Art
Current Exhibitions
In Bloom: Works from Cheekwood’s Permanent Collection
March 21, 2019 – August 25, 2019
Whether through the rich symbolism of renewal or decay, love or hardship, florals have been captured by creatives since the beginning of art history. Botanicals hold a particularly apt place at Cheekwood. In Bloom: Works from Cheekwood’s Permanent Collection features works that explore the subject of flowers. Through this exhibition, the botanical experience extends beyond Cheekwood’s historic gardens into its galleries.
In Bloom will also feature work from Cheekwood’s biannual program Cheekwood ED: Extended Dialogues. Through a collaboration with Tony Perrin, Adjunct Instructor, three students studying Fashion Design and Merchandising at O’More College of Design at Belmont University were asked to chose works from the show and respond in the form of a garment. Samantha Erlington (’21), Amy May (’21) and Justice Ybarra (’21) are producing one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by works by Jean MacLane, Georgia O’Keeffe, Martha Walter. The garments will be on view in the exhibition galleries.Pauline Palmer, Family Gathering, 1919. Oil on canvas. Gift of the 1988 Collectors’ Group with matching funds through the bequest of Anita Bevill McMichael Stallworth. 1988.16.
Diana Al-Hadid: Sublimations
May 24, 2019 – September 1, 2019
In collaboration with the Frist Art Museum, Cheekwood presents two large scale, outdoor works by Syrian-born, American artist Diana Al-Hadid. Influenced by a wide range of sources, including art, history, and literature of both Western and Eastern traditions, Islamic calligraphy, ancient architecture, and cartography, Al-Hadid creates impressionistic meditations on ruination and renewal.
At the Frist and Cheekwood are selections from Al-Hadid’s installation Delirious Matter, organized by the Madison Square Park Conservancy for Madison Square Park in New York. The principal sculptures from that installation—at the Frist, Gradiva and Synonym, and at Cheekwood, The Grotto and Citadel—deal with feminine images taken from art history, myth, literature, and fictional female characters.Such sculptures merge the human body with architecture and nature. At Cheekwood, Citadel takes Hans Memling’s Allegory of Chastity (ca. 1475), showing a woman enthroned or imprisoned within a mountain and guarded by fierce lions as a point of departure.
Image courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen. © Diana Al-Hadid. Photo credit: Object Studies.
Childhood Classics: 100 Years of Children’s Book Illustrations
From the Art Kandy Collection
Curated by Lee Cohen & Lois Sarkisian
Organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions
June 22, 2019 – September 22, 2019
With over 140 original works included from over 75 books, Childhood Classics explores the history of children’s books from the turn of the century pen and ink Mother Goose art of Sarah Noble Ives, to the most popular works of today including the digital creations of Mo Willems. The exhibition features the original art of Dr. Seuss, the iconic Wild Things of Maurice Sendak and the perennial heroism of Garth Williams’ Stuart Little. Among the many classic illustrators featured are Rosemary Wells, Richard Scarry, Chris Van Allsburg and Hilary Knight. Fondly remembered characters of literature include Babar, Eloise, Madeline, the Cat in the Hat and Dick & Jane. Extensive wall labels illuminate the works.
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Upcoming Exhibitions
2019 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Visceral Vistas: David Brooks
September 19, 2019 – January 5, 2020
A 2019-2020 recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize, David Brooks is an American artist, based in New York City. Brooks creates works that explore the relationship between the natural and built worlds. As the 2019 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence, Brooks will present the expansive vistas of Cheekwood’s historic estate from the point of view of the Cheek family residence. Brooks has had solo exhibitions at Governors Island, The Alrich Contemporary Art Museum, Storm King Art Center, Socrates Sculpture Park and selected group shows at MoMA PS1. Brooks received his BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art and his MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts.
David Brooks, A Proverbial Machine in the Garden, 2013. Dynahoe tractor, concrete, earth, landscaping and steel grates. Image from Storm King Art Center.
Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Program
The Cheekwood Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence program brings national and international artists to Nashville to create and exhibit site-specific works at Cheekwood, while allowing artists the opportunity to interact with staff, visitors, and the arts community throughout the creative process. With its renowned museum and gardens, Cheekwood offers the Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence a unique resource which broadly reflects nature and sustainability within a global art practice. The residency program provides a studio and lounge area for the artist while they are in residency. Across from the studio is the gallery space where the Artist-in-Residence exhibition is traditionally installed. All of these spaces are located in the Frist Learning Center, also the historic stables and garages of Cheekwood. The Frist Learning Center also houses the Cheekwood Education Department. Mr. Shallenberger’s connection with Cheekwood has great length and significance. In June 1971, Shallenberger, the artist, exhibited 40 paintings at Cheekwood. Visitors who attended this exhibition were afforded a worldly experience with Shallenberger’s renderings of New York, Paris, Florence, Amsterdam, and Cologne. As a citizen of the world, he enjoyed experiencing and capturing the many sites he visited on canvas. Shallenberger knew the world of art had, and would continue to expand without borders. The residence program is made possible with the generous support of a private foundation.
Permanent Collection
The Cheekwood Permanent Collection of Fine Art includes paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and sculpture, with an emphasis on American Art produced between 1910 and 1970. The Cheekwood Permanent Collection regularly rotates.
Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail
The Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail was established in 1999 through the generosity of Ann and Monroe Carell Jr. and features contemporary sculptures on a woodland trail, a concept not commonly found in American museums. The Trail is a loop of approximately one mile, and includes eleven sculptures by internationally recognized contemporary artists such as James Turrell, Sophie Ryder and Jenny Holzer. Many of the sculptures were commissioned for their specific location, emphasizing the beauty of the Cheekwood landscape.
Cheekwood’s Riverview Gardens and Art Installation at Riverfront Park
Since 2015, Cheekwood has been partnering with the Metropolitan Government to present a garden and art installation at Riverfront Park. Cheekwood contributes to the overall care and oversight of the garden, maintaining the perennial plants and regularly installing annual plants that mirror the coinciding displays at Cheekwood. For example, in spring, Riverview Gardens features thousands of tulips reflecting the 150,000 blooming bulbs at Cheekwood.