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It’s all in the details

HarmonMiddle

Art always looks different seen from far away, nearby, or close up. But the three portraits adorning the walls of the Harmon Group take those distinctions to a higher level. All three portraits (see the others below) are done using a photo mosaic technique, by using thousands of smaller images to produce a larger coherent image, though one that tends to disappear the closer you get to the image. (See closeups below.) Harmon is a marketing and advertising firm, and I’ve been able to identify a least a couple of the smaller images as ones on their website gallery, while the others all seem to be in the style of one or another of the campaigns they feature on their website. It makes for attention-getting images, which no doubt was at least part of the intent. People stumbling at night out of 3rd and Lindsley might not fully appreciate them, but you can visit in the daylight to get the full effect. The murals themselves are mounted on thin boards and bolted to the wall.

UPDATE: This building has been demolished, the murals along with it. A new building is going in its place.

HarmonMain

Located at 807 Third Avenue South, across from 3rd and Lindlsey, where 3rd is cut off by I-40 and Lafayette. There is parking at Harmon and nearby businesses, particularly right now as the office next door is empty. Get a professional consult on your marketing strategy and enjoy the art!

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A railroad runs through it

CemetaryMobe

A national cemetery is not a place you expect to find much graffiti. Taggers are generally more respectful, and the public and grounds crew quite intolerant. But if a railroad runs through the cemetery, and there’s a bridge the railroad goes under, and that bridge is actually just off of the graveyard grounds, that’s a different story. Where Walton Lane sails over the railroad that splits the Nashville National Cemetary, all these conditions are met. The walls that support the bridge are fairly well covered. Some of the tags are quite familiar. “Mobe,” featured above, is the handle of an artist I’ve featured before, who does both commissioned and “volunteer” murals. The earliest date seems to be 2008, and it looks like some of these tags lie on top of others, so graffiti artists have been using this site for a while. It’s also, as you can see from the photos, used as a camp by homeless Nashvillians.

CemetaryHasre

Located on the 100 block of Walton Lane under the railroad bridge, in the middle of the southern border of the National Cemetary, 1420 Gallatin Road South. Getting to this is tricky and bends the definition of public art. There is a spot about 50 feet north where the railroad track is level with the cemetery roads on either side. It is possible also to walk up to the west side and scramble up a “trail” to get to that area. The far eastern part, where the homeless camp is, requires either climbing up a four-foot wall, or walking down from Walton Lane. Trains do go through here, homeless sleep here, and the cemetery is right there, so be respectful and think carefully. Or maybe just look at my pictures.

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For that perfect smile

Crest

I have to wonder how long this one is going to be around. Located near Plaza Art on Middleton, it lies right next to a major graffiti installation that was just painted over. This part of SoBro/Pie Town has been fairly resistant to gentrification, but that can’t last. The market forces are very powerful. I believe this says “Crest.” (UPDATE: It’s actually Krest.) There’s one very much like it in Cheltenham, PA, on the north side of Philadelphia. (As of this posting, third row on that page. Look for “Crest Graffiti Cheltenham”.) I suspect it’s the product of an out of towner, because I don’t think I’ve seen this tag elsewhere, and the DayGlo color scheme is unusual here in Nashville. Even if it survives gentrification, for the time being, it’s peeling, likely because it faces the afternoon sun every day unshaded.

UPDATE: I now know this was done by Troy Duff for the 2015 Hands on Creativity! festival sponsored by Plaza Arts. It was later painted over but has been replaced with a newer version done by the same artist. See Krest, 2018.

Located at 617 Middleton Street. Nearby parking is easy. The mural is on the west side of the building, facing Plaza Arts.

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Go, go gorilla!

WorldGymGorrila

Hey, it’s a gorilla! With weights! Not much to say about this except that it’s further evidence that Nashville business owners are more and more understanding the importance of public art on their facilities. The placement on the corner is unusual. This is on the new World Gym in the Gulch, and the gorilla appears to be a symbol of the national chain. UPDATE: I have been informed by the artist himself that this is a Bryan Deese piece. I didn’t recognize it without the trademarks dots in the background you see in a lot of his work!

ANOTHER UPDATE: This gym has been replaced with another gym, QNTM Fit Life, and the gorilla has been painted over.

Located at 114 George L. David Boulevard. The mural actually faces Grundy Street, about a block west from Chauhan Ale and Masala House. Street parking and parking at the gym available. Break a sweat and enjoy the art.

 

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Mmm, pizza!

Italia

There are signs, and there are better signs. Italia Pizza and Pasta, known to everyone just as “Italia,” recently acquired an impossible to miss mural advertising its scrumptious pizza. Seriously, you have to look hard to find bad reviews of this place. Most people love it (and I say for good reason). Once housed in the old Dairy Dip (now occupied by the Urban Cowboy Public House), Italia has been at 16th and Woodland for several years now. Maybe success has paved the way to art, but it’s also true that right across the street is Lockeland Table, one of the very best restaurants in town, in Tennesse for that matter, and which also serves pizza. In fact, they are very different places and both very much worth a try if you haven’t yet. Italia has tables but is more of a take-out place, while you should get reservations for Lockeland. The mural is signed “MCM/Music City Murals Tomasek.” That would imply that Dean Tomasek, who works with Anthony Billups under the Music City Murals moniker, did this alone.

Located at 1600 Woodland, at the corner of 16th. There’s parking in back and some street parking. Order up a pizza or maybe some lasagna (or both!) and enjoy the art!

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Memorial Day

USCTMounmentFront

As it is Memorial Day, it’s a good time to present art honoring the fallen. The United States Colored Troops Monument (2006) by Roy Butler sits on a low hill in the Nashville National Cemetary. The cemetery was founded in 1866 to bury Union dead, though it has long been open to veterans of all conflicts. Some two thousand African American troops from the Civil War era are included in the burials here. The idea to build the USCT monument in part came from two African American veterans and USCT reenactors, William Radcliffe and Norman Hill. Hill at the time was head of the Tennessee Historical Commission, which became one of the major donors to the project. Also involved were the United Association for Black Veterans and Creative Artists of Tennesee. Butler used Radcliffe as the model, wearing his reenactment gear. You can learn more and see a video about the statue here.  This monument is one of only sixteen in the country dedicated to the USCT and only one of two found in a national cemetery.

Located at 1420 Gallatin Road South. To find the statue, go under the railroad bridge in the middle of the cemetery and then look to the left. The statue is central to the southern part of this half of the cemetery. There are only a handful of proper parking spaces, but it is easy to park along the roads in the cemetery. Please be respectful.

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New Life Records

NewLifeFull

Sometimes large things can hide in plain site. I have driven past this mural many times since it went up 2006 but only noticed it recently. And it’s very visible from a busy stretch of Charlotte, ensconced on the east wall of New Life Record Shop. The brain is a peculiar thing. New Life sells vinyl records, posters, shirts, and various music-related equipment and paraphernalia. It’s been in business since 1976, and the interior has a certain throwback vibe. The owner says that he allowed the mural to be put up, but was a little disappointed it mostly featured the tags of the artists. The duck in sunglasses is, however, the New Life mascot. There is a second mural/tag on a recessed wall next to the main mural (see below).

Located at 5343 Charlotte Avenue. There is parking at New Life and neighboring businesses. Grab some vinyl and enjoy the art!

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