Around Atlanta

High Museum is Exclusive Southeast Venue for Dawoud Bey Photography Retrospective

Published

4 years ago

October 27, 2020

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

A Man in a Bowler Hat, Harlem, NY, 1976- Dawoud Bey

For more than four decades, renowned photographer Dawoud Bey has created powerful and tender photographs that portray underrepresented communities and explore African American history. From portraits in Harlem and classic street photography to nocturnal landscapes and large-scale studio portraits, his works combine an ethical imperative with an unparalleled mastery of his medium. Coming this fall, the High Museum of Art will celebrate his important contributions to photography as the exclusive Southeast venue for “Dawoud Bey: An American Project” (Dec. 12, 2020-March 14, 2021), the artist’s first full career retrospective in 25 years.

Co-organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the exhibition will feature approximately 80 works that span the breadth of Bey’s career, from his earliest street portraits made in Harlem in the 1970s to his most recent series reimagining sites of the Underground Railroad (2017).

The High has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Bey, who was commissioned in 1996 for the Museum’s inaugural “Picturing the South” series, which asks noted photographers to turn their lens toward the American South. For his project, Bey collaborated with Atlanta high school students to create empathetic, larger-than-life portraits. Made with the monumental 20-by-24-inch Polaroid camera, these photographs explore the complexity of adolescence as a time of critical identity formation and expand the concept of portraiture. The High now holds more than 50 photographs by Bey, one of the most significant museum collections of his work.

“Bey’s portraits are remarkable for their keen sensitivity and for how they elicit and honor their subjects’ sense of self, which is partly an outcome of the artist’s collaborative practice,” remarked Sarah Kennel, the High’s Donald and Marilyn Keough Family curator of photography. “Given the museum’s long relationship with Bey and the strength of our holdings, we are thrilled to present this important retrospective. We look forward to sharing the artist’s photographs and his powerful and moving reflections on African American history and identity in their country with our visitors.”

Bey, born in 1953 in Queens, New York, began to develop an interest in photography as a teenager. He received his first camera as a gift from his godmother in 1968, and the next year, he saw the exhibition “Harlem on My Mind” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Widely criticized for its failure to include significant numbers of artworks by African Americans, the exhibition’s representation of Black subjects nonetheless made an impression on Bey and inspired him to develop his own documentary project about Harlem in 1975. Since that time, he has worked primarily in portraiture, making tender, psychologically rich and direct portrayals, often in collaboration with his subjects. More recently, he has explored seminal moments in African American history through both portraiture and landscape.

“Dawoud Bey: An American Project” will include work from the artist’s eight major series and is organized to reflect the development of Bey’s vision throughout his career and to highlight his enduring engagement with portraiture, place and history.

The Street

Bey’s landmark black-and-white 1975-78 series “Harlem, USA” documents portraits and street scenes with locals of the historic neighborhood in New York. As a young man growing up in Queens, Bey was intrigued by his family’s history in Harlem, where his parents met and where he visited family and friends throughout childhood. The series premiered at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1979, when Bey was just 26.

In addition to works from that series, the exhibition will include a remarkable series of street photographs Bey made in Syracuse, New York, that demonstrate his keen eye for portraiture and his ability to respond with both spontaneity and sensitivity to his subjects and their environment. These works are accompanied by more formal street portraits that Bey created in the 1980s in areas such as Brooklyn, New York, and Washington, D.C. Made with a large-format camera and Polaroid film, these photographs reflect a more intimate and enduring exchange between Bey and his subjects, and by extension, the viewer.

The exhibition will also feature the series “Harlem Redux,” which marks Bey’s return to the area from 2014 to 2017. This newer series of large-format color landscapes and streetscapes at once documents and mourns the transformation of the community as it has become more gentrified and its original residents increasingly displaced.

