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Survivor

Chromatics Full

I remember the first time I visited Chromatics. I was with a friend of mine who is a photographer. This would have been in the mid/late 1990s. Digital photography was on the rise, but film was still common, particularly with professionals. She was picking up some prints they had developed for her. Chromatics was (and is) in SoBro, more precisely in Pie Town, but this wasn’t when SoBro was cool. Rather, it was cheap – a rundown warehouse district where a big building like this one was easier to acquire than today and must have been even more so in 1979 when Chromatics first opened. Chromatics survives, adapting and flourishing with the revolutions in photography, surviving when many in the business perished. And so too its mural. The panel down on the lower right says that it was “blasted out by TACKZ 7 miles ahead Ciudad de Lost Angeles 5.93.” TACKZ is the nom de plume of a Los Angeles-based graffiti artist associated with the Seventh Letter group (which is also responsible for the mural in Angels will rise), a group that goes back more than twenty years. I have seen older pictures of this mural where the colors are much richer (and where the building next door is industrial, not the hip Tennessee Brew Works), not faded like it is now, so I can easily believe it has been greeting the morning sun for twenty-four years, since May 1993. That would make it one of the oldest outdoor murals in Nashville. It survives, along with the store it advertises. And check out their website – another old school survivor! UPDATE: They have seen thoroughly modernized their website. When I originally published this, they had a very late 1990s-style page.

Located at 625 Fogg Street. The mural actually faces Ewing Avenue, except for a little addendum on the Fogg side. Chromatics has parking, though don’t park long unless you are doing business there. Maybe park at Tenessee Brew and enjoy the art along with your beer?

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Swayze lives!

Swayze mural street art Nashville

 

Back last July, I reported on a small maritime-themed mural gracing The Centennial in On imagined seas. That mural is no more, but it has been replaced with a grander creation honoring Patrick Swayze and the original Point Break. It befits the nautical theme inside, and hey, who doesn’t like that insane movie. Of the remake – well, I will not speak as I know nothing. The new murals, which were installed April 21st and include not only Swayze but a surfer and a huge wave, is the work of I Saw the Sign, a hand painted sign company created by Nashville (by way of Ithica, NY) artist Meghan Wood. I Saw the Sign (FB) mostly does lettering as opposed to figurative murals, but here is an obvious and excellent exception. The huge, exuberant “The Centennial” (see below) is more in keeping with their other work. The murals. interestingly, are attached wood panels, which is unusual for mural art in Nashville.

Located at 5115 Centennial Boulevard near the busy intersection with 51st Avenue North. There’s a reasonable amount of parking at the bar, so grab a brew and a burger and enjoy the art!

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The revolution will not be streamed on Facebook

Music mural street art Nashville

Some murals are prime selfie bait. Probably the best-known ones in Nashville are the “I Believe in Nashville” murals (various locations) and the wings in the Gulch. This one may not reach that level, but its size, message, and location (12 South, at Epice) seem designed for portraits. Indeed, when I went to photograph it and the mural across the alley from it, I had to wait for a photo shoot in progress to wrap up. The mural is signed @RelaxMaxApparel. Relax Max Apparel is a clothing line created by Allan Geiger, a Nashville-based artist. The design of the mural also shows up on some of his clothes. Given that Relax Max is Geiger’s “one man show” (see the article above), he presumably made the mural. The model in the photo shoot might have been one of Relax Max’s models, but this is Nashville, so she might also have been someone shooting pictures for the cover of her next EP. Or both – again, this is Nashville.

Located at 2902 12th Avenue South, on the north facing wall of Epice. This is 12 South, so park as best you can. The smell from Epice was powerful when I shot this. If you have never tried Epice (and why not?) make a reservation right now, and get your selfie after you fill up on wonderful Lebanese food.

