An award-winning documentary film, A Line Unbroken: The Charles Forrester Story and companion art book, A Mind in Motion: The Art of Charles H. Forrester were released this fall, both retrospectives on the work and life of the prolific sculptor.
As a teacher for thirty years in England and Kentucky, with roots in New York and the Pacific Northwest, he directly impacted generations of sculptors and artists. A long-time beloved professor at Western Kentucky University, Forrester also maintained a studio in East Nashville for the last 12 years of his life. With insight from art historians and contemporary artists, the film and art book explore his compelling life story and six decades of artwork.
The Art Book offers an in-depth guide into the mind and life of the artist. Curated by his daughter, Winifred Forrester, a Nashville resident, it contains more than eighty stunning photographs organized in ten distinct categories and five creative series of his most significant artwork. It was released in September 2020, and is available at online booksellers everywhere and can be requested at local bookstores.
The award-winning short documentary follows his life story and contributions to the art world. The film won Best Inspirational Film Award at the Top Shorts Film Festival and premiered on the Kentucky WKU-PBS channel on October 8, 2020. It will air on the KET-PBS channel statewide in Kentucky on Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 1 PM CT. In addition, the documentary was selected for the 2020 Louisville’s International Festival of Films. The film was directed and produced by David and Patricia Earnhardt of Earnhardt Films, LLC of Nashville, Tennessee.
Forrester was the master of the visual pun and comes to life through his legacy – sculptures, paintings and drawings, and journals. He was especially adept at working with the human figure, creating abstract figurative forms in materials ranging from welded steel to laminated plywood. His engineering prowess is reflected in his kinetic sphere sculptures and wire suspension works. His artwork captures startlingly realistic details, yet his works are highly stylized – often twisted into sly visual puzzles and riddles.
The artist’s large concrete outdoor sculptures installed across the United States and England are among his most well-known works. Locally, a nine-foot sculpture, Family, can be seen at the entrance to the Med Center Health building on Hospital Hill (formerly Warren County Hospital). Many of his smaller sculptures cast in bronze and aluminum are in private collections, with the remainder held by the Forrester Family Art Collection.
The Ellis Walker Gallery at 1945 Scottsville Road will be featuring his artwork from December 4, 2020 through January 7, 2021. Additional information about Forrester can be found at www.charlesforrester.com.
About the Art Book Contributors: Winifred Forrester, daughter of Charles Forrester, took a sabbatical in 2018 from her long career as a financial advisor to curate her father’s artwork and journals covering nearly 60 years. She is executive producer for the award-winning short documentary, A Line Unbroken: The Charles Forrester Story.
Forrester is a long-time resident of Nashville, Tennessee, where she advocates for the revitalization of historical neighborhoods and green spaces. As a community organizer, she fuels her passion to return power to ordinary people. Forrester co-founded the Haynes-Trinity Neighborhood Coalition and serves on the board of League of Women Voters Nashville, TennGreen Land Conservancy’s finance and investment committee, and the Metro-Nashville Industrial Development Board. A Mind in Motion: The Art of Charles H. Forrester is her first book.
Joe E. Nolan is an art and film critic and intermedia artist based in Nashville, Tennessee. His writing about contemporary art has appeared in Art America, Flaunt, Burnaway, Number, Nashville Scene, and The Contributor. Nolan is a freelance arts reporter for WPLN, Nashville Public Radio. His award-winning writing about homelessness, poverty, veterans’ issues and human rights has been translated into German, Slovak and Greek, and published around the world. Nolan is also an East Nashville music pioneer and a visual artist/curator whose work has been exhibited throughout the Southeast.
Guy D. Jordan (Ph.D. in Art History, University of Maryland, 2007) is an Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art at Western Kentucky University, where he teaches courses in WKU’s Art History and Brewing and Distilling Arts and Sciences programs. His writing on topics such as Thomas Cole, Charles Deas, and the roles of food and drink in American art has appeared in the journals: American Art, Panorama, and Visual Resources.
Additional contributors are: John Forrester, son of Charles Forrester, Rome, Italy; Russ Faxon, sculptor, Bell Buckle, TN; Caroline Phillips, Jordan Schnitizer Museum of Art, University of Oregon; and Sam Hunt, Adjunct Professor of Art, Western Kentucky University.