The Studio

After honing his skills in street photography, Bey moved toward studio work in the 1990s, using a massive 20-by-24-inch Polaroid camera to make a series of sensitive and direct color portraits, first of friends and later of teenagers he met through a 1992 residency at the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Massachusetts. At the time, Bey also began to experiment with beautifully lit multipanel Polaroid portraits that challenge the singularity of the photographic print and suggest the complexity of identity.

In 2002, a residency at the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art inspired Bey to begin the series “Class Pictures.” Using a view camera to create striking, large-scale color portraits of high school students, Bey asked the students to write narratives to accompany the photographs. Over the next four years, Bey continued work on the series at high schools across the United States. By focusing on teenagers from a wide range of economic, social and ethnic backgrounds and giving them an opportunity to reveal their thoughts, fears and dreams at a critical moment of identity formation, Bey created a diverse group of thoughtful and introspective portraits that challenge stereotypes of adolescence.

History

The exhibition closes with works from two of Bey’s most recent series exploring African American history and collective memory.

“The Birmingham Project,” created in 2012 as a commission from the Birmingham Museum of Art, memorializes the victims of the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and its violent aftermath. The series features expressive portraits of children who are the same age as the bombing victims paired with photographs of adults who are the ages those children would have been in 2012 had they lived. The photographs, along with an accompanying video piece, are stirring reminders of the precious lives lost and foreground the enduring legacy of racism and violence against African Americans.

In 2017, Bey completed “Night Coming Tenderly, Black,” a series of beautifully rendered and evocative images made in Ohio where the Underground Railroad once operated. As landscapes, the large black-and-white photographs mark a departure from the artist’s previous work, but they emphasize many of the same existential questions. The series, whose title is drawn from a Langston Hughes poem, conjures the spatial and sensory experience of an enslaved person’s escape to liberation as imagined by the artist. Shot by day but printed in deep shades of black and gray as if they were taken at night, these evocative and mysterious works explore blackness as both color and metaphor for race.

“Dawoud Bey: An American Project” will be presented in the High’s Wieland Pavilion Lower Level.

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Around Atlanta

The High Museum to Showcase “Thinking Eye, Seeing Mind”

Published

1 week ago

December 12, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

Oil on paper artwork by Terry Winters. A large red circle with smaller blue circles on top of it and gold/yellow accents. All of it on a dark brown background.

The special exhibition of the Medford and Loraine Johnston Collection will run January 17 through May 25, 2025

In the mid-1970s, artist and Georgia State University professor Medford Johnston, along with his wife and collaborator Loraine, began collecting works by artists who were in the vanguard of contemporary art. Today, they hold one of the finest collections of postwar American drawings and related objects of its kind, now numbering more than 85 works.

In 2025, the High Museum of Art will present Thinking Eye, Seeing Mind: The Medford and Loraine Johnston Collection, featuring their collected works, which is a promised gift to the museum. Featuring artists such as Sol LeWitt, Brice Marden, Elizabeth Murray, Martin Puryear, Ed Ruscha, Al Taylor, Anne Truitt, Stanley Whitney and Terry Winters, among others, the exhibition will demonstrate how establishing the parameters of an art collection requires infinite patience, focus, discipline and a keen eye.

“The Johnstons have been friends of the High for a very long time. They’ve also built an impressive collection featuring works by many of the 20th century’s most significant abstract artists,” said the High’s Director Rand Suffolk. “We are honored that they have promised to leave their collection to the Museum where it will be preserved for future generations — and we are delighted that they are sharing it with our audiences now, hopefully inspiring the next generation of art collectors and supporters.”

A curated collection

The Johnstons’ story is a testament to, in the words of the High’s Wieland Family Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Michael Rooks, “knowing the difference between what is right and what is almost right” when building a collection.

Although the Johnstons acquired several paintings and objects when they first began collecting in 1972, they quickly narrowed their focus to drawing, primarily by artists working on the frontlines of abstraction in the mid-1960s during a time of great innovation and experimentation.

Ink drawing by Anne Truitt, rectangular lines and shapes made with black ink on off-white background — Anne Truitt (American, born 1921), *Ink Drawing ’59 [11]*, 1959, ink on paper, The Johnston Collection. © Estate of Anne Truitt / The Bridgeman Art Library / Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.

