With so much to see and do in Atlanta next week as the Atlanta Art Week and Atlanta Art Fair fill our city with artistic experiences, I wanted to gather together happenings into one point of reference.
Around town:
🖥️ Georgia Tech is offering a panel discussion, “Reimagining Creativity: a conversation about AI, data, & robotics in art” on Tues., Oct. 1 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Kendeda Building on Georgia Tech’s campus.
📍Kendada Building at Georgia Tech, 422 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30313
There will also be an opening reception for the “Build It: Cardboard Construction” exhibition at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking on Wed., Oct. 2 from 4-7 p.m.
📍Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, 500 10th St NW, Atlanta, GA 30332
🫂 Spruill Gallery presents a two-person collaborative exhibition featuring Kate Burke and Aineki Traverso called “After an Endless Embrace.” Exhibition runs September 19 to October 31, 2024. An accompanying conversation and Q&A with Spruill Gallery Director Shannon Morris, “Imagining the Internal,” will occur on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.
📍Spruill Gallery, 4681 Ashford Dunwoody Rd, Atlanta, GA 30338
🗺️ “Patterns of Place,” an exhibition that pulls works from 12 resident studio artists at the Atlanta Contemporary, will explore the concept of place as more than just a physical location. Layered patterns, from the intimate to the broad public conceptualization of place, weave together a complex interpretation of spaces that we inhibit and how we experience and perceive them.
📍Atlanta Contemporary, 535 Means St NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
🍸 Casspir + Cocktails, an opening reception to welcome the famed Casspir Project to Atlanta Contemporary, has been rescheduled to Fri., Oct. 4 from 6-8 p.m. This traveling artwork is a reclaimed South African military vehicle which has been decorated in glass beadwork in the form of traditional patterns. The artwork embellishments were made by artisans from Zimbabwe and the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, including women of the Ndebele tribe who are known for their craftsmanship.
🌞 Also at Atlanta Contemporary, a Thirty Summers Meet & Greet event will close out the visual arts exhibition on view now in the gallery with conversation and reflection. This event is part of the Atlanta Art Week official programming, and will take place on Thurs., Oct. 3 from 6-8 p.m.
📍Atlanta Contemporary, 535 Means St NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
🖼️ In conjunction with Atlanta Art Week, Thomas Deans Fine Art presents “Reimagining Landscape,” a dual exhibition of new works by Lauren Betty and Elise Thomason. In this show the artists showcase a juxtaposition of styles, mediums, palettes, and approaches to the revered tradition of landscapes. Opens Fri., Oct. 4, with an artist reception from 5-7 p.m.
📍 Thomas Deans Fine Art, 690 Miami Cir NE #905, Atlanta, GA 30324
➿ “Boundary Lines,” an exhibit that was curated collaboratively by The Bakery Atlanta, The Curator’s Studio, and Labyrinth Curation, will debut at The Supermarket from Thurs., Oct. 3 through Sun., Oct. 6. The exhibit will kick off with an invite-only reception on Thurs., and will open to the public on Fri., Oct. 4 from 6-10 p.m. during the Night Market. Additional hours include Sat., Oct. 5 from 1-5 p.m. during Otto’s Block Party and Sun., Oct. 6 from 7-9 p.m. for Burnaway’s Sweet Sixteen Event.
📍 The Supermarket, 638 North Highland Avenue Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30306
🪞 Spalding Nix Fine Art presents “Something Beyond Ourselves,” an exhibition of works by Charlie McCullers, Tokie Rome-Taylor, and Jerushia Graham. Confronting themes of devotion, loyalty, and perseverance conveyed through mixed media, photography, and papercut artwork. Open now through Sun., Oct. 6.
📍 Spalding Nix Fine Art, 425 Peachtree Hills Ave NE Suite 30A, Atlanta, GA 30305
🔳 At whitespace gallery, “Emotional Real Estate,” a two-day performance by Neill Prewitt on Tues., Oct. 1 and Sun., Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. Sarah Emerson will participate in an artist talk on Sat., Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. On view in the galleries during regular open hours this week are works by Sarah Emerson, Mark Wentzel, Zipporah Camille Thompson, and Neill Prewitt.
