The High Museum of Art presents a rotating schedule of exhibitions throughout the year. Below is a list of current and upcoming exhibitions as of Aug. 30, 2021. Note: The exhibition schedule is subject to change. Please contact the High’s press office or visit high.org for more information or to confirm details.

Upcoming Exhibitions 

“Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe”
Sept. 3, 2021-Jan. 9, 2022 

For the last 15 years of her life, self-taught artist Nellie Mae Rowe (1900-1982) lived on a busy thoroughfare just outside of Atlanta and welcomed visitors to her “Playhouse,” which she decorated with found-object installations, handmade dolls, chewing-gum sculptures and hundreds of drawings. Featuring nearly 60 works drawn from High’s leading collection of Rowe’s art, “Really Free” is the first major exhibition of her work in more than 20 years and the first to consider her practice as a radical act of self-expression and liberation in the post-civil-rights-era South. Rowe began making art as a child in rural Fayetteville, Georgia, but only found the time and space to reclaim her artistic practice in the late 1960s, following the deaths of her second husband and members of the family for whom she worked. The exhibition will offer an unprecedented view of how she cultivated her drawing practice late in life, starting with colorful and at times simple sketches on found materials, and reveal their relationship with her most celebrated, highly complex compositions on paper. Through photographs and reconstructions of her Playhouse created for an experimental film on her life, the exhibition also will be the first to put her drawings in direct conversation with her art environment. “Really Free” marks the Museum’s first partnership with the Art Bridges Foundation, an organization dedicated to expanding access to American art, which will allow the exhibition to travel nationally into 2023. This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

“Picturing the South: 25 Years”
Nov. 5, 2021-Feb. 6, 2022

Launched in 1996, the High Museum of Art’s renowned “Picturing the South” series supports contemporary photographers in creating new bodies of work inspired by the American South for the High’s collection, which is among the nation’s leading photography programs and has strength in work made in and about the region. To commemorate the series’ 25th anniversary, the High will bring together for the first time nearly 200 works from all the past commissions by artists including Dawoud Bey, Sally Mann and Richard Misrach and will debut new work by the latest photographers selected for the series, Sheila Pree Bright, Jim Goldberg and An-My Lê. Taken as a whole, the photographs amount to a complex and layered archive of the region that addresses broad themes, from the legacy of slavery and racial justice to the social implications of the evolving landscape and the distinct and diverse character of the region’s people. This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

“KAWS PRINTS”
Dec. 3, 2021-March 27, 2022

One of the world’s most acclaimed artists, KAWS (Brian Donnelly) brings the same level of complexity and skill to his printmaking as he does to his painting, sculpture and editioned works, which unite the worlds of design, popular culture and fine art. Since his groundbreaking solo show at the High in 2012, KAWS has taken the world by storm with major exhibitions across the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. At the same time, his monumental sculptural installations, augmented reality sculptures, design collaborations, toys, editioned objects and related works have seized the attention of a massive and diverse audience. KAWS’s work is grounded in a deep and sustained involvement with graphic art and printmaking, from his early “subvertisements” to the sumptuous, painstakingly crafted screenprints of the last decade. Drawing exclusively from the High’s collection, this exhibition features all the artist’s editioned silkscreen prints in the Museum’s holdings along with a selection of drawings, color charts and rare early prints. This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

“Disrupting Design: Modern Posters, 1900-1940″
Dec. 10, 2021-April 24, 2022

Though not precious or unique, the poster is the ultimate design object—it disseminates ideas and images that reflect a time and place. As an object of design history, the poster can comment on social or cultural shifts, but it is probably best known for its most prominent role—selling commercial products. This exhibition surveys the origins of modern poster design featuring works from the collection of Merrill C. Berman, who focused on 20th-century radical art. Berman’s collection represents a complex history of modernism, as avant-garde artists actively produced fine and applied art for commercial and political aims. Starting in the early 1900s, these designers revolutionized typography and the graphic image, creating poster designs that changed artistic perspectives, as well as the hearts and minds of people. The works on view demonstrate the origins of modern graphic design, as practiced in Europe, and how the medium could be marshaled into service for social change. This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

“The Obama Portraits Tour”
Jan. 14-March 20, 2022

From the moment of their unveiling at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in February 2018, the official portraits of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama have become iconic. Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of the former First Lady have inspired unprecedented responses from the public. The High will present both portraits as part of a five-city tour organized by the National Portrait Gallery. In addition to the portraits, the gallery will feature an approximately eight-minute video providing background on the commissioning of the paintings by the Portrait Gallery and putting them into the context of the national collection of presidential portraits. This exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. Support for the national tour has been generously provided by Bank of America.

