Genevieve Gaignard, Look at Them Look at Us, Downtown Atlanta. Courtesy of Orange Barrel Media.
Written by Storm Ascher
'Look at Them Look at Us' by Genevieve Gaignard
Genevieve Gaignard’s Look at Them Look at Us is a 50-foot neon artwork installation and digital display that is now a permanent beacon embedded into the fabric of Downtown Atlanta’s city streets. Curated by Karen Comer Lowe in partnership with Orange Barrel Media, which has public projects in over 30 cities across the country, Gaignard's scaled-up edition of her piece on the facade of a garage park is an opportunity to also highlight artists from the community. “Along with the dynamic public art installation by Genevieve Gaignard, there are eight Atlanta-based photographers whose work is on view on the digital sign. I curated these works to reflect the gaze of others towards unapologetic blackness," says Comer Lowe, who has worked closely with Gaignard on multiple projects. When asked about the genesis of Orange Barrel Media, its founder Pete Scantland, states: "You have this industry which cities saw as parasitic, something that benefits historically private interests — advertisers and property owners — and all they show is ads. What I sought out to do was rethink that as a community minded approach. Of course we need to generate revenue to support our business, but what if rather than showing ads we also worked with artists? What if we gave time on our displays to non profits? What if we generated revenue for the communities in which we are operating?"
Lava Thomas, Looking Back I from Looking Back and Seeing Now, 2015–2021. Spelman College Museum of Fine Art.
Spelman College Museum of Fine Art
The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art was founded in 1996, though the college was gifted works of art as far back as the 1930s. Located on the first floor of the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D., Academic Center, the Museum's collection is focused on women artists of the African Diaspora, consisting of works by Black women pioneers in the arts such as Adrian Piper, Renee Cox, Elizabeth Catlett and Carrie Mae Weems. Displaying two exhibitions annually, the Museum aims to present projects in alignment with the College’s longstanding mission to prepare Black women for society and how they can contribute excellence to all fields. Spelman’s Executive Director, Liz Andrews, was previously curator at Los Angeles County Museum of Art for The Obama Portraits Tour and Black American Portraits. Now she is at the helm of the Spelman Museum and is already making big changes with her recent appointment of Karen Comer Lowe as the Inaugural Curator in Residence. The museum is making strides in its contemporary programming. Most notable is Spelman’s recent opening of "Lava Thomas: Homecoming" curated by Bridget R. Cooks. Running from 17 August to 3 December 2022, this comprehensive solo exhibition brings together 13 drawings from Thomas’ Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (2018–), the multimedia installation Looking Back (2015), and Decatur (2022), a new set of drawings and prints that will debut in the exhibition. Comer Lowe has multiple other projects on the horizon at Spelman during her curatorial residency, saying, "The resources are endless. No idea is too big."
High Museum of Art. Photograph by Jonathan Hillyer.
High Museum of Art
Founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, the High Museum of Art moved to its permanent home in the heart of Atlanta in 1926. The High's collection of over 18,000 works of art ranges from prehistory through the 19th century to contemporary works with a focus on the American South, as well as developing a collection of over 1,000 examples of African art, led by Lauren Tate Baeza since her appointment as the Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art in 2020. Located at the Woodruff Arts Center, the High’s collection includes master works by artists such as Anish Kapoor, Romare Bearden, Ludovic Nkoth, Jean Michel Basquiat, Lorna Simpson, and Faith Ringgold. Their upcoming exhibition "Deana Lawson" will run from 7 October 2022 through 19 February 2023, featuring Lawson’s work made over the past 20 years. As the first museum survey dedicated to Deana Lawson, she describes her work as "a mirror of everyday life, but also a projection of what I want to happen. It’s about setting a different standard of values and saying that everyday Black lives, everyday experiences, are beautiful, and powerful, and intelligent." High Museum members can get a first look at the survey on 6 October, prior to its public opening — or if you are a Young Professionals member, you can get a tour on 3 October led by Maria Kelly, Assistant Curator of Photography.
Mario Joyce pop-up exhibition at Pullman Yards. Courtesy of UTA Artist Space.
