Atlanta Galleries Explore Race, History and Identity Through Multiple Fall 2017 Exhibitions
During the autumn of 2017, various galleries in Atlanta highlighted exhibitions focusing on themes of race, identity, and history. At the Alan Avery Art Company, Fabiola Jean-Louis's "Rewriting History" showcased images of women of color adorned in paper gowns, confronting the lack of representation of Black women in historical art and linking to the Black Lives Matter movement. Notable works included "They'll Say We Enjoyed It" (2017) and "Marie-Antoinette Is Dead" (2016), with a smaller display at the DuSable Museum in Chicago. Whitespace gallery featured Nancy Floyd's "Weathering Time," comprising 165 self-portraits from 1982 onwards. The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center hosted Matthew Angelo Harrison's "Dark Povera Part 1," displaying ceramic replicas of African masks. Cosmo Whyte's "Starting a Bush Fire" was presented at Marcia Wood Gallery. These exhibitions took place from October 20, 2017, to January 5, 2018, with additional shows running from November 3 to December 2, 2017, August 26 to December 17, 2017, and October 25 to November 25, 2017.
Key facts
- Fabiola Jean-Louis's "Rewriting History" exhibition at Alan Avery Art Company featured photographs of women of color in paper gowns evoking European royal portraits.
- Nancy Floyd's "Weathering Time" at Whitespace gallery presented 165 daily self-portraits taken since 1982, exploring aging and loss.
- Matthew Angelo Harrison's "Dark Povera Part 1" at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center included ceramic African mask replicas made with a handmade 3D printer.
- Cosmo Whyte's "Starting a Bush Fire" at Marcia Wood Gallery examined migration and identity through charcoal drawings, sculptures, and photographs.
- Jean-Louis's work references the Black Lives Matter movement and addresses the historical absence of women of color in Old Master portraits.
- Floyd's photography was influenced by August Sander's cataloging and Jo Spence's feminist documentation.
- Harrison's sculptures comment on racial profiling, mass production, and the commodification of African artifacts, drawing parallels between postwar Italy and Detroit.
- Whyte's large-scale C-print references Robert Mapplethorpe's 1980 photograph and explores class and sexual stereotypes as modes of acculturation.
Entities
Artists
- Fabiola Jean-Louis
- Nancy Floyd
- Matthew Angelo Harrison
- Cosmo Whyte
- Cindy Sherman
- August Sander
- Jo Spence
- Nicholas Nixon
- Robert Mapplethorpe
Institutions
- Alan Avery Art Company
- DuSable Museum of African American History
- Whitespace gallery
- Georgia State University
- Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
- Marcia Wood Gallery
Locations
- Atlanta
- Georgia
- United States
- Buckhead
- Chicago
- Illinois
- Brooklyn
- New York
- Haiti
- Detroit
- Michigan
- Jamaica
- Italy
- Germany