“André Kertész: Postcards from Paris”
Feb. 18-May 29, 2022

In 1925, photographer André Kertész (American, born Hungary, 1894-1985) arrived in Paris with little more than a camera and meager savings. Over the next three years, the young artist carved out a photographic practice that allowed him to move among the realms of amateur and professional, photojournalist and avant-garde artist, diarist and documentarian. By the end of 1928, he had achieved widespread recognition, emerging as a major figure in modern art photography alongside such figures as Man Ray and Berenice Abbott. During this three-year period, he chose to print most of his photographs on carte postale, or postcard paper. Although this choice may have initially been born of economy and convenience, he turned the popular format toward artistic ends, rigorously composing new images in the darkroom and making a new kind of photographic object. “Postcards from Paris” is the first exhibition to bring together Kertész’s rare carte postale prints. These now-iconic works offer new insight into his early, experimental years and reveal the importance of Paris as a vibrant meeting ground for international artists, who drew inspiration from each other to create new, modern ways of seeing and representing the world. This exhibition is organized by The Art Institute of Chicago.

“What Is Left Unspoken, Love”
March 25-Aug. 14, 2022

Is love intrinsic, or is it a habit? What is the difference between love and friendship? What is the relationship of love to truth, freedom and justice? These are just some of the questions to be explored in “What Is Left Unspoken, Love,” featuring contemporary artworks from 1987 to 2021 that address the different ways the most important thing in life — love — is expressed. Organized during a time of social and political discord, when cynicism often seems to triumph over hope, this exhibition will examine love as a profound subject of critical commentary from time immemorial yet with a persistently elusive definition. As poet and painter Etel Adnan wrote, love is “not to be described, it is to be lived.” “Love” will feature more than 70 works, including paintings, sculpture, photography, video and media art, by more than 35 international artists based in North America, Europe and Asia such as Rina Banerjee, Patty Chang, Jeffrey Gibson, Tomashi Jackson, María de los Angeles Rodríguez Jiménez, Rashid Johnson, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, Ebony Patterson, Magnus Plessen, Gabriel Rico, RongRong and inri, and Carrie Mae Weems. This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

“Oliver Jeffers: 15 Years of Picturing Books”
April 15-Aug. 7, 2022

Born in Australia and raised in Northern Ireland, Oliver Jeffers is an award-winning artist and author working in painting, bookmaking, illustration, collage, performance and sculpture. This retrospective exhibition showcases nearly 100 artworks, some never seen, including original line drawings, sketches and finished illustrations, from 16 of Jeffers’ picture books, including the wildly popular “The Day the Crayons Quit” and its sequel, “The Day the Crayons Came Home,” “Here We Are,” “The Incredible Book Eating Boy,” “This Moose Belongs to Me” and “Once Upon an Alphabet.” This exhibition is organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature. 

Currently on View  

“Calder-Picasso” 

Through Sept. 19, 2021 Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso are two of the foremost figures in the history of 20th-century art. This touring exhibition, which debuted in 2019 at the Musée national Picasso-Paris, presents more than 100 paintings, sculptures and works on paper from all phases of Calder’s and Picasso’s careers that reveal the radical innovation and enduring influence of their art. Conceived by the artists’ grandsons, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso and Alexander S. C. Rower, the exhibition focuses on the artists’ exploration of the void, or absence of space, in representations ranging from the figurative to the abstract. Calder’s wire figures, paintings, drawings, and revolutionary nonobjective mobiles and stabiles are integrated throughout the exhibition with profoundly inventive works by Picasso in every media. The juxtapositions are insightful, surprising and challenging, demonstrating the striking innovations these great artists introduced through their ceaseless reexamination of form, line and space. This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; de Young Museum, San Francisco; and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, in partnership with the Calder Foundation, New York; Musée national Picasso-Paris (MnPP); and the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte (FABA).

