The Arts Company
presents
INSPIRED
Printmaker John Welles Bartlett
and Illustrator Julianna Swaney
Opens during First Art Saturday
September 4, 2010, 6-9 PM
Show continues through September 25
215 Fifth Avenue of the Arts, North
10-5:00 pm, Tuesday-Saturday
Join us on Facebook, Twitter and The Arts Company Blog
Nashville, TN – The Arts Company brings together a fascinating collaboration entitledInspired, by artists (and strangers) John Welles Bartlett and Julianna Swaney. Having never met and living on opposite sides of the United States, the artists were asked by the exhibit’s curator Brian Downey to study the artwork of the other and create one piece, in their own style, inspired by the other artist. Bartlett is an East Coast printmaker and Swaney is a West Coast illustrator. How will each artist be “inspired” by the other? Find out when the works are shown together in this new exhibition at The Arts Company, opening during First Art Saturday September 4, 2010.
About the Exhibit
Curated by Associate Director at The Arts Company Brian Downey, Inspired brings together the work of artists John Welles Bartlett and Julianna Swaney. Bartlett, a printmaker from Brooklyn, NY, intricately carves detailed woodblocks to create his large-scale prints. His process is quite labor intensive, using ancient techniques, but is executed in a contemporary style. While similar in subject matter and medium (work on paper), Swaney’s illustrations have a life all their own. More intimate and small-scale, especially compared to Bartlett’s oversized prints, Swaney’s work evokes feelings of fantasy, folklore and nostalgia.
The show’s title, Inspired, has two meanings. First, each artist’s work is meticulous and the finished result is breathtaking. Their work is truly inspired. Secondly, curator Brian Downey asked each artist to study the body of work of the other artist and create one piece for the show that is inspired by the other. Both Bartlett and Swaney were equally excited to take on this challenge, but even more motivated to see what the other would create knowing the piece would be inspired by them. Although several pieces of work by each artist will be on exhibit, the highlight of the show will certainly be the “inspired” pieces.
About the Artists
John Welles Bartlett
John Welles Bartlett, originally from San Francisco, now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He received a B.F.A. from the University of Oregon and a M.F.A. from Pratt Institute. His recent work has been large-scale woodcut prints on paper. His subject matter explores themes of myths, extinction, and the relationship between humans and nature. His work has also posed interaction between layers of antiquated technology, within the subject matter and printing processes. The imagery combines archaic means with telecommunications, genetic engineering and mass production. Many of Bartlett’s pieces have interchangeable parts, functioning individually, as well as serial components in larger assembled compositions. In addition to his large-scale prints, many of the original carved woodblocks will be displayed as well, as relief sculptural objects.
Julianna Swaney
Julianna Swaney grew up in Michigan. The child of “bird-watcher” parents, she would play in the woods behind her home on a daily basis, cultivating a love of nature and animals. The family would often take vacations to distant areas to study birds with exotic names. Swaney’s upbringing, surrounded by nature and animals, had a very obvious influence on her art. Even in adulthood, Julianna Swaney is influenced by nature, children’s stories, fairytales, and history. Looking at the world portrayed in her drawings is like looking into an illustrated story of contemporary folklore. Swaney now lives and works in Portland, Oregon, where her work is in constant demand. Her drawings have been featured in magazines, books, and album covers as well as being exhibited in several gallery shows all over the Unites States.
About the Exhibit Curator / Brian Downey
Brian Downey, a native Tennessean, started his professional life in advertising following completion of his B.A. in advertising at MTSU in Murfreesboro in 2001. However, he was quickly drawn to his other areas of study, art and film. Beginning as a buyer for a craft gallery, he established his own fine craft gallery, Artifex, in 2004 at The Factory in Franklin.
In 2006, he joined The Arts Company staff and soon became the Associate Director responsible for corporate exhibit development and gallery installations. Since then, Downey has carved a niche for himself as an inventive curator who designs creative installations suited to each artist’s work. When in NYC in March, he discovered John Bartlett’s large-scale wood block prints, accompanied by the original wood blocks in the windows of Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue. This September exhibit will feature Bartlett’s printmaking on Nashville’s Fifth Avenue alongside another artist, Julianna Swaney, an illustrator, whom Downey discovered on the other coast, in Oregon, pairing them together in an exhibit he has titled “Inspired.” He has asked them each to make a piece of work inspired by what they have seen of the other’s work. His presentation will help make new connections between these two artists.
About The Arts Company / 2010
Established in December 1996, The Arts Company continues to be an arts cornerstone on Fifth Avenue in downtown Nashville and a prime destination for fresh, original, contemporary artwork in photography, painting, and sculpture, by artists from emerging to legendary. The gallery website, www.theartscompany.com, is available 24/7 for reviewing and previewing artist portfolios and gallery and outside exhibitions sponsored throughout the year by the gallery. The Company also maintains a series of Partners in Art relationships with non-profit enterprises such as the Nashville Film Festival, the Southern Festival of Books, and the Nashville AIGA group of professional designers; as well as business partners such as KVBPR, Nashville City Center, and Pinnacle Financial Partners. In addition, the Company has recently launched a new enterprise, The Arts Company Press, dedicated to developing and publishing art-related book projects. Information on FirstArtSaturdays is also available on the website, as well as regular entries on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog. Regular gallery hours are: 10:00am-5:00pm, Tuesday-Saturday.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
The Arts Company
presents
INSPIRED
Printmaker John Welles Bartlett and Illustrator Julianna Swaney
Opens during First Art Saturday
September 4, 2010, 6-9 PM
Show continues through September 25
The Arts Company
Anne Brown, Owner & Director
215 Fifth Avenue of the Arts, North
Nashville, TN 37219 615-254-2040 / www.theartscompany.com
Join us on Facebook, Twitter and The Arts Company Blog
