Exhibits at BNA
Art Collection
BNA offices house a large collection of original works including painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and mixed media. The collection was created to spotlight contemporary Tennessee artists, including some of the state's most acclaimed creators.
Public Art
Air/Traffic/Control
Ivan Toth Depeña
BNA Terminal Garage
Dedicated: December 2018
“Air/Traffic/Control,” designed by Ivan Toth Depeña, is installed in each of the six elevator lobbies at the Nashville International Airport’s Ground Transportation Center and Terminal Parking Garage in Nashville, Tenn.
The project was inspired by the complexity and mechanisms of the traveler’s journey. Taking inspiration from flight patterns, data, cartography, movement and sound wave forms, Depeña created an original artwork using light and glass to transform the typical column into a dynamic, responsive and interactive experience for the airport traveler. Each level is tied together visibly using a vibrant and intricately abstracted art work that is laminated within the colored glass. The compositions are generated specifically from flight paths and translated sound waves.
The project utilizes the general flow of the commuters and the movement within the elevator lobbies to activate the art. LED components produce a visual response and act as a cognitive representation of the movement and circulation. The physical form of the column appears to transform the color and energy of the motion as the viewer walks and interacts with the piece, creating an ever-evolving public art installation.
There are several added layers of media that compose the entire installation including sound and augmented reality. Depeña explored the use of sensors at the site, as a direct input, to affect the lighting and trigger sound compositions. The audio was composed by local musicians “Tape Deck Mountain” who collaborated directly with the artist. Each floor’s sonic composition is mixed live and at random and is intended to be different on each floor. Finally, a custom app is being developed to overlay a layer of Augmented Reality to the project. The content that is visible only using a mobile app, consists of flight data, musician themed video and abstracted visuals.
Ivan Toth Depeña is an artist who is currently living and working in Charlotte, N.C. With a Masters Degree in Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Depeña’s artistic production is informed by his experience in art, architecture, technology and design.
Celebration
Jorge Yances
BNA® Administrative Offices, Level 6
Dedicated: Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Award-winning artist Jorge A. Yances was born in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, and educated in the United States. He was labeled a creative prodigy by art aficionados at a very early age. During his teenage years, he fine-tuned his creative expression using a variety of techniques and finishes. Yances is a resident of Nashville, Tenn., and has a long, successful career creating and selling his artwork. Yances’ work has been on display and in demand throughout the United States, South America and Asia.
Yances’ unique style gives the viewer the opportunity to sense and feel more than one reality. The power of mind and matter intermingle and come to life on the canvas. This ability has earned Yances a premier position in the Magical Realism Movement.
About Celebration
The city strikes a particular chord in the hearts of those who come to Nashville with visions of a destination, not merely a place to visit. “Celebration” embraces and invites each viewer to awaken to the rhythm of our city; to come closer and see themselves reflected as a part of our story.
Distinctive Nashville imagery that initially draws the audience to the painting for a photo or selfie becomes, in close proximity and upon examination, a discovery of phantom spirits tucked away and peering out, beckoning – a powerful signature element of the Realismo Mágico style.
The magic of Nashville welcomes and unites many voices, songs, stories, cultures and perspectives. Welcome to Nashville!
On Air
Jake Elliot and Eric Mobe Bass
BNA Terminal Garage
Dedicated: Wednesday, April 18, 2018
The mural “On Air” is a play on words, paying homage to the rich musical history of our city and to the role aviation plays in building our strong culture. “On Air” acts as a window from the airport into the city, pulling viewers into a depiction of a recording studio, overlooking the state-of-the-art BNA airport and iconic Nashville skyline, and inviting them to step up to the mic.
This piece was designed to give Nashvillians and visitors a fun, interactive, and snapshot-worthy experience, turning what is normally a passive, mundane activity (waiting) into something that builds memories and captures the spirit of our city.
“On Air” is a collaboration by two accomplished Nashville-based artists, Jake Elliott and Eric “Mobe” Bass. Their public art pieces can be found throughout Nashville from Charlotte Avenue to East Nashville.
Jake is the founder of WHAT. Creative Group, an arts organization focused on engaging public art pieces and Jake has a strong studio practice. Eric is a recognized muralist, known for his deep understanding of color, light, and spray precision. His murals can be seen all around Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Wind Reeds
Ned Kahn
CONRAC, Consolidated Rental Car Facility
Dedicated: 2011
For the BNA project entitled “Wind Reeds,” artist Ned Kahn was inspired by a landscape of windswept reeds.
Kahn has completed a series of artworks that reveal invisible forces in their sites by converting natural flow patterns, such as wind, into the pixilated motion of many small metal parts. He calls these artworks “detectors,” because they are analogous to the detectors on telescopes and other scientific instruments. The typically unseen patterns of the wind are complex and entrancing. The psychological effect is similar to watching a fire, waves on a lake or tall grasses swaying in the wind.
The Wind Reeds sculpture covers a portion of the Consolidated Rental Car (CONRAC) facility with more than 500 hinged aluminum elements that sway in the wind like grasses. The surfaces of the metal panels capture color from the sky and the surrounding environment, creating an ever-changing mosaic of sky and wind currents.
The artwork is uniquely tied to the atmosphere and climate of Nashville, drawing its energy and animation directly from the moment-to-moment conditions of the local environment.
Kahn states, “My hope is that the artwork will function as a register for the ever-changing wind and create a unique kinetic portal for Nashville that will remind people of the magic and mystery of the world that we live in."
Flying Solo is a quarterly exhibition series featuring art in the airport terminal. This program was initiated in 1996 in order to provide a highly visible venue for contemporary artists with a connection to Tennessee. The Flying Solo Exhibition Series is is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Arts Commission and the State of Tennessee.
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Flights of Fantasy
Sherri Warner Hunter
BNA® Pedestrian Plaza
Dedicated: 1996
“Flights of Fantasy” is a whimsical, interactive play and rest area, featuring mosaic sculptures that include a magic carpet, a large seating area and two smiling airplanes. The seating area incorporates larger-than-life flying creatures such as a luna moth, a monarch butterfly and a dragonfly against a backdrop of blue sky and clouds.
Artist Sherri Warner Hunter (Bell Buckle, Tenn.) studied at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Mo., and Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, Calif., before moving to Tennessee in 1989. Her other public sculptures include the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., The Executive Residence of Tennessee, Nashville, Tenn. and as part of the First International Mosaic Intervention Project in Puente Alto, Chile.
Funding for “Flights of Fantasy” was provided BNA and by a grant from the Metro Nashville Arts Commission.