“Electrifying Design: A Century of Lighting”
Through Sept. 26, 2021

Since the invention of the first electric light in the 1800s to the development of ultraefficient lightbulbs in the 21st century, lighting technology has fascinated engineers, scientists, architects and designers worldwide, inspiring them toward new creative expression. The High is the exclusive Southeast venue for this exhibition, the first large-scale show to consider electrical lighting over the past 100 years as a catalyst for technological and artistic innovation within major avant-garde design movements. The exhibition features nearly 80 rare lighting examples by leading international designers including Achille Castiglioni, Christian Dell, Poul Henningsen, Ingo Maurer, Verner Panton, Gino Sarfatti, Ettore Sottsass and Wilhelm Wagenfeld, among many others. The works on view demonstrate how these innovators harnessed light’s radiance and beauty, resulting in designs that extend beyond or challenge the functional nature of lighting. This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 

“Outside the Lines” 

Through Nov. 28, 2021 

This immersive maze of accessible, sensory environments by award-winning design and research practice Bryony Roberts Studio is the seventh site-specific installation on The Woodruff Arts Center’s Carroll Slater Sifly Piazza, continuing the High’s multiyear series of inclusive and inviting commissions to activate the Museum’s outdoor space and encourage community engagement. “Outside the Lines” emerged from conversations between Bryony Roberts Studio and self-advocates with disabilities and their allies throughout Atlanta, with the goal of creating a space that is engaging for all. It provides an environment that is accessible and playful for those with physical, developmental and/or intellectual disabilities, supporting discovery and connection. The gently curving steel structure supports thousands of hanging strands, along the rise and fall of the frame, that form both small enclosures for quiet relaxation and open environments for social interaction. Emulating a forest-like atmosphere, the tactile materials, designed in collaboration with individuals who are blind and visually impaired, invite safe engagement and enable dynamic navigation through touch. The variety and height of the materials provide a spectrum of exploration within reach of all people, including those who use wheelchairs and mobility devices, and produce a range of intensity and stimulation, offering choice for people with sensory sensitivities. This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

“Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-Taught Artist in America”
Through Dec. 11, 2021 

After World War I, artists without formal training began showing their work in major museums, “crashing the gates” of the elite art world, as the newspapers of their day put it. This touring exhibition organized by the High will celebrate more than a dozen early 20th-century painters who fundamentally reshaped who could be an artist in the United States and paved the way for later generations of self-taught artists. “Gatecrashers” will highlight three painters who became the most widely celebrated self-taught artists of the interwar period — John Kane, Horace Pippin and Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses — and present their work alongside paintings by others, including Morris Hirshfield, Lawrence Lebduska and Josephine Joy, who represent the breadth of the art world’s attraction to self-taught artists in the first half of the 20th century. Despite their lack of formal training, these artists’ paintings of American life in the cities and rural communities where they lived, as well as fantastical scenes derived from their imaginations, were celebrated by fellow artists, collectors and taste-making museums such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, especially in the 1930s and early 1940s. This exhibition will demonstrate how that recognition foreshadowed the increasing visibility of self-taught artists in today’s art world. Following its presentation at the High, the exhibition will travel to the Brandywine River Museum of Art (May 28–Sept. 5, 2022) and The Westmoreland Museum of American Art (Oct. 30, 2022–Feb. 5, 2023). This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. 

“Pioneers, Influencers, and Rising Voices: Women in the Collection” 
Ongoing 

In observance of the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting some women the right to vote, this installation is drawn from the High’s collection and features artworks made exclusively by women. Artists represented include some of the most influential voices of the past 50 years, such as Kiki Smith, Lorna Simpson and Shirin Neshat; midcareer artists such as Won Ju Lim and Chantal Joffe; emerging artists such as Jamian Juliano Villani and Ella Kruglyanskaya; and Atlanta-based artists Annette Cone-Skelton and Rocío Rodríguez. Whether exploring the multidimensionality of installation art, refashioning Minimalist forms and strategies, or challenging male-dominated social hierarchies, the selected works are inspired by or related to feminist concerns, which were advanced by the women’s movement of the 1960s and ’70s. Concerns that still persist today include voter suppression strategies that seek to disenfranchise people from participating in the democratic process. This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.