Screen Sculptures

Nashville native James Threalkill is a painter whose artwork celebrates a life well-lived. The vibrant palette, gamut of texture, and subtle abstraction exhibited in his paintings exude a feeling of vigor, entice a sense of spontaneity, and explore resonance within a still image. His style of work is best described as Expressive Realism, an area of painting that teases the tension between figurative and nonrepresentational art. Using people as his primary subject matter, Threalkill creates a connection between viewer and artwork that often leaves the viewer feeling as if they've witnessed a raw and intimate moment in someone else's life. His work also demonstrates harmony with the subjects he frequently depicts: jazz musicians entranced in moments of lyrical spontaneity. Threalkill's endeavors have received national recognition. He collaborated with artist Michael McBride and Metro Nashville school teachers to develop the groundbreaking children's book series, Visions: African American Experiences...

Nashville native James Threalkill is a painter whose artwork celebrates a life well-lived. The vibrant palette, gamut of texture, and subtle abstraction exhibited in his paintings exude a feeling of vigor, entice a sense of spontaneity, and explore resonance within a still image. His style of work is best described as Expressive Realism, an area of painting that teases the tension between figurative and nonrepresentational art. Using people as his primary subject matter, Threalkill creates a connection between viewer and artwork that often leaves the viewer feeling as if they've witnessed a raw and intimate moment in someone else's life. His work also demonstrates harmony with the subjects he frequently depicts: jazz musicians entranced in moments of lyrical spontaneity. Threalkill's endeavors have received national recognition. He collaborated with artist Michael McBride and Metro Nashville school teachers to develop the groundbreaking children's book series, Visions: African American Experiences...

Nashville native James Threalkill is a painter whose artwork celebrates a life well-lived. The vibrant palette, gamut of texture, and subtle abstraction exhibited in his paintings exude a feeling of vigor, entice a sense of spontaneity, and explore resonance within a still image. His style of work is best described as Expressive Realism, an area of painting that teases the tension between figurative and nonrepresentational art. Using people as his primary subject matter, Threalkill creates a connection between viewer and artwork that often leaves the viewer feeling as if they've witnessed a raw and intimate moment in someone else's life. His work also demonstrates harmony with the subjects he frequently depicts: jazz musicians entranced in moments of lyrical spontaneity. Threalkill's endeavors have received national recognition. He collaborated with artist Michael McBride and Metro Nashville school teachers to develop the groundbreaking children's book series, Visions: African American Experiences...

medium: painted aluminum, homasote, rubber Skylar Fein was born in Greenwich Village and raised in the Bronx. He has had many careers including teaching nonviolent resistance under the umbrella of the Quakers, working for a gay film festival in Seattle, stringing for The New York Times and as pre-med student at University of New Orleans where he moved one week before Hurricane Katrina hit. Fein is best known for his large-scale installations, including Remember the Upstairs Lounge, an exhibit during Prospect.1 Biennial that threw a spotlight on a little-known chapter of history. The 1973 arson fire at a gay bar in the French Quarter is still the deadliest attack against gay people on record. But here, the artist turns to something on a more intimate level. Fein says of the “Giant Metal Matchbooks” series… Why matchbooks? It reflects the artist’s love of pop culture, its vibrancy and also its accidental depth and poignancy. “A common object is a perfect meeting place.” That’s a Claes Oldenburg quote, and it’s still true — the most banal objects, aren’t. Obviously Oldenburg’s giant sculptures are forerunners, along with a dash of Warhol’s Brillo boxes and a side of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” The aluminum matchbooks open up, revealing — yes, giant wooden matches, with realistic (rubber) match heads. Do they light? Not exactly. But they burn. Skylar Fein was the recipient of a 2009 Joan Mitchell Foundation Award and his work is in several prominent collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, The Louisiana State Museum, The Birming-ham Museum of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, curators Dan Cameron and Bill Arning, and collectors Beth Rudin DeWoody, Lance Armstrong, Lawrence Benenson, Brooke Garber...