📍Whitespace Gallery, 814 Edgewood Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307
🗺️ The entirety of The Goat Farm’s 12 acre campus will be activated for SITE, an evening of art installations, live performances, exhibitions, and open studios. Highlights include Branden Collins x YOO’s interactive exhibit “Another World Is Possible,” Lauren Tate Baeza’s curatorial film series “the end is near, the end is the beginning,” the unveiling of a large outdoor sculpture that is the first US installation by Danish artist Marie Munk, and a performance by Tropical bass band Reco Reco. Additional performances by local acts include those by glo, T Lang Dance, and Johanna Warren, plus a stage curated by Eyedrum, a DJ set by Goat Farm’s artist-in-residence musician, photographer, videographer, and cultural producer SelormJay. Look for a number of medium-to-large scale installations throughout the grounds.
📍The Goat Farm Arts Center, 1200 Foster St NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
What to see and do at Pullman Yards:
📍Pullman Yards, 225 Rogers St NE, Atlanta, GA 30317
🚊 Nearest MARTA station: Edgewood-Candler Park Station (1 mile)
🚗 Pullman Yards parking info here
💦 Gyun Hur will participate in an artist talk regarding her project “Our mothers, our water, our peace” during the Atlanta Art Fair programming at Pullman Yards. When installed at Pullman Yards, this 22x8x10’ installation is called “Their tears now yours washing over where it aches, 2024.” This participatory installation explores how the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings and race-based hate crimes continue to affect local Asian Americans. In 2025, Hur will gather glass vessels from this series to create a large-scale public installation.
⛏️ Marcia Wood Gallery presents “Myzot Litischa, 2014” a polished marble sculpture measuring 64x21x27” which will be on display during the Atlanta Art Fair. Created by artists Julia Venske and Gregor Spänle, the sculpture employs a playful approach to transforming hard blocks of marble into organic shapes that appear to melt, fold, and dissolve.
🇺🇸 Karen Comer Lowe selected two artists, Pam Longobardi and Navin Norling, for a curated installation at Pullman Yards. Both artists bring deep and lasting connections to Atlanta while confronting global themes of social issues such as environmental activism and the complexities of American identity. Employing humor and repurposing reclaimed objects, the installation seeks to elicit conversations about contemporary American society.
🧱 Lloyd Benjamin’s “Far From Endless” prefabricated cement and steel sculpture presented by Wolfgang Gallery plays with form, materials, and production process. Taking materials that are traditionally reserved for industrial and utilitarian purposes and bringing them into a fine art piece, Benjamin prompts viewers to consider rhythms of reproduction and consumption.
💅 Lauren Jackson Harris curated the “genteel/gentle” exhibition at Pullman Yards which includes works by Shanequa Gay, Emily Mann, Crystal Jin Kim, Horace Imhotep, and Kyle Ford. The exhibition’s overarching message is one of the interlacing narratives of the South. Addressing changes in social structure and attitudes around themes of politeness, class, and social status, the viewer is left to draw connections between the disparate works.
🌍 A large-scale mobile installation called “THE MANY WORLDS” by Jeffrey Gibson will also land at Pullman Yards. Crafted out of custom printed screens, aluminum rods, PVC, and set in motion via motor, this installation is presented by ICA San Francisco and Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Serving as a representation of our solar system, this hanging piece evokes the idea of worlds within worlds. Gibson is an artist of Choctaw and Cherokee descent, and he intends to highlight the connections linking humans with the land and all living things through his work.
⛓️ “Unbroken Connections,” a set of three bronze sculptures by Atlanta-based artist Curtis Patterson and presented by Laney Contemporary, effectively reimagine the relationships of pedestals to sculptural works. Exploring the art form’s reliance on pedestals and monolithic approach to displaying sculptures, he set out to develop methods that would allow sculptures to depart from these supports, or otherwise incorporate them in unexpected ways into his works.
