A turning point for Ashley Doggett’s art occurred before she’d even started art school. The February before Doggett began her freshman year at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. That 2012 incident, and the Black Lives Matter movement it propelled, changed everything. When she got to Watkins, Doggett was among only a handful of black students; when she graduated, she was the only person of color in the entire fine arts department. So when you ask her why she chooses to paint such emotionally loaded subjects — black slaves and white masters, black women made up to look white, and lots and lots of chains and shackles — it’s no surprise that her answer is stunningly simple: She’s just trying to be honest.

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In a new exhibition at David Lusk Gallery, D.C.-based artist Leslie Holt explores the loaded term, hysteria, bridging its long history as a once common, catchall mental health diagnosis for women and its pejorative contemporary connotations. Though it was declassified as a mental disorder by the 1950s, the term hysteria is still used today to describe heightened emotions or a lack of rational thought, often in women, and never in a flattering way.

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Kit Reuther is a local painter and sculptor whose latest exhibit, Unruly, employs utilitarian materials like packing pillows, spray paint, and styrofoam to create a body of work that is at once minimal and arresting. In contrast to the muted still lifes of her early career, Unruly sees Reuther creating bold—and often unsettling—found object pieces that speak to life in 2018.

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Nashville-based artist Brandon Donahue is one of the city’s busiest, most prolific creators. His exhibition “No Look Past,” on view at the Nashville outpost of David Lusk Gallery through September 29, is the artist’s third solo exhibition this year, following “Outta Bounds” at Vanderbilt University’s Space 204 and “RIP” at Elephant Gallery. Donahue’s multimedia practice has produced two very different shows so far this year, and the artist’s followers have learned to not assume they know what to expect from him.

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The first thing you noticed upon entering painter David Onri Anderson’s exhibition at Elephant Gallery, “Earthbound,” was the smell of rich, moist soil. The second was the sod that carpeted the space. At the opening, visitors were encouraged to take off their shoes so they could feel the grass between their toes. Children climbed up small artificial hills. Billed as a painting show, the exhibition offered an unexpectedly multisensory experience.

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A designer with unequivocal style and natural given talent worthy of recognition, who also happens to be a very dear friend of mine....Simply put, Sean Anderson is an interior design mastermind. Forging the right path for himself through the freedom to be unafraid in doing his best places his taste and remarkable work ethic into a niche in and of itself. Fresh, functional, black, white, classic and contemporary — It’s a timeless mingling of the old and the new. His stunning portfolio lives on through individually unique interiors that each capture the collected beauty of the soul calling it home. No two will ever be the same.

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If you've never seen a Pinkney Herbert painting, now is your chance to see a lot of them. Herbert's work, including drawings, is on view in two shows: "Distilled: The Narrative Transformed" at Crosstown Arts and "Arcadia" at the David Lusk Gallery. "It's all about Pinkney," jokes Herbert, 64. "I've got the big head. It's all me." Herbert's work has been displayed in national and international collections and in the permanent collections at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, and other museums. Herbert, who taught painting and drawing at Rhodes College and the University of Memphis, is founding director of the Marshall Arts alternative gallery. He's president of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts-France, a residency program in Auvillar, France.

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One of the June openings I’m most excited about is the Vestige photography show at David Lusk Gallery. Vestige is guest-curated by Sam Easley and Jason Owens, and the show features a selection of works that speak to the human impact on natural environments without actually focusing on people at all. The results read like an environmental impact study, an anthropology exhibition and a crime-scene investigation all at the same time. I prefer art that asks questions about complicated problems over works that vainly struggle to offer answers, and I’m hoping there will be lots to talk about here. Vestige’s ace roster includes Caroline Allison, Coriana Close, Kevin Cooley, John Duckworth, William Eggleston, Catherine Erb, Huger Foote, Kristi Hargrove, Shannon Randol, Kathleen Robbins, Jack Spencer, Jeane Umbreit and William Wegman.

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A 30-year survey of Pinkney Herbert’s vibrant body of work. This exhibition tracks Herbert’s transition from his narrative beginnings through the development of a personal abstract vocabulary that both thrills and seduces the viewer. Opening reception: Saturday, May 26, 6-9 pm

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In her exhibition “New Abstractions” at Sandler Hudson Gallery through May 5, Kit Reuther demonstrates anew that a subdued color scheme can be a way of achieving striking paintings. The blandly inoffensive title also implies a problem that, for me, is a major issue. How does one write about a show in which two or three paintings (the ones making fresh use of that extremely subdued palette) stand out as haunting, even though Reuther’s overall approach not only breaks no new ground but in the weakest pieces is little more than repetitive.

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