The Frist Art Museum presents Jeffrey Gibson: The Body Electric, a major exhibition devoted to one of today’s leading artists whose multidisciplinary practice combines aspects of traditional Indigenous art and culture with a modernist visual vocabulary. Organized by SITE Santa Fe, The Body Electric will be on view in the Frist’s Ingram Gallery from February 3 through April 23, 2023, and is part of the Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art, a program of Tri-Star Arts.
Born in Colorado in 1972, Jeffrey Gibson is of Cherokee heritage and a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw. His vibrant work, which is represented in more than 20 permanent collections across the United States, calls for Indigenous empowerment, Queer visibility, and environmental sustainability. A 2019 MacArthur Fellow, Gibson is recognized for spotlighting “outsider-ness” through a celebration of nonconformity and the power of self-expression.
The Body Electric features Gibson’s recent paintings, sculpture, video, and installations, along with a large site-specific mural. The title of the exhibition is inspired by a song written for the 1980 movie musical Fame, which drew from the 1855 Walt Whitman poem “I Sing the Body Electric” from Leaves of Grass. Lyrics such as “And in time…we will all be stars” reverently acknowledge our place in the natural world, while honoring the universality of endings and beginnings.
For current hours and additional information, visit FristArtMuseum.org or call 615.244.3340.
