| Exhibit Description: |
| Under My Skin |
Many in the Nashville area will remember Jeff Hand’s last Zeitgeist show that featured images from art history, vintage children's books, medical manuscripts, and paint-by-number compositions constructed of faux or "fake" fur on panel.
Under My Skin, the artist’s latest series operates, along similar sensibilities but offers a few new twists. His new faux fur, felt, and vinyl “paintings” and sculptures continue to draw from a variety of sources, contemporary and otherwise, all dealing with themes related to the human body and medicine. “Invisible Man” dissection diagrams, images from pulp fiction novels, and game pieces from the popular board game “Operation” are rendered in Jeff’s trademark brightly colored and hug-able fur, felt, and vinyl.
According to the artist:From birth to death, the body is always with us. The pieces created for "Under My Skin" seek to engage the viewer in a conversation regarding the nature of physical being, tracing a path from childhood to adulthood in a series of loosely connected and visually striking images. The tactile nature of the materials welcomes and provides a level of safety for the viewer; it allows them to delve deeply into topics they might otherwise shy away from. Themes of curiosity, education and exploration intermingle with those of fragility, sexuality, mortality and loss.
The faux fur process involves transcribing these images to color blocks of fake fur or felt, and working them onto wood panels. It is a variation of his bold and colorful painting technique he has been developing over the years. The impression these pieces leave is a Pop Art sensibility that is light-hearted and fun. While the work remains playful and camp, it also addresses the relationship we as individuals have with our bodies, our relationship to each other, and how we process this information.
Jeff Hand lives and works in Nashville and recently had a solo exhibition at PlusUltra gallery in New York and had his work featured in art fairs in Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, Spain, and in the recently opened Stray Show in Chicago. He has work in the permanent collections of The Nashville International Airport, The Tennessee State Museum, and numerous private collections across the county. Jeff has also collaborated on a site-specific out door installation and gallery-show at Vanderbilt University and has been involved in the Nashville art community for years not only as an artist but also as a curator.
Also showing with Jeff are Nashville based artists Michelle Anderson, Gieves, and Los Angeles based painter Rob Faucette. Michelle Anderson comes to Nashville from New York where she has been teaching at Watkins Institute, MTSU, and Austin Peay. Her brightly colored abstract paintings will be familiar to many from this past summer’s Switchyard show at Zeitgeist. Rob Faucette is currently living and working in Los Angeles. His paintings of existentially humored human figures and animals were recently featured in the Fugitive Art Center exhibition “Painting on An Incline.” The photographer known only as Gieves also made his debut at last year’s Switchyard show. His finely crafted color photographs distill architecture, landscape, and interiors into abstract elements. |
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