Barbara Coon Pays Tribute to Christian Moeller’s Stix Inspiration can be hard to trace, but it’s been said that art begets art. That is the case for local painter Barbara Coon, whose latest piece, A Tribute to Christian Moeller’s Stix and Nashville’s Music City Center, was inspired by the modern sculptor’s large-scale installation in the Korean Veterans Boulevard roundabout. Moeller was commissioned by the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission in 2013 to annotate the roundabout. The 35 painted red-cedar poles that make up Stix were inspired by the Native Americans who first lived in Middle Tennessee. Coon found Moeller’s work to be the perfect complement to the site. She wanted to pay homage with a piece that would strike others as she had been struck. “I would want a viewer to get a sense of the craftsmanship that Stix actually has and just feel that it’s a joyful piece,” Coon says. The painting took Coon four months to complete and demonstrates the feeling that Moeller’s poles can radiate onto the scene, flecking their background with color and energy. It now lives in the Nina Kuzina Gallery, a longtime home for Coon’s work. “I am always amazed at Barbara’s process, the layering of paint, and the uniqueness of her subject matter,” Kuzina says. “It’s a beautiful tribute to this new sculpture and to Nashville.” A Tribute to Christian Moeller’s Stix and Nashville’s Music City Center is on display at the Nina Kuzina Gallery, 4231 Harding Pike. For more information, please visit www.ninakuzina.com.
A Tribute To Christian Moeller’s Stix and Nashville’s Music City Center, 2016, Acrylic on board, 48” x 36”
Intoxicated by Color: New Paintings by Edie Maney The Arts Company | October 1–28 In her exhibit Intoxicated by Color: New Paintings by Edie Maney, the artist presents a series of abstract paintings on canvas and small marble squares. Her use of color in this new work is sometimes bold, sometimes subtle, but always expressive and complex. Starting in a chaotic manner with layer after layer of color and strokes, Maney works toward balancing intensity and motion. Using brayers, credit cards, squeegees, and fingertips, in addition to brushes, she creates her art with an intuitive approach to each piece. Her distinct abstract expressionistic style is reminiscent of her artistic mentor Helen Frankenthaler and reflects the many years she studied with esteemed abstract expressionistic artist Anton Weiss.
A Splash of Cognac II, 2016, Oil on canvas, 48" x 48"
“Edie began painting with watercolor and acrylic, but she now prefers oil, including water soluble oil. This choice has given her work more intensity and depth. She creates pockets of explosive colors, using repetition of gesture and color to make each canvas or other surface an active adventure in chasing colors and interactions throughout each piece, large or small,” notes Anne Brown, owner of The Arts Company. Intoxicated by Color: New Paintings by Edie Maney opens with an artist’s reception on October 1 at The Arts Company during the First Saturday Art Crawl Downtown and continues through October 28. For more information, visit www.theartscompany.com.