“To heal, suture, and recompose fractured bodies. We propose a new site of encounters, with yet undefined edges, borders, territories. These will be cartographies of the mind as well as geographies of the land.”
“RE-PAIR invites us all to participate deeply as artists, organizers and the public in the invigoration at the intersection of art and sociability. The overarching theme of RE-PAIR solicits an empathetic consideration of context and space, history and commons, deeply woven into the fabric of Tennessee’s roots.” - Dr. María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Consulting Curator and Ambassador for the 2023 Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art: RE-PAIR
Tri-Star Arts is pleased to announce the artist roster, curators, and highlight weekend dates for the inaugural Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art: RE-PAIR, opening January 27, 2023 and on view through May 7, 2023. The recent changes and movements in the world in form our vision and the galvanizing spirit that centers on the rich history of the arts in Tennessee as a means to engage excellence in contemporary art.
Visual art offers a tool towards a common language fostering dialogue across communities, around the state, the country and internationally. The Tennessee Triennial serves as an experience to help us process this moment and propel us forward. It is a geographically fluid conversation that engages people of all ages and backgrounds.
The Tennessee Triennial has chosen a statewide model that is set apart and unprecedented. Curators from institutions in Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga have been invited to respond to the theme of RE-PAIR, authored by Consulting Curator, Dr. María Magdalena Campos-Pons. This horizontal approach allows for each curator to be active in selecting participating artists. The Tennessee Triennial is a collective endeavor that emphasizes Tennessee’s contemporary art community while including national and international perspectives.
2023 Tennessee Triennial Artist Roster
West Tennessee
MEMPHIS
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (Curator: Patricia Daigle)
Tommy Kha
Memphis River Parks Partnership (Curator: George Abbott)
Hank Willis Thomas
Tone (Curator: Kylon Wagner)
Talibah Safiya
Bertram Williams Jr.
Urban Art Commission (Curator: Lauren Kennedy)
Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo
Verushka Dior of The Mane Wildling
Joel Parsons
MIDDLE TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE
Cheekwood (Curator: Eric Birkle)
Elizabeth Turk
Engine for Art, Democracy & Justice (Curatorial advisory committee)
Luis Manuel
Otero Alcántara
Jerry Atnip
Christopher Cozier & LeXander Bryant
Javier Castro
Sandra Ceballos
Farrar Cosumato
Michelle Eistrup
Jeannette Ehlers
Adama Delphine Fawundu
Jana Harper
Mark Barrett Hosford
Joseph ‘Doughjoe’ Love III
Helina Metaferia
Ernesto Milian
Tahila Mintz
Neo Muyanga
Nell
Emeka Ogboh
Claudia Padrón
Ebony G. Patterson
Vesna Pavlović
Matthew Ritchie
Amber Robles-Gordon
Pauchi Sasaki
Cristal Chanelle Truscott
Vadis Turner
John Warren
Cosmo Whyte
Antonia Wright
Kyrstin Young & Angel Adams
Frist Art Museum (Curator: Mark Scala)
Jeffrey Gibson
Otobong Nkanga
Note: "Jeffrey Gibson: The Body Electric" was organized by SITE Santa Fe and curated by Brandee Caoba. The presentation at the Frist Art Museum is overseen by Katie Delmez.
