Nichols: 'Exchange' Artists from Nashville's Cumberland Gallery exhibit in Chattanooga

"Exchange," an exhibition opening Friday at Tanner Hill Gallery, will showcase works by artists who are represented by Cumberland Gallery in Nashville. The show is the first of several gallery swaps that Angela Usrey, owner of Tanner Hill Gallery, has scheduled during the next 18 months. She said the idea of an exchange exhibition program is basically an experiment.

"Prior to 2008, Tanner Hill participated in seven to nine art fairs per year," she explained. "During the past three years, more than half of the fairs have been canceled, and I wanted to find additional ways to introduce my gallery artists to new audiences."

While "Exchange" is on display in Chattanooga, Tanner Hill artists Robert Marchessault, Matthew Cornell, John Henry, Peter Vaughn and Ed Kellogg will exhibit at Cumberland Gallery.

Established in 1980, Carol Stein's Cumberland Gallery focuses on well-established and promising emerging artists such as Andrew Saftel, Dane Carder, David Kroll, Michael Barringer and Brad Durham.

Carder, one of the artists who will be in the Chattanooga exhibit, uses authentic Civil War photographs as the jumping-off point for his large-scale acrylic paintings.

"I've been working on my Ghosts and Hopes Series for about four years," he said. "As a Nashville native, the Civil war is such a part of the area."

Carder describes his work as compassionate and honest.

Another exhibitor, Saftel, describes his mixed-media paintings as "narrative and abstract at the same time."

"I started out my career as an abstract painter but realized 15 years ago that I wanted to include more of myself in the work and to tell a story," he said.

Saftel begins a painting on a wooden panel that he has carved, routed and embedded with found objects from his travels. Then he applies acrylic paint over the irregular surface.

"There are many layers of acrylic on each painting, and sometimes I even incorporate text, drawings and other images on paper," he said.

An opening reception for "Exchange" will be held Friday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Several of the artists, as well as Stein, will be present to discuss the artwork at 6 p.m.

The show continues through April 1.

Tanner Hill Gallery, 3069 S. Broad St., Suite 3, is open noon-5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and by appointment. Call 280-7182.

E-mail Ann Nichols at annsnichols@aol.com.