T
inney Contemporary’s summer show has special significance for gallery director Sarah Hays Wilson. It’s
the first one she’s organized completely on her own for the gallery, and it focuses on a style close to her own heart: realism. The New Real, an exhibition of work by six nationally recognized artists from around the country, celebrates representational art. It will perhaps surprise (and delight) with its diversity of subjects, and in this way it might also, Wilson hopes, dispel some of the disdain heaped on the genre in the contemporary art world. “I’ve always gotten frustrated by the notion that realism is something that’s very dated, that has been done before, and that the only way to do meaningful art is to do something that’s totally different than what anyone else is doing,” Wilson says. “I understand that, but at the same time I feel like realism is one of the few genres of art that have continued to be done throughout time.” The New Real showcases fresco portraiture by Ali Cavanaugh, Danny Heller’s interpretations of mid-century architecture, Ron Porter’s surrealistic combinations of tractor-trailers and landscape, and Kay Ruane’s dreamy graphite-and-gouache scenes dabbed with color. Brian Tull’s large-scale cropped images are photorealistic and nostalgic, while Eric Zener explores the depths of swimming pools in his large paintings.
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By showing the depth of the genre, Wilson seeks to underscore the relevance of realism in the contemporary art world.
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Wilson found four of the artists by scouring gallery websites and art blogs, but she didn’t have to do any research to find local artist Ron Porter. Wilson was determined to include Porter—who is represented locally by Cumberland Gallery—because she’d admired his work since studying with him while a student at Vanderbilt. In fact, he was her mentor for her senior show. St. Louis-based Cavanaugh was also familiar as an artist on Tinney’s roster, though she had not yet exhibited in the gallery. Cavanaugh developed a new process of painting frescoes several years ago while living in New Mexico. Her watercolor-on-plaster panels include Predisposed to a Place of Understanding, a portrait of an auburnhaired young woman wearing a green-and-white-striped shirt. She covers her eyes but peeks out from between her hands. Similar to clean photographic portraits of a subject standing before a pale gray background, the paintings are small at 16” x 16”. The largest, a horizontal, stretches to 36” across. Ali Cavanaugh, Predisposed to a Place of Understanding Kay Ruane, Wildfire top right: Brian Tull, Somewhere Tonight bottom right: Danny Heller, GMC Truck opposite top:
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