🎀 Sheila Pree Bright’s “Plastic Bodies” print series on dye sub fabric delves into the complex topic of identity and self-perception. Originally conceptualized in 2003, the series has seen a renewed relevance following the success of the Barbie movie which came out last year. In her works, the Barbie doll becomes an archetypal figure that parodically explores the doll’s impact on girls and women, and particularly women of color. Bright’s work seeks to confront viewers with feminism, identity, gender roles, beauty standards, and the onset of artificial intelligence.
🕐 Johnson Lowe Gallery presents “As a Revelation, Time Presents Itself,” a woodcut matrix by Sergio Suárez. This massive monochromatic piece measuring 96x48x48” features figures in various poses that imbue the piece with movement, energy, and action, peppered with geometric shapes and elements of architecture.
✨ Also look for Johnson Lowe Gallery’s booth (C07) which will feature an exhibition titled “The Stars, My Destination” with works by Michael David, Judy Pfaff, Sergio Suarez, Yulia Pinkusevich, Craig Drennen, Fahamu Pecou, Cosmo Whyte and Jimmy O’Neal. In a statement from the gallery, they write “In this exhibition, cosmology functions as a dynamic process of becoming, an ever-evolving framework through which artists reinterpret the world and, in many cases, build it anew.”
🧶 Maune Contemporary will showcase works by Khalilah Birdsong, Guy Stanley Philoche, and Julie Torres in their booth (C05). Expect to find abstracts, figural works, and works that reimagine fabric into painterly compositions.
🌳 Spalding Nix Fine Art’s booth (D11) will feature works by four Georgia-based artists; Caroline Bullock, Jerushia Graham, Katherine Sandoz, and Corrina Sephora. The works explore themes of connection to place, Southern identity, interactions with nature, and community.
🔳 Works by Amy Pleasant and Sonya Yong James will be on display at whitespace’s booth (J03). Expect both 2D and 3D works in this exhibition. Pleasant employs a “visual language” of form, and enjoys pushing the boundaries between figural and abstract works. James’ pieces are made with animal hair, thread, repurposed cloth, and clay, with topics that bridge the gap between domestic culture and production.
🗓️ The Atlanta Art Fair Theater
Atlanta Art Fair to present a number of panel discussions, artist talks, roundtable discussions, book signings, and more.
1️⃣ On Thurs., Oct. 3 Nate Freeman will moderate an “Atlanta’s Renaissance” talk from 6:15-7:15 p.m.
2️⃣ On Fri., Oct. 4 “Design in the American South” moderated by Dwell’s Editor-in-Chief William Hanley from 12-1 p.m. “Art in Action: Navigating Identity, Culture, and Environmental Crisis” presented by Karen Comer Lowe with Pam Longobardi and Navin Norling from 2-3 p.m. “Collecting in the South,” moderated by art market writer Carlie Porterfield from The Art Newspaper from 4-5 p.m.
3️⃣ On Sat., Oct. 5, “New South: Contemporary Perspectives in Lens-Based Media from the American South” is presented by Lindsey O’Connor, Executive Director at the Atlanta Center for Photography, and Maria Kelly, Assistant Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art. Roundtable discussion from 12-1 p.m. and book signing for “New South” from 1-1:45 p.m. “On Deck in the South” presented by Atlanta Art Fair Artistic Director Nato Thompson from 2-3 p.m. “Preserving Artists’ Legacies” moderated by Karen Comer Lowe is from 4-5 p.m.
4️⃣ On Sun., Oct. 6 “Being a Southern Artist” conversation featuring five artists from the “genteel/gentle” exhibition runs from 12-1 p.m. Check out “ALT ART: Artist-Run Spaces and Experimental Projects” presented by Art Papers from 2-3 p.m. “In Conversation: Cosmo Whyte and Fahamu Pecou” presented by Johnson Lowe Gallery takes place from 4-5 p.m.
The above list of exhibitions, events, and programming is not all-inclusive. For a full list of programs and exhibitions, visit the Atlanta Art Week website and the Atlanta Art Fair website.
