Photographers to focus on human figure for Figuratively Speaking exhibit at TRC
Release Date: 10/11/2007. Expired: 12/1/2007
The human figure will be the central theme of Figuratively Speaking, a group photographic exhibition in the Visual Arts Gallery of The Renaissance Center in Dickson Oct. 31-Dec. 1.
Organized by Nashville photographer Easton Selby, Figuratively Speaking will feature artists primarily located in or from the Southeast who have all agreed to work with the figure as the theme.
An opening reception for Figuratively Speaking will be 6-7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2.
“The group exhibition has a long tradition in the arts,” said Armon Means, curator for The Renaissance Center. “There are many reasons for such an exhibition, though there are even more reasons to view one. The group dynamic provides an opportunity for a diverse assortment of images and artistic forms and, as in this case, working around a central theme allows for multiple but various interpretations of the same concept.”
The figure is a long-standing subject in photography. From the medium’s conception the portrait and figure study have always been reoccurring views.
“Even in contemporary work the figure often plays a role in the narrative-based images more common today,” Means said. “What sets this exhibition apart is its take on the idea of the figure.”
The photographers have been given the opportunity to interpret that concept however they choose. From those who take it as a literal approach to their subjects to those who see it merely as a guideline for their thought process, anything is possible.
“Self-portraits, studies, group shots, abstracts – all can be created using the human figure as the antithesis for the artwork to come,” Means said.
Selby, an adjunct instructor at Belmont University in Nashville, was featured in a solo photography exhibition at The Renaissance Center last spring.
“This group exhibition takes the inherent freedom of the camera – its ability to capture anything visual and even things that are not – and pushes that to the limits in the vision of the artists as they create photographic works in their own styles and directions, with one central idea: the figure,” said Selby.
The galleries of The Renaissance Center are open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and admission is free. Opening receptions featuring the exhibiting artists are open to the public and free as well.
For more information on Figuratively Speaking or other exhibitions at The Renaissance Center, contact Means at (615) 740-5545 or armon.means@rcenter.org, or visit the center’s website at www.rcenter.org.
The Renaissance Center is a fine arts education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.
Visit the Visual Arts Gallery page for more about the gallery.