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Black and white mystery

IMG_3368

Sometimes my investigative skills fail me. This arresting mural is found on a concrete wall that helps form a private yard behind the Sun Diner and the Patsy Cline Museum. The Johnny Cash Museum is next door, and the wall actually attaches to the back corner of Tequila Cowboy (based on that website, no one over twenty-eight ever goes inside Tequila Cowboy). When I first saw it, I figured my work was already done, that I would quickly figure out who Alton Ross is, and what he has to do with skulls. I found nothing. There are Alton Rosses out there, but none I could find a connection to here. No connection to any of the neighboring businesses turns up. A few folks have posted pictures of themselves standing in front of this mural. One guy used a lot of punk rock hashtags with his photo, but that led nowhere. So, if you know what this is about, let me know!

Located behind 105 Third Avenue South (Sun Diner), at the end of the alley/parking lot that heads south from Broadway between Broadway Brewhouse and Tequila Cowboy. If you are on the 100 block of Fourth Avenue South and look across the parking lot to the Patsy Cline Museum sign, the mural is below that sign.

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The Carquest Gallery, Part 2

Car Quest Back Middle

This blog has been a learning process. One thing I’ve learned – look on the back side of buildings. There’s a lot of art where few people can see it. Back in November 2016, I posted about the very obvious murals visible from Nolensville road on the front and side of CarQuest. I did not, however, take a few steps to look around back. I did note though at the time that there were murals on the back side visible on Google street view, and I vowed to update. Well, here I am, updating. Usually, when there are several murals in one place, my top photo is the wide view of all of them, with a slide show of the individual ones below. But I like this one so much I decided to feature it. These three murals were clearly painted over other, older murals, which only highlights the transience of outdoor art and the need to document it. Next to the blue door, we see “Kyle Korea.” While that may be the name or handle of an artist, Camp Kyle was a U.S. Army base in Korea closed in 2005, so that might also be the reference. See the map pin for Part 1.

Part 1

Located at 3317 Nolensville Road, at the corner with Elgin Street. There’s some street parking on Elgin, and if things aren’t too busy at the Lava Lounge Hookah Bar next door, you might be able to park in their lot for a spell. Pick up some bling for your car and enjoy the art!

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These are not the tags you’re looking for

PennigtonBendStormTroopers (2)

Big murals are going in down in the Gulch and on Charlotte, while new murals have appeared recently on Gallatin and elsewhere. The Dragon of Dragon Park continues its restoration. Metro Arts is about to unveil its civil rights installation next to City Hall (Friday, APril 21, 2:00 p.m.). But sometimes on NPArt, we go small. Particularly when art is likely to be short-lived. The Pennington Bend/River Trace neighborhood is a somewhat upscale rural community north of Opry Mills. The Briley Parkway bridge that crosses the river at the northwest corner of the bend has clearly gotten its share of graffiti tags, that have all been quickly painted over, from the looks of it. So our three Stormtroopers here probably won’t last too long, But then they are Stormtroopers – they are used to a quick demise.

Located on Pennigton Bridge Road, as it goes under Briley Parkway, near the intersection with Music Valley Drive. The Stormtroopers are on a wall on the east of the road, the side opposite of the river. There is a small area across the street in front of a gate you can park.

PennigtonStormTroopersFull

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Paint the town

PainttheTownFull

Donelson is not a neighborhood overflowing with public art, but there are still some impressive pieces.  Near the junction of Old Lebanon Road and Lebanon Pike there are not one but two large murals celebrating community. This one specifically celebrates Donelson, while the other, which I’ll feature later, is more loosely focused. Here we see all the landmarks a Donelsonian would be familiar with — at least I imagine so, as I don’t live there myself! The mural, located on the east wall of Treasures Consignment,  is cryptically signed KOEL 2014. A little sleuthing (asking inside) reveals that KOEL is, in fact, Kristi Oakley Elswick, who works under the handle Where the Arts Is and apparently goes by just Kristi Elswick these days. A perusal of her page suggests that murals are not her main focus, but she has done at least one other for The Pub of Donelson. You can, if you choose, get a print of the mural above at Treasures, which reveals it is called “Paint the Town.”  I did, and you can see it below!

Located at 2628 Old Lebanon Road, in a building Treasures shares with Hues Salon and Southern Honey Workshop. There is parking in front and at nearby businesses. Get your hair cut, browse the antiques and knick-knacks and enjoy the art!

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