UTA Artist Space
At the height of merging industries and cross collaborations in Atlanta is UTA Artist Space. After the talent agency opened its first Artist Space in Beverly Hills, California, in 2018, Atlanta will now have its own outpost. The new gallery space will be run by Bridgette Baldo, Gallery Director, Sales Director and former basketball player Tony Parker, and overseen by Arthur Lewis, Partner and Creative Director of UTA Fine Arts. "Atlanta has so much to offer," Lewis says. "I have seen this city’s culture change drastically over three decades and from the incline I have seen I know there is no time like the present to invest in Atlanta’s art community." The gigantic exhibition space opening in early 2023 will be right across from Klutch Studios, which is owned by LeBron James’ confidant, Rich Paul, who is not only the number one talent agent in the NBA, but also an art collector. Currently UTA is running a pop-up space at 225 Rogers Street Northeast at the Historic Rail Park at Pullman Yards. Their first exhibition was for artist Mario Joyce called "A Stranger’s House That is Our Own," which runs through the end of September, followed by FLUENT by James Bester running from 30 September through 29 October, before opening their doors to the new and highly anticipated space in the Midtown area.
MINT ATL Gallery and Residency at The Met Atlantic.
MINT ATL Gallery and Residency at The Met Atlantic
Collectors in the Atlanta community have a unique opportunity to access the source of creation within its own community. Look no further than the busy schedule of Atlanta-based collector and patron Kent Kelley, who notes the Met Atlantic on Murphy Avenue as a place with an expansive grid of artists’ studios. "The Met is an industrial park where many artists such as Alfred Conteh, Curtis Patterson (and previously Radcliffe Bailey) have studios. MintATL is a nonprofit art gallery and artist residency also located in The Met Atlantic." MINT was founded in 2006 as an undergraduate thesis project by Atlanta university students to create space for emerging artists and patrons. Over the past 13 years, they have hosted over 1,000 artists in a variety of media. In 2020, MINT began leasing studios to emerging artists living in the Metro Atlanta area. They will soon have two exhibitions on view: "Nuestra Creacion," an annual curation of Latinx artists, and "Rita Harper: Everyday Atlanta" from 24 September through 22 October at the MINT Gallery.
Gerald Lovell, Grace, at the entrance of the Friendship Tower Apartments.
'Grace' by Gerald Lovell
Among the widespread projects and public commissions by Orange Barrel Media, one is in partnership with Living Walls, a nonprofit organization focused on mural paintings by artists from marginalized groups. Living Walls has grown to display over 200 murals in the Atlanta metro area. Their recent collaboration with OBM is Grace by Gerald Lovell, a hand-painted, multi-story mural depicting an intimate portrait of one of Lovell’s friends and family — which are always the subjects of his work — on the brick walls of the entrance to the site-specific Friendship Tower Apartments. His first mural project is displayed across the street from the Mercedes Benz Stadium on Northside Drive Southwest. The figure looks out to the public with a friendly smile. Known as one of the most sought-after artists in Atlanta, the self-taught painter highlights the importance of intimacy and tender moments between friends and family. Since his solo show at MINT Gallery ATL, Lovell has also caught the attention of the New York gallery scene, such as PPOW. Lovell says his work is “an act of biography” by using painting to convey a snapshot-like portrait in the midst of his lived experience in Atlanta.
City Gate Dance Theater, Performance, 2022. Courtesy of Art on the Atlanta BeltLine.
Art on The BeltLine
The BeltLine spans 22 miles of repurposed railroad and has transformed into a pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly pathway connecting the west, south and east sides of Atlanta. Comprised of over 45 neighborhoods, the BeltLine cultivates an accessible park for convening and taking in arts and culture. Started in 2010 through support from Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts & Culture, Georgia Council for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Art on the Atlanta BeltLine is an ongoing program with a variety of large-scale outdoor sculptures, murals and installations, calling itself a "linear gallery." The BeltLine also hosts an artist in residence program for Atlanta-based and internationally acclaimed artists, which is reviewed by the BeltLine Public Art Advisory Council. Since 2021, the public also has a chance to give input on the open call submissions. The six month residency program and annual open call can manifest in concerts and performances for the community, permanent installations, workshops, and exhibitions. The current 2021-22 residency and exhibition cohort includes Earl Dismuke, Andrew Catanese, S. Shayne Hargis, Eddie Farr, Zamila Karimi, TeMika Grooms, MuseSalon, Flight of Swallows and Anicka Austin, among others. The 2022-23 cohort will be announced soon.
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