May 2019

Month

The Nations Wall – Part 6

Nations mural street art Nashville

This is the sixth in the series on The Nations Wall, a massive set of murals on the west-facing wall of Music City Tents and Events, organized by the Nashville Walls Project. It’s the sixth piece going from left to right (roughly north to south), and it’s by Audie Adams (who did the birds), Tess Erlenborn and Jon Buko (who collaborated on the letters). This is also the central mural in this gallery, and the one most often featured on social media and in articles about the mural scene in Nashville.

Images of the entire wall with all the murals together can be found in Part 1.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Located at 5901 California Ave, Nashville, TN 37209. The murals actually face the 1300 and 1400 block of 60th Avenue North, across from the intersection with Pennsylvania Avenue. Street parking is possible nearby.

May 29, 2019 2

La Mexicana Market

“Caniceria” means “butcher shop,” so the pig and birds in this mural probably aren’t long for this world, despite the pig’s jaunty hat. Of course, we see other things you can get at La Mexicana Market, like agua fresca and tortillas. The picture above is part of a larger work (see below) that includes some of the usual themes of cacti and Old Mexico often found on Mexican grocery stores and restaurants. The mural is signed “Vera 2014,” which is short for Jose G. Vera-Gonzalez, who seems to do a fair amount of art for local Mexican restaurants, mostly indoors. This is the first example of his work on this blog, but there will no doubt be more. As I have noted before, the artists who decorate Hispanic and other ethnic businesses in town are important contributors to Nashville’s visual fabric, but they don’t get the same attention as the artists usually featured in “best Nashville murals” articles. Don’t you want your picture taken with that pig?

Located at 989 Murfreesboro Road. There is a fair amount of parking at the market.

May 27, 2019 0

In memoriam

At the corner of Roberston and Lewis Streets on the south side of the J.C. Napier Homes, across an abandoned storefront, is this striking mural. While unsigned, I was able to confirm that it’s the work of the artist who goes by JamersonSGC, who has done so much work in this neighborhood. It is a memorial. Two women are named, Pam Crawley and Dorothy Dixon. There’s also another set of names: Ray-Ray, Doss, Y-Lee and Toolie. JamersonSGC has done religiously-themed work elsewhere. Here we see Jesus in royal purple before a flood of color, and wings that resemble the ones JamersonSGC did on the old Eddie’s Cee Bee Food Store on Lafayette. There’s also a powerful image of a bound hand reaching up to an outstretched crucified hand.

Located at 59 Lewis Street, at the corner with Roberston Street. Street parking is available. This is a memorial, so please be respectful.

May 25, 2019 0

Bullets, beef, and beer

You might think that whoever commissioned this mural would be a bar or even a butcher, maybe even both, given the subject matter. But in fact, it was commissioned by Shooter’s Guns, Ammo and Range, which is exactly what it says it is. The artist is Michael Cooper of Murals and More, using the trompe-l’oeil style he often works in. According to Cooper,

“They were looking to turn the blank, boring wall on the side of their building into something more exciting, and we were happy to make it into a fun storefront mural that incorporates their awning and doorway and turns it into the entrance of an Irish Pub!”

If you’re wondering why there’s a fence right in front of it, what appears to be a long-dead Jack in the Box lies next door, and the fence rather ineffectively is supposed to keep people off that property. Obviously, I ninjaed my way in – by going through a rather large gap in the fence.

Located at 573 Murfreesboro Pike. The mural faces south, towards Foster Ave. There is parking in front and behind Shooters. The back parking is accessed off Cleaveland Avenue, on the north side of the building.

May 22, 2019 0

The Nations Wall – Part 5

Graffiti mural street art Nashville

This is the fifth in the series on The Nations Wall, a massive set of murals on the west-facing wall of Music City Tents and Events, organized by the Nashville Walls Project. It’s the fifth piece going from left to right (roughly north to south), and it’s by the artist Troy Duff. Duff is a prolific local artist working mostly in a graffiti-heavy style. I believe the word here is “KREST.” (#krestonegraffiti is a tag Duff uses a lot on Instagram.) He’s been featured several times on this blog, including in Eastland graffiti and A window on Nashville.

Images of the entire wall with all the murals together can be found in Part 1.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

May 20, 2019 0

Able Restaurant Equipment

Able Restaurant Equipment on Nolensville is no more. While the building that once housed the business still hosts two versions of this sign, the store closed some months ago. As I’ve written before, vintage hand-lettered signs in Nashville like this one are under threat. Of course, a sign is always under threat if the business closes, but it’s also true that the rapid pace of development in Nashville increases the threat. There’s a small signature at the bottom crediting “Post Sign Co.” I have been able to find no evidence of a sign company by that name. It may have passed out of existence pre-internet, or just so long ago that all internet traces of it have disappeared. That much of the sign is in Spanish suggests the possibility that this was one of the earliest Hispanic-oriented businesses on Nashville, if the sign actually goes back to the ’80s. If it was done later, then perhaps Able was merely responding to its changing neighborhood. The sign above on the north side of the building is the better preserved of the two signs (the south-side sign is below). However, recently it was defaced with some very carefully hand-lettered and quite vulgar insults I won’t reprint here. If a future owner wishes to preserve the sign, the graffiti is on the white part and could be easily painted over.

Located at 2601 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, TN 37211. There is some parking available in the alley behind, and along Grandview Avenue one block west.

May 15, 2019 1

The Delgado calacas

In a small shop in the collection of galleries and other businesses at 919 Gallatin Ave is a business with a long history. Delgado Guitars had its start as a family business in 1923 in the city of Torreón, Coahuila, in north-central Mexico. Over the last century, the family and the business moved many places, eventually winding up in Nashville. And over those years Delgado Guitars has maintained both instrument making traditions and Mexican cultural traditions. Thus the very Mexican subject of calacas and calaveras found in the mural on their front door. Calacas are the skeletons, often in fancy dress, that are so important in Mexican art, particularly in representations of the Day of the Dead, while the calaveras are brightly painted skulls also common in Mexican art. They have a long history, as political satire, but also as a reflection of Mexico’s roots in Mayan, Aztec, and other Amerindian cultures. The artist who produced this work comes from another part of the world. Olasubomi Aka-Bashorun was born in Lagos, Nigeria and grew up in Oklahoma. He now has a gallery in The Arcade, the DBO Gallery. While the Delgado mural is a different theme from much of his work, its bright, strong colors are very much like his other paintings. This mural verges on hidden art. Not only is it impossible to see from the road, but also, since it’s on a door, you won’t see it when Delgado Guitars is open! So you’ll need to come twice, right? Certainly you will if you want to see both the guitars and the mural.

Located at 919 Gallatin Avenue. There is a fair amount of parking available at the venue.

May 13, 2019 0

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May 2019