Adventures in Atlanta's Art Scene

If you weren't out running around Atlanta this past Friday night- my advice to you: get your running shoes on and try to get out to see some of the amazing art that's featured around Atlanta throughout the coming months.

Jackson Fine Art presented a collection of works from contemporary photographer Todd Selby, alongside a little piece of history- Elliott Erwitt (and yes that is Erwitt in the above photo with yours truly). In curatorial terms, I can appreciate the combination of these two photographers. This exhibition is Todd Selby's first premiere show in Atlanta (or the US, for that matter) and Erwitt's third exhibition in Atlanta. Selby's images of "creative spaces of creative people" presented the working spaces of some of the masterminds behind companies such as Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Cole Haan.

His pleasantly over-sized color photographs complimented the traditional black and white documentary photos of Elliott Erwitt. Among my favorites is the image Karl. The photograph presents the working library of world-renowned fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld. Although the spaces appear to be somewhat contrived in presentation, the overall photograph is one that is visually appealing and fulfilling of the voyeuristic curiosity in all of us. In many aspects, the photographs operate as documentary portraiture and present us with an insiders look into the unique and creative environments of celebrities. Nonetheless, the interest within Selby's images relies heavily on the notoriety of his subjects and have little to do with his skill as a documentary photographer.

Such is not the case with the genius working behind the lens of Elliott Erwitt's camera. Let's face it, Erwitt appears to be at the right place at the right time... well, all of the time.

Documenting the streets and familiar faces throughout major cities around the world, Erwitt has an eye for capturing the irony of everyday situations. I had the wonderful opportunity to annoy Erwitt with stupid questions for the evening, among them being: What is your advice for living and photographing in New York? His response? "Good Luck." Something (or someone, rather) tells me my plans to live in the big Art Capital of America will be A. a pain in the ass and B. reliant on luck and talent. I'm excited.

Meanwhile, back at Georgia's Museum of Contemporary Art, Scott Belville exhibited a wonderful collection of prints and paintings pertaining to his theme for this exhibition: Trust. Now, if you know me personally, you probably know that I have a tendency to be attracted to politically challenging work and artists that likely have a loud mouth (not that I wouldn't know anything about that). Belville's work is precisely this. His collection of works for this exhibition reflect on his inability to gain trust in politics and people as they relate to the well-being of our environment, global issues, and the development of society. From the looks of the show and the "state of things" going on in the world right now, I'm not sure Belville will be finding that Trust anytime soon. However, his work is powerful in concept and his detailed handwork further reflects his talent as a fine artist.

MOCA's Movers and Shakers was also in full swing Friday night, exhibiting some of SCAD's very own talent: Ting Ying Han, Lucha Rodriguez, Omar Richardson, and Jay Fox (among several others). The show displays some of the emerging artists currently working around Atlanta and I must say, I was very impressed. Each artist had at least one piece in the show which attracted several art patrons and the "who's who" among Atlanta. If you weren't there, you should have been, because it was a great show with a great turnout. Hopefully, this means Atlanta's taste in art is on the rise and there will be many more successful shows to come.

Luckily for you fine folks, all of the shows I've talked about here will be on display until mid-late March. So, if you haven't gotten out to see them, pencil it in on your icals and smartphones and get to workin' on those art muscles.

(above image courtesy of Gene Driskell, Driskell Photography)

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