Visual art venues and events are on the rise in Nashville, and our side of the river is no exception. The once-monthly ArtEast festivities took place this past Saturday and we managed to make it to several openings.

Our first stop was Daniel Hawks’ Studio 83 in the recently refurbished building at 604 Gallatin Ave. Don’t let the lack of an adjacent parking lot deter you from visiting this gallery – there’s plenty of free parking in the lot across the street behind Rite Aid. Studio 83 is upstairs on the back side of the building.

Upon our approach to Studio 83, I noticed an unusual sight – right outside the gallery was Snow White in a mini-skirt, holding a beer in one hand and an apple in another, and there were about twelve people with sketchbooks drawing her. Anyone with a sketchbook and pencil was welcome to sit and join Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, which made the Studio 83 show interactive. What a cool idea!

Disney Characters as Garbage Pail Kids

Even cooler was the thematic group show inside Studio 83. Conceived by Jeff Bertrand, the show was based around playful themes reminiscent of childhood. Bertrand invited fifteen of his favorite artists, who run the gamut from tattoo artists to graphic designers, to each create several pieces of art to fit the themes, and the work was arranged in groups according to the themes.

In the section entitled Previous Jobs of Former Childhood Icons, Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers appeared several times in various occupations (butcher, Evel Knievel-style stunt school teacher), alongside a breakdancing Alf. Fittingly, the Disney Characters as Garbage Pail Kids section gave us multiple vomiting scenes such as Charles Bennett’s “Projectile Puknocchio” and Dustin Dirt’s “Upchuck Donald Duck”. The Other Characters Dorothy Could Have Met While on the Yellow Brick Road section included Colonel Sanders (why not? I bet Dorothy liked fried chicken) and a sinister-looking hillbilly version of My Little Pony.

Artist Erin Lord's "My Little Phony-Hillbilly D*luxe"

Colorful, whimsical, humorous, grotesque, and creative – the show managed to pull off the perfect combination of childish fun and professional craftsmanship while spotlighting the personalities of the artists involved. “I thought each individual artist could complement the others and do really strong work,” Bertrand said of the show. It’s safe to say that his choices were right on the mark.

Next we headed to Five Points and Billups Art, a music and art venue tucked quietly away behind Drifters BBQ with a stage, small cocktail tables, and a series of small studio rooms around the periphery that housed art from different artists.

Billups Art at night

The band Art Four Sale, self-described as “entertaining background music”, set the relaxed tone for the evening at Billups Art. On display was a wide variety of subject matter, styles, and media, including safari-esque animal photography, moody portraits of country music legends, large portraits with a hip-hop vibe, smaller portraits with a jazzy vibe, beach scenes with palm trees, and detailed charcoal drawings of tightly cropped rural imagery by proprietor Anthony Billups. Regardless of your taste, there was something for everyone here.

From there we walked to Art and Invention Gallery, which you might know as “the Tomato Art Show gallery.” As usual for an ArtEast evening, Art and Invention was packed shoulder-to-shoulder. That’s because owner Meg MacFadyen runs a classy fine arts and crafts establishment with ever-changing inventory. “Oooh – I like that!” was my mantra – every time I turned in a different direction or wandered into another of the small rooms I would find something that caught my eye. I think I could go back 20 more times and not see everything in there.

Art and Invention Gallery

An overwhelming display of colors and textures took over my senses in this gallery. It’s a visual wonderland, filled to the brim with handmade pottery, one-of-a-kind jewelry, small paintings and drawings, and an array of colorful high-end trinkets and baubles. I was particularly drawn to the jewelry of Jill Block – rings with layers of what looked like colored glass or ceramic tiles with metal spirals. The collection of whimsical storybook paintings by Janet Lee, in which the characters of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland illustrate the alphabet, also got my attention. Lee’s artist statement describes the process of creating these paintings for an ABC book for children, a venture that is still a work in progress.

Janet Lee's Queen of Hearts

Unfortunately our ArtEast evening came to an end before we were able to make it to Open Lot for the REform show. It will be our mission to cover Open Lot’s show in next month’s ArtEast post here at EastNashvilleBlog.com. Until then, be sure to check out the First Saturday Art Crawl downtown next weekend.

Most of the shows from the March 2010 version of ArtEast will be open for the next month. Check with individual galleries for more information.