Rooks added, “Med and Loraine’s collection struck me at once by its single-minded focus on a specific moment in time, which was essentially the time of their contemporaries. The artists in their collection are like close friends to the Johnstons — in fact many are or were. What is equally astonishing about the collection is the Johnstons’ dogged pursuit of quality. Their in-depth knowledge of each artist’s practice combined with their understanding of specific qualities to look for — or more appropriately, to hold out for — will be a revelation to emerging collectors.”

The Johnstons have built their collection with the High in mind as the benefactor of their passion and discernment. For them, their collection “is a labor of love, pursued over more than 50 years, and we are delighted to be able to help the High Museum document and celebrate these important artists working during the same decades as our lives.”

About the exhibit

Thinking Eye, Seeing Mind: The Medford and Loraine Johnston Collection will be presented in the Special Exhibition Galleries on the second level of the High’s Stent Family Wing.

The exhibit is organized by the High Museum of Art and made possible through the generosity of sponsors:

Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Premier Exhibition Series Supporters Mr. Joseph H. Boland, Jr., The Fay S. and W. Barrett Howell Family Foundation, Harry Norman Realtors and wish Foundation
Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporters Robin and Hilton Howell
Ambassador Exhibition Series Supporters Loomis Charitable Foundation and Mrs. Harriet H. Warren
Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters Farideh and Al Azadi, Mary and Neil Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones, Megan and Garrett Langley, Margot and Danny McCaul, Wade A. Rakes II and Nicholas Miller and Belinda Stanley-Majors and Dwayne Majors.

Support has also been provided by the Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund and USI Insurance Services.

About the High Museum of Art

Located in the heart of Atlanta, the High Museum of Art connects with audiences from across the Southeast and around the world through its distinguished collection, dynamic schedule of special exhibitions and engaging community-focused programs.

Housed within facilities designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Richard Meier and Renzo Piano, the High features a collection of more than 19,000 works of art, including an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American fine and decorative arts; major holdings of photography and folk and self-taught work, especially that of artists from the American South; burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, including paintings, sculpture, new media and design; a growing collection of African art, with work dating from prehistory through the present; and significant holdings of European paintings and works on paper.

The High is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of its communities and offering a variety of exhibitions and educational programs that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process.

For more information about the High or to purchase tickets, visit high.org.

Top image: (from the collection) Terry Winters (American, born 1949), Orb, 2020, oil on paper, The Johnston Collection. © Terry Winters, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.

Around Atlanta

Center for Puppetry Arts Shares Global Holiday Traditions Through Puppetry

Published

1 month ago

November 15, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

Puppets from Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer on set at the Center for Puppetry Arts

This holiday season, Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts is proud to present groundbreaking displays highlighting how puppetry — an ancient form of storytelling — brings together diverse religious and cultural traditions.

Running from November 12 to December 29, this special holiday exhibition invites visitors to experience a global celebration of unity — all under one roof.

Two remarkable exhibits at the heart of this year’s holiday programming are Jane Henson’s Nativity Story and The Famous Chelm Players by Robert Rogers. These powerful displays bring to life Christian and Jewish traditions through the art of puppetry, alongside contributions from other world cultures.

In addition to these new exhibits, the Center’s signature Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer™ performance returns, making the Center for Puppetry Arts a must-visit holiday destination.

Puppets of Comet and young reindeer from the Rudolph production at Center for Puppetry Arts — Comet and young reindeer at Center for Puppetry Arts (2010); photo credit: Clay Walker

A rare display of Christian artistry: Jane Henson’s Nativity Story

Jane Henson’s Nativity Story, a masterful crèche, brings the birth of Jesus to life through puppetry. Created by the co-founder of The Jim Henson Company (and wife of Muppets creator, Jim Henson), Nativity Story adds emotion to the traditional display, making it an engaging exhibit for all ages.

