Zeitgeist Gallery – Janice Zeitlin

Zeitgeist gallery is located in Hillsboro Village near Vanderbilt University and the famed “Music Row” in Nashville, TN. In this energetic and somewhat eclectic location, Zeitgeist shares space with the architecture and design firm, Manuel Zeitlin Architects. The open studio format invites visitors to the gallery for interaction both with the gallery staff and with working architects. While the gallery assumes a responsibility to local artists in terms of exhibitions, it puts the art in context with what is happening regionally, nationally and internationally by inviting artists from outside the area to present their work within the exhibition schedule.

Zeitgeist Gallery – Janice Zeitlin

    Zeitgeist gallery is located in Hillsboro Village near Vanderbilt University and the famed “Music Row” in Nashville, TN. In this energetic and somewhat eclectic location, Zeitgeist shares space with the architecture and design firm, Manuel Zeitlin Architects. The open studio format invites visitors to the gallery for interaction both with the gallery staff and with working architects.  
    While the gallery assumes a responsibility to local artists in terms of exhibitions, it puts the art in context with what is happening regionally, nationally and internationally by inviting artists from outside the area to present their work within the exhibition schedule. Zeitgeist has made a commitment to artists to provide a showcase for work that stimulates the mind, encourages a conversation with the artist and supports the development of both art and artist. A local paper described the gallery as combining the “intentions of a commercial gallery and an art space, promoting well-conceived and well-executed art that may have traces of provocation.”
    This spring at Zeitgeist, an exhibition entitled “Pressing Pause,” features the photographs of Fred Clarke, an international photojournalist who lives in Nashville and Geneva, Switzerland. Fred documents civilians caught in the crossfire of armed conflict all over the world for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Fugitive Projects, a local artist group, were invited to curate artists’ work in response to these images. This collaboration of commercial gallery with an artists’ collective has resulted in an engaging dialogue about globalism, poverty, war and hope, using a variety of visual and audio media.
    Zeitgeist represents a number of artists working in a wide variety of mediums. The director of the gallery is a working artist and, along with the owners, shares a common bond in the excitement generated by conceptually based work and the artists who never stop pushing their craft.
    In the next exhibition, artist Richard Painter’s work will occupy the space. Painter is an observer of life and his images, created by use of the basic element of fire, are often delicate and fragile. His works are rendered on industrial surfaces, resulting in a tension and awareness of the moment.  
    In June, newcomer Sara La, a young Nashville painter has her first solo exhibition at Zeitgeist and, later this summer, the gallery will open a shared exhibition of Norwegian photographer Bjorn Sterri and installation artist Greg Pond. 
    The gallery recognizes that the studio artist in the Middle Tennessee community is often underrepresented in exhibitions and has spent much time and energy developing other exhibition venues for artists outside of the gallery. “Art on the Edge” is a unique offering of works in exhibitions curated by the gallery but displayed in locations throughout Nashville. In early January, the gallery curated and installed its third exhibition of art for Vanderbilt University Law School. This exhibition is called “Undercurrent” and showcases the work of four artists whose creations concentrate on the relationship between the self and various cultural facets of present day society. This commitment to outside projects as well as collaborations with other art-minded groups is important to the vitality of Zeitgeist.