Autumn isn’t just a busy art-world season for New York City: True to its climate, Atlanta is blazing forward with stellar exhibitions across the city and debuting its first art fair. Despite being home to an abundance of exceptional artists, exhibitions, and institutions, the city rarely receives attention from the mainstream art world — an unfortunate reality that is finally beginning to change. During the inaugural Atlanta Art Fair, dozens of galleries from local, national, and international origins will draw visitors for a celebration of Southern artists and creativity. In anticipation of the art fair, institutions across the city and surrounding area are opening dazzling satellite exhibitions featuring the likes of Jeffrey Gibson and Ming Smith, showcasing their artistic might. All this amounts to a fever-pitch season with a bounty of art to see. Visitors should wear breathable clothing and plan to spend multiple days here; you don’t want to miss a thing.
Autumn isn’t just a busy art-world season for New York City: True to its climate, Atlanta is blazing forward with stellar exhibitions across the city and debuting its first art fair. Despite being home to an abundance of exceptional artists, exhibitions, and institutions, the city rarely receives attention from the mainstream art world — an unfortunate reality that is finally beginning to change. During the inaugural Atlanta Art Fair, dozens of galleries from local, national, and international origins will draw visitors for a celebration of Southern artists and creativity. In anticipation of the art fair, institutions across the city and surrounding area are opening dazzling satellite exhibitions featuring the likes of Jeffrey Gibson and Ming Smith, showcasing their artistic might. All this amounts to a fever-pitch season with a bounty of art to see. Visitors should wear breathable clothing and plan to spend multiple days here; you don’t want to miss a thing.
The first major career-spanning museum exhibition of the artist also marks her first solo show in Atlanta and at a historically Black college. Feeling the Future emphasizes Smith’s masterful experimentation with lens-based media. Many of the artworks feel improvisational, featuring cropped objects, figures in motion, and low lighting. Gritty film and muted colors further cast a shroud over the tenebrous scenes. Despite their often decades-old age, the photographs feel like a clear precursor to off-the-cuff photography, ubiquitous today due to the widespread access to cameras. Identifiable figures, such as Sun Ra, are often the only elements providing the images with a timestamp. In this exhibition, Smith conjures the future by smothering definition.
