Nashville art collective Creek aims to push boundaries

This month at the downtown Arcade’s 40AU Gallery, rising local art collective Creek will host its second group exhibition, titled “trip {} frisson.” The show offers a selection of diverse works by eight artists: Amanda Joy Brown, Ann Catherine Carter, Marta Djourina, Richard Feaster, Daniel Holland, Jesse Mathison, Aaron Martin and Casey Pierce. All live and work in Nashville, with the exception of Djourina, who is based in Berlin.

Working under the moniker Creek, the shifting roster of artists has embarked on a number of successful projects over the past year. Their most recent venture was a large-scale collaborative mural spanning the outdoor facade of a building at 901 Marina St. in East Nashville. Unveiled in March, the vibrant wall features a set of open hands against a backdrop of bold, abstract bursts of teal, coral and bright yellow. A second mural is in the works at Halcyon Bike Shop in 12South, with more in the early stages of development.

Creek got its start in 2014, when Mathison, writer and founding member of the group, edited and self-published a 50-page book titled “Priorities,” which set his poetry alongside work by six visual artists. The book evolved into the first group exhibition under the same title at Frothy Monkey on Fifth Avenue.

“There was no outlet for our work, really,” said Mathison, “so it made sense to start building our own platform.”

The members of Creek are fueled by a desire to break taboos and push the boundaries of local art in Nashville; together, they aim to create the dialogue and space for new, provocative approaches to art-making.

According to Mathison, there should be more challenging art coming out of the city’s flourishing scene. “Right now there is a huge, gaping hole in the art scene here,” he said. “And we see it. We’re going to do our best to put our foot in and establish our voice.”

The second exhibition and book, “trip {} frisson,” explores the relationship between the two words through painting, photography, writing, drawing and design. “Trip” refers to both the psychedelic experience and the notion of travel; “frisson” is the term for a sudden shudder of emotion, like the chills.

“It’s a challenging concept,” says Mathison. “I want to push and see what happens when you present these ideas that people aren’t comfortable with.”

The exhibition features Mathison’s poetry and one piece from each of the eight artists; the accompanying book will contain the work in the exhibit along with additional images and writing. It will be available for purchase at the opening for $12.

“I want all my friends to pull each other up, and we’re doing that.” said Mathison. “We’re all creating opportunities for each other through this.”

Art crawl highlights

•Opening at COOP Gallery will be “RGB.VGA.VOLT” by video, sound and new media artist James Connolly, teacher at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The show explores Cathode Ray Tube monitors and their consumer interfaces.

• Tinney Contemporary presents the bright, bold paintings of Nashville-based painter Anna Jaap in the latest exhibit, “Thicket.”

•Be sure to check out new works by Casey Pierce and Dan Oglander in their joint show “From the Cut” at Rymer Gallery.

•On view at Sherrick & Paul is “Double Vanity,” a solo exhibition of new paintings by contemporary painter Wendy White.

• CG2’s new exhibition by Fred Stonehouse will feature a series of works on paper, books covers and 3D wood cutouts about the Milwaukee-born artist’s childhood.

• Zeitgeist will open two new shows this Saturday. “Letting Go” by Sewanee professor Jessica Wohl uses fabric and sewing techniques to investigate the illusion of picture-perfect domestic life. Sculptor John Donovan will present new work in “New Personal Best!” that examines loss of innocence through imagery inspired by pre-Columbian and Chinese Han dynasty-era ceramic figures.

• David Lusk Gallery will host a closing reception for two exhibitions: “Variations on a Theme” by Chattanooga artist Mark Bradley-Shoup and “Daddy Missed My Birthday” by Dwayne Butcher.

•At Seed Space, Lipscomb art professor Rocky Horton debuts “All the Lights in My House.” For this work, Horton will remove all the lights from his home and install them in the gallery. The gallery will also host “Be My Blood Brother,” a one-night only performance by Nathan Sharatt that explores how families and relationships are created through constructed versus genetic bonding.

If you go

What: Creek group exhibition “trip {} frisson” at 40AU

Where: 69 Arcade

When: Opening reception is 6-9 p.m. Saturday; closes May 30.

Hours: Open during First Saturday Art Crawls and anytime by appointment through megan@40au.com.

Admission: free