Fisk University Galleries (Curator: Jamaal Sheats)
Alicia Henry
The Parthenon (Curator: Jennifer Richardson)
Houston Cofield
Desmond Lewis
Lakesha Moore
Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery (Curators: Raheleh Filsoofiwith Amanda Hellman andSophia Liu)
Beizar Aradini
Jasmine Baetz
Nuveen Barwari
Habiba El Sayed
Raheleh Filsoofi
Kimia Ferdowsi Kline
Laleh Mehran
Kris Ramman
EAST TENNESSEE
KNOXVILLE
Big Ears Festival (Curator: Rachel Milford)
Lonnie Holley
Knoxville Museum of Art (Curators: Kelsie Conley and Stephen Wicks)
Willie Cole
Katie Hargrave & Meredith Laura Lynn
Bessie Harvey
Lonnie Holley
Kahlil Robert Irving
Suzanne Jackson
Mary Laube
Annabeth Marks
Rosemary Mayer
Althea Murphy-Price
Betye Saar
Faith Wilding
Tri-Star Arts (Curator: Brian R. Jobe)
Kenturah Davis
Rubens Ghenov
Hank Willis Thomas
CHATTANOOGA
Hunter Museum of American Art (Curator: Nandini Makrandi)
Noel Anderson
Dawoud Bey
Sanford Biggers
Nick Cave
Leonardo Drew
Gajin Fujita
Fabiola Jean-Louis
Deborah Luster
Jeanine Michna-Bales
Abelardo Morrell
Shirin Neshat
Kiki Smith
Stan Squirewell
Hank Willis Thomas
Institute of Contemporary Art at UTC (Curator: Rachel Waldrop)
Stacy Kranitz
Stove Works (Curator: Josiah Golson)
J. Adams
Jequise Beverly
Sean Clark
Jordan Scruggs
The following are unique multi-site venues: Big Ears Festival (Community Arts Director: Rachel Milford), Engine for Art, Democracy & Justice (EADJ) (Program Manager: Anais Daly)
For the most current information about EADJ’s artist roster, programming and the full calendar of workshops, discussion panels, classes, performances, projects &film/audio series with additional information on how to pre-order the Tennessee Triennial: RE-PAIR catalog, follow the EADJ blog FRESH PRODUCE and for all EADJ inquiries, contact: anais.j.daly@vanderbilt.edu. Stay tuned for continued announcements about the upcoming Nashville highlight weekend, March 1- 4, 2023, co-organized by EADJ. EADJ is a program founded by Dr. María Magdalena Campos-Pons.
The Knoxville Museum of Art, Stove Works, Engine for Art, Democracy & Justice, and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art are partners with the Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art through hosting celebration events during highlight weekends.
2023 Tennessee Triennial Highlight Weekends
January 26 - 28, 2023: Knoxville
February 16 - 18, 2023: Chattanooga
March 1 - 4, 2023: Nashville
April 27 - 29, 2023: Memphis
These weekends will include receptions and celebratory events at select participating venues. Additionally, we will publicize community venues across Tennessee with exhibitions or special projects that respond to our theme of RE-PAIR.
Memphis Tourism, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, and Visit Knoxville are partners with the Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art through promotion, marketing and financial support.
About the 2023 Consulting Curator and Ambassador:
María Magdalena Campos-Pons is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair Professor of Fine Arts. Campos-Pons interdisciplinary practice has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Canada, among other institutions. She has presented over thirty solo performances commissioned by institutions like the Guggenheim and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. She also participated in the 49th Venice Biennial, the 55th Venice Biennial,Documenta14, Johannesburg Biennale, Liverpool Biennial, 3rd Biennial of Bahia, Prospect 4and Havana Biennials. Her works are held in over 50 museums around the world, including the Art Institute of Chicago; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Perez Art Museum, Miami. A survey of her practice was held at IMA in 2007.
Campos-Pons is the founder EADJ Vanderbilt and of Intermittent Rivers / Rios Intermitentes project in Matanzas, Cuba. Campos-Pons is the recipients of numerous awards.
About the Tennessee Triennial Organizer:
Tri-Star Arts serves Tennessee by cultivating and spotlighting the contemporary visual art scenes in each region while fostering a unified statewide art scene. Tri-Star Arts programs promote art dialogue between the different cities in the state, and between the state and the nation. Tri-Star Arts initiatives include a gallery space and artist studios at the historic Candoro Marble Building, annual Current Art Fund project grants, the forthcoming 2023 Tennessee Triennial, statewide collaborative projects, and the LocateArts.org web resource.
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