Frist Museum of Art (2/18/2022)

Friday, February 18, 2022 (continued)

Next in Nashville was the Frist Museum of Art, where we actually saved money on the admission by using our Tyler Arboretum membership!

Frist Art Museum (2001, in the former post office built in
1933-1934, by Marr & Holmann Architects in
Moderne and Art Deco style (KSS)

Rose on 65th Street (2011, by Will Ryman)

Rose on 65th Street detail

Building detail

Refurbished lobby

Metal window panels (KSS)

Main exhibition: On the Horizon: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Pérez Art Museum Miami:

Untitled (1990, by Kcho/Alexis Levya Machado) 

In Cuban jargon, to row means to do whatever is necessary to survive of stay afloat.

Island (see-escape) (2010, by Yoan Capote) depicts the
ocean as a barrier that is difficult to cross as a prison wall

Amazingly, the waves are created with fish hooks

ORACLE (2017, by Tomas Esson), the artist is known for
groteque human-animal hybrids, but here he portrays
sexuality not as bestial, but as pleasurable

ORACLE detail

From the series Energies I (2010, by
Manuel Mendive); the artist is associated
with the Afrocubanismo movement (KSS)

A Remedy for the Evil Eye (2004, by
Rubén Torres Llorca) is an example
of Afrocubanismo with reference to the
belief in the evil eye in certain folk cultures

Halloween (1973, by Julio Larraz) with
chiaroscuro treatment of light

Flight Simulation (c 1990, by José Bedia)
depicts a man wishing he could fly
with the birds to escape

Caught (1993, by Luis Cruz Azaceta)
shows someone who did try to escape, and
according to policy, those found on the sea
were sent back to Cuba, yet those who were
found on United States soil were accepted

I've Got Family on the Other Side (2007, by Abel Barroso)
reflects divided cities like the former Berlin,
but symbolizes Cuba and Florida

Untitled from the series Erotic Topology
(1970, by Zilia Sanchez)

No. 07 from the series Umbra (2014, by Kenia Arguinao);
'umbra' is the darkest part of the shadow and is considered
by the artist to be in the realm of the subconscious;
this work was inspired by her dreams

Kiss on Dead Ground (2016, by Elizabet Cervino) consists
of blocks carved in the shape of the lower parts of the letters
in a 28-line verse written by the artist

I found the shadows to be fascinating

Heaven (2007, by René Francisco) comments on collectivism
with the giant propaganda sign that they live in a paradise
on earth; however the letters of heaven are made up of
buildings with bars on the windows, suggesting if they do not
accept the vision of communal bliss they will be imprisoned

We can not figure out how Heaven was painted

Migrations II (1994, by Sandra Ramos) was created at a
time when many Cubans sought freedom, and many lost
families and friends though exile or death; however, this
suitcase is filled with childhood memories

Path of Life VII (2014, by Inti Hernandez); this shows both
the man and the woman ready to rise to the top of the corporate
ladder; however, the woman has more obstacles

Path of Life VII as seen from one side mirrors the one figure,
so that the man or woman is not aware of what the other faces

No Reason, No Hope, Nothing (2015, by Gabriel Cisneros)
was the final project for graduation at the Havana Instituto
Superior de Arte; instead of presenting a work of art and a
written thesis, Cisneros placed his thesis inside the sculpture
so that the only way to evaluate his thesis would be to
destroy the work of art; this quandary was meant to challenge
the institution, but the title already expressed what he thought

Exhibition: LeXander Bryant: Forget me Nots:

Forget-Me-Nots (2021) is based on Tupac Shakur's poem,
The Rose That Grew from Concrete, but he used forget-me-nots
to underscore remembering one's past while also
acknowledging that beauty can be found in inhospitable places

A series of photographs by LeXander Bryant: Left to right:
Walker Springs King (2017), Don't Blame the Youth (2015),
The Most Known, Unknown (2018), Wash Away My
Fears (2020), and Free Lunch (2019) (KSS)

The JW Marriott Nashville (2016-2018, by
Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart)
has a rooftop restaurant with a view

Union Station Yards Hotel in the former
Union Station (1900, by Richard Montfort
in late Victorian Romanesque Revival style)

Next: Gaylord Opryland Resort.