Renowned multidisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson is making colorful waves in galleries across the world. His latest exhibition at The Frist is on for another few weeks, and the museum's illustrious gala will celebrate his work on April 15, 2023.
Next week, Nashville’s Frist Art Museum will host its annual gala. Unlike other local events of this caliber, anyone can purchase a ticket and attend. Whether or not you don your black-tie finest on Saturday, April 15, 2023, museum visitors can (and should) experience the centerpiece of the gala, Jeffrey Gibson: The Body Electric. This larger-than-life, multi-sensory exhibition is on until April 23, 2023, so you still have plenty of time to check it out! We spoke to Jeffrey Gibson about this collection and how it has come to life — intricately and powerfully — at The Frist.
This show is really different for me. This exhibition has more video and performance than my previous collections. Brandee Caoba [who originally curated the collection for SITE Santa Fe] was drawn to a piece called “A Warm Darkness” that kicked off sound, video, music, and performance as anchors of the exhibition. Those things contextualize the other objects, sculptures, and installations.
For instance, you will hear sound throughout the entire space. You can be looking at a painting and still hear the music or sound from the videos. This show includes some of my favorite past works and some real breakthrough pieces for me. There’s a ton of color and textiles.
The birds are like samplers in a weird way. The bird itself has a history with Tuscarora beadwork that came out of the Northeast at the turn of the century. And that has been with me for a long time. Making a bird took me 20 years because it felt like such a cliché image. But sometimes, you show an artwork, and it resonates with people. It took me this long to trust that an image of a bird could do that. So, it becomes a celebration of the handcraft integral to Native communities. I also get a lot of innovation out of it.
The same thing happens in my paintings. We have as many colors as I can think of, but to make it feel somewhat organized and speak to the histories of painting and indigenous and native painting is important to me. Eventually, artworks take their form. They become their own subjects. And text helps with that a lot too. The text doesn’t come in until almost 80% or 90% [of the way] through the artwork, but it’s always meant to give an entryway into what I am presenting.