The Center for Puppetry Arts is one of the few museums in the world to publicly showcase Jane Henson’s work, offering a rare chance to experience her artistry. This unique celebration of Christian tradition is also a tribute to an often-overlooked female pioneer in puppetry.

Puppetry creche of the nativity scene by Jane Henson — Jane Henson’s Nativity Story; photo courtesy of the Center for Puppetry Arts

A closer look: The Famous Chelm Players

Another highlight of the holiday exhibition is The Famous Chelm Players, created by renowned puppeteer Robert Rogers. These characters, inspired by Eastern European Jewish folklore, depict the Wise Men of Chelm, a town known in Jewish stories as the “village of fools.”

The puppets bring to life the lighthearted and well-meaning — yet comically misguided — characters who share wisdom and are used to tell stories about holidays and everyday lessons. They have been a beloved part of many Jewish traditions.

Designed with intricate detail, the Chelm puppets evoke the shtetls (small Jewish towns) of the past, capturing the essence of Jewish cultural heritage. Originally performed in Rogers’ New York playhouse, the debut at the Center for Puppetry Arts marks a rare opportunity for Southern audiences to see these whimsical puppets and learn about the timeless tales of Chelm.

Puppets of the Chelm Players created by Roger Roberts — The Famous Chelm Players by Robert Rogers; photo courtesy of the Center for Puppetry Arts

A global holiday experience

In addition to these special exhibits, The Center maintains a rich collection of global puppetry in its permanent collection, some include:

• Puppets of Hindu deities, crafted by Indian artist Anupama Hoskere, depict stories from Hindu epics like the Ramayana, showcasing the intricate traditions of Indian puppetry.

• Muslim folk characters from various regions illustrate how puppetry has been used to convey religious stories and community traditions from the Middle East to Southeast Asia.

• Asian puppets, including shadow puppets from Indonesia and China, show how they are used in religious ceremonies and folk storytelling.

Puppet of Yukon Cornelius from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at Center for Puppetry Arts — Yukon Cornelius at Center for Puppetry Arts (2010); photo credit: Clay Walker

Rudolph returns for holiday fun

No visit to Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts during the holidays would be complete without Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Running fromNovember 13 to December 29, this family-friendly adaptation of the 1964 Rankin/Bass television special features fully staged puppetry performances that capture the timeless story of Rudolph, Santa, Yukon Cornelius and the Abominable Snowman.

Santa with the original 1964 Rankin Bass Santa and Rudolph Puppets — Santa with the original 1964 Rankin/Bass puppets; photo courtesy of the Center for Puppetry Arts

An Invitation to All Faiths and Communities

The Center for Puppetry Arts is extending a warm invitation to religious and interfaith organizations to participate in this celebration of global traditions.

By bringing together these diverse stories, the Center is offering a rare chance for communities of all backgrounds to come together through the common love of art and storytelling.

Plan Your Visit

Dates: November 12–December 29; Performances of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer™ begin November 13.

Location: The Center For Puppetry Arts: 1404 Spring St NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. Parking is free.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: puppet.org/programs.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer flyer for Center for Puppetry Arts — image courtesy of the Center for Puppetry Arts

Rudolph performance tickets include the show, as well as admission to the Worlds of Puppetry Museum, Festive Features special exhibition and a Create-A-Puppet™ Workshop.

To purchase a membership, visit: puppet.org/visit/become-a-member.

About the Center for Puppetry Arts

The Center for Puppetry Arts is the largest nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated solely to puppetry, offering live performances, interactive workshops and a world-class museum. Home to the Jim Henson Collection, featuring original Muppets, Fraggle Rock characters and Sesame Street icons, the Center provides a rare, behind-the-scenes look at beloved TV and film favorites.

With over 4,000 puppets from around the world in the museum, the Center immerses visitors in diverse cultural traditions, making it a must-visit destination for families. Supported by local institutions, it remains a key player in Atlanta’s vibrant arts scene.

