The two characters in Rob Matthews’ work at David Lusk Gallery (Nashville & Memphis) then had us questioning gender roles and multitasking abilities, and in Julian Lorber’s This Is How We Play Now at Nicole Longnecker Gallery had us dodging steel spikes in the art world dugout.

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Located just next door to NADA, the small—but very strong—fair juxtaposes both new and storied work from young, mid-career, and iconic creatives alike. Case in point: David Lusk Gallery’s booth brings together a surprising, stimulating combination of artists, highlights being a set of 1970s and ’80s still lifes by William Eggleston, new and haunting figurative canvases by Rob Matthews, and recent patchwork wooden panels by Greely Matt. Exciting new finds include Caroline Larsen’s hypertextural compositions depicting cornucopic bunches of fruit at FMLY as well as Gregory Euclide’s detailed dioramas of lush, unattainable Edens at Hashimoto Contemporary.

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The audacity of beauty lies in its ability to take over our lives and stop time. For that moment we are suspended in a state of wonder that goes beyond contemplation to pure consciousness, nerves, feelings and imagination totally open. Viewers may experience those moments frequently in “Over Time,” an exhibition of paintings by Beth Edwards that continues through Dec. 3 at Clough-Hanson Gallery. The show's title is apropos. It's a small retrospective gathering of 17 works, ranging from 1993 to 2015, and it represents the tendency of art to triumph over chronology.

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Have you ever looked at a painting and said: “this looks like a child painted it”? Would you be even more confused to see Paul Klee or Henri Rousseau sign that kind of artwork? The truth is that these artists belong to two actual artistic ideologies, called faux naïf and naïve art respectively, both of which had a sole purpose of depicting childlike simplicity and frankness. The difference, however, between these entities is that, while naïve art usually refers to works made by individuals with no formal training in an art school or academy, faux naif, as you might guess from the French term, was created by trained creatives, who nevertheless wanted to escape the insincere sophistication created within the traditional system of the arts and imitate the unaffected, authentic experience of our world – very much like the one seen in artworks by children or people with mental disorders. As a result, their paintings and drawings are “falsely naïve” and as such are often put in the same category as Primitive and Art brut, while they could all be categorized under the realm of Outsider art.

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Purchasing art can be one of the more exhilarating yet intimidating things we do. Many of us find ourselves putting one foot in the proverbial gallery door, only to turn away overwhelmed by a feeling of insecurity and ineptness. It’s a funny notion, because when you acquire a painting, drawing or sculpture that you adore, it usually becomes one of your most priceless and satisfying purchases. Yet, the process can be a rocky road for many. Art is expensive and its value somewhat elusive. Your taste in art changes and evolves — the once lovely still life may pale in comparison to a contemporary painting. Yet, once you find an artist and work you covet, it’s pretty close to nirvana.

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According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of the word “geometry” is as follows: mathematics concerned with the properties and relations of points, lines, surfaces, solids, and higher dimensional analogs. Replace “mathematics” with “art,” and you have the description of Nashville-based artist Kit Reuther’s new exhibition “Weights and Modules,” on view at David Lusk Gallery in Nashville through October 8. “Weights and Modules” comprises two- and three-dimensional works whose assortment fulfills the title’s promise.

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"I Will Have to Tell You Everything," says the title of Hamlett Dobbins' exhibition of recent work at David Lusk Gallery, and the artist proceeds to do so in a group of splashy, dynamic, inventive and downright gorgeous abstract paintings. These 13 pieces radiate a kind of divine energy of creativity, imagination and wit as they peer into realms both microscopic and cosmic in depth and breadth. The show will be on display through Oct. 8.

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Carroll Cloar remains one of the most beloved and widely recognized artists of the South, even after his death in 1993. Born in 1913, reared near Earle, Arkansas, and a resident of Memphis for most of his life, Cloar drew on memories of his rural childhood and the tales and customs of country and small-town folks to create paintings whose realism was tempered with touches of whimsy, folklore and mystery. He often started a piece with an old photograph that he would transpose into something akin to dream and fable. More than 20 years after his death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the artist's work is highly collectible.

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When it comes to painting, twin brothers Jerry and Terry Lynn are perfectly in sync. Both boasting artistic accolades and stylistic mastery, they bring their individual and collaborative work to the forefront in a provocative exhibition at Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery through September 16.

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