Curated in collaboration with Red Arrow Gallery. Admission is free to ticket holders during performances and by appointment. To schedule a free appointment, please email program@ozartsnashville.org or call 615.350.7200.

Painted intuitively, pieced together like clothing sewn by a fugitive on the run, collage-like paintings emerge from things found along the way. Working on multiple surfaces and layering his mediums, John Paul Kesling’s paintings feel like a dream half-remembered, half-improvised. The work is alive like a footprint in still wet mud; a broken branch on a plant with leaves still green to the tip. Scattered across canvases and wood, full of energy and history, figures navigate through the paintings in a dream-like haze. Never quite settled in the moment, the images balance between uncertainty and hope, hypocritical in their declarations of love and loss. Layers of paint and pencil show traces of decisions made along the way, clues to conversations and reference materials pulled from democratically packed pockets of “useful” things. At any moment, the characters, shapes, and colors seem like they could fall one-by-one off the surface and onto the floor, leaving only a foggy memory behind. Like camping alone, every sound, scent, and silence can send your reality spiraling. These works appear in those shadows, just out of reach. Eeeeeeek!

The Red Arrow Gallery presents museum-caliber exhibitions by local and international artists working in all media. They are particularly devoted to developing and launching the careers of emerging artists. Their goal is to quickly respond to what’s happening in the contemporary art scene, to encourage artists to experiment freely, and to educate art enthusiasts and collectors about new work. They strive to create an environment that is both risk-taking and welcoming for artists, collectors, and art appreciators alike. Red Arrow Gallery, founded in Joshua Tree, CA in 2006, is celebrating its fifth year in their home of East Nashville, TN.