Around Atlanta

Metro Atlanta Redevelopment Visionaries Honored at 2024 MARS Summit

Published

1 month ago

November 8, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

A group of award winners in front of a Partnership Gwinnett sign

Tim Perry, managing director and chief investment officer of Jamestown named Redevelopment Champion of the Year

The Metro Atlanta Redevelopment Summit (MARS), presented by Gwinnett’s Community Improvement Districts and co-hosted by Partnership Gwinnett and the Council for Quality Growth, offered an exclusive look at major redevelopment projects shaping the future of the region.

This year’s event not only highlighted emerging trends in the redevelopment industry but also provided valuable networking opportunities for professionals across metro Atlanta. Attendees gained insight into best practices through discussions on successful revitalization projects.

The summit’s marquee moment was the presentation of the annual MARS Awards, recognizing remarkable achievements in redevelopment that are transforming the metro Atlanta landscape.

The keynote address was delivered by Joe Minicozzi, a renowned urban planner and founder of Urban3, who shared his expertise on land use, urban design and economics. In addition to the keynote, the event featured dynamic panel discussions with local leaders and key partners from across the metropolitan area, spotlighting successful projects and innovative strategies in the region.

Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson concluded the summit with closing remarks, emphasizing the continued growth of the region and the collective efforts driving its future.

2024 MARS Awards winners

The MARS Awards ceremony celebrated projects that have made significant economic impacts on their communities and honored Tim Perry, an individual who has dedicated his career to advancing successful redevelopment initiatives.

Redevelopment Champion of the Year: Tim Perry, managing director and chief investment officer of Jamestown

Runner up: Paul Radford, Sugar Hill city manager

Small Redevelopment Project of the Year: The Historic Jones Building

The historic Jones Building, one of the oldest structures in Cherokee County, has been revitalized to meet modern needs while preserving its storied past. This ambitious 28-month restoration culminated in August 2024, breathing new life into this cornerstone of downtown Canton and creating a dynamic space for work, dining, and play.

Runner up: The Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op

Medium Redevelopment Project of the Year: The Grove at Towne Center

The Grove at Towne Center is a transformative development in the heart of Snellville. With 33,000 square feet of restaurant space, 10,000 square feet of retail and the new Elizabeth H. Williams Branch of the Gwinnett Public Library, The Grove offers an ideal blend of dining, shopping and cultural experiences.

Runner up: Springside Powder Springs

Large Redevelopment Project of the Year: The Works

The Works is an innovative, 80-acre adaptive reuse community that reimagines a historic warehouse district in Atlanta’s Upper Westside. The first phase, spanning 27 acres, introduced a dynamic mix of 218,000 square feet of unique retail and dining spaces, 118,000 square feet of creative office space and Westbound at The Works — a modern 306-unit multi-family residence.

Runner up: The Forum at Peachtree Corners

“Community redevelopment is essential in creating vibrant, thriving spaces that enhance the quality of life and drive sustainable economic growth for the entire region,” said Deven Cason, vice president of economic development for Partnership Gwinnett.

“We proudly congratulate this year’s award winners and finalists for their innovative contributions and tireless efforts in revitalizing our communities. Their work is not only reshaping local landscapes but also fueling long-term economic prosperity in metro Atlanta. We are grateful for their dedication to building a brighter, more prosperous future.”

2024 sponsors

The program was held at the former Georgia Baptist Convention Center, Maison6405, and welcomed more than 200 industry attendees.

Sponsors included Evermore CID, Gateway 85 CID, Gwinnett Place CID, Lilburn CID, Sugarloaf CID, C2H Air, Hogan Construction, Northside, Primerica, The Forum, Gas South, Jackson EMC, Select Fulton, True North 400, ABEV Power Solutions, City of Suwanee, Curiosity Labs, Geo Hydro Engineers, Georgia Power, Lose Designs, City of Lawrenceville, City of Norcross, City of Peachtree Corners, City of Sugar Hill and Town of Braselton.

For more information on revitalization and redevelopment efforts in the region, visit partnershipgwinnett.com.