vertical to represent the upward growth of Nashville. With a solid orange sky and no windows in the buildings, the painting is primarily about abstract design and color harmony.

Church StreetOil on canvas, 40 x 30 in.

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I realized I still had not included two areas that I felt were at the heart of what had been a major contribution of the artistic vibe and creativity of the New Nashville. As far as neighborhoods go, East Nashville had to be included because artists have made it a place where everyone wants to hang out and artists can still afford to live there. I chose to represent the multicultural aspect and energy and soul of the neighborhood through ‘Five Points East Nashville.’ Of all the paintings in the show, this one seems, appropriately, to be the most welcoming, feeling like you want to just walk into it.

Five Points East NashvilleOil on canvas, 24 x 36 in.

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5th Avenue of the ArtsOil on canvas, 36 x 36 in.

Most importantly to me as an artist, the other area that definitely had to be included in the show was ‘5th Avenue of the Arts.’ Fifth Avenue is the heart of the contemporary art world in Nashville, very much responsible for Nashville’s new awareness of the importance of visual art. I’m seeing art from Nashville now making its mark and being collected on an international level.

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The Frothy MonkeyOil on canvas, 36 x 36 in.

The painting of ‘The Frothy Monkey’ with its loosely painted glowing light patterns represents the vibrant warmth, energy and community of the new coffee shop culture in Nashville. The Frothy Monkey, being the newest addition to 5th Avenue of the Arts also represents the growth of businesses in the downtown arts district.

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Finally, I wanted to do a skyline view, but I still wanted it to incorporate highways or street patterns. One of the major intersections of Nashville has always been where 21st Ave merges into West End and Broadway, and you can see a small strip of the Nashville skyline with a large vertical sign on the left stating the obvious --‘DOWNTOWN.’ This, combined with partially obstructed view of the Beaman Automotive sign on the right ended up inspiring the painting’s name -- Downtown Man.’

Downtown ManOil on canvas, 18 x 36 in.

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Obviously the symphony is an important part of the growing diversity of the music culture within Nashville. The painting ‘The Symphony’ was put together after observing various visual references and viewpoints. What I was drawn to the most was how the group moved in a unified harmony that seems to take on a life of its own. I kept it really loose and blurred to try to capture this movement. In a way, I saw it the same way I try to approach my paintings, like colorful chunks of paint and blurred edges that come together and represent something more than just separate pieces of paint if you just take the time to step back and watch and listen. It’s the synergistic result of the talent of each member that really brings it to life when they all come together and thus becomes something beautiful. I suppose it could also be taken as somewhat of an allegorical representation of what Nashville has become as it has come together with so many talented and creative people.

Nashville SymphonyOil on canvas, 18 x 22 in.

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I knew Third Man Records ultimately had to be a part of the show just because Jack White has played such an important role in the new identity of Nashville. After deciding that I needed to do a painting of the interior of Third Man Records, it took months to determine how to approach it because there were so many unique and crazy things in there. But I think that it is so appropriate that the one thing that kept speaking to me was the words on the recording booth silently crying out ‘Record Your Own Voice’. That’s essentially what all artists are really trying to do. At least that’s what I ultimately strive for in my work rather than just singing someone else’s song. Hopefully with each painting I will get a little closer to finding my own voice. It seems like it’s always been those that really have something to say who have had the most profound impact on Nashville. To me, Johnny Cash has always pretty much been at the top of the list. But now, in a lot of ways I’m starting to think of Jack White as the New Nashville’s ‘Man in Black’. The title on the recording booth in Third Man — ‘Record Your Own Voice‘ — could be taken as somewhat of an anthem for the New Nashville.

Third Man RecordsOil on canvas, 30 x 40 in.

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Music City CenterOil on canvas, 24 x 24 in.

I came to the point where I was almost finished putting together the show and realized that there was something missing.... ‘Music City Center’. Its name says it all. It had to be included. With this painting I really wanted to capture the warmth and energy of the city and the movement of the busy streets, and it was important to accurately depict the guitar inspired curves of the Music City Center. This really is the center of the ‘New Nashville’, the magnetic force pulling everything and taking it to a new level. It was fitting that it was the last painting and now the show was complete.

215 5th Ave of the Arts N.Nashville, TN 37219

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