Fall has always been a time when the Atlanta art scene rallies with openings, galas, fundraisers and more. But this autumn will be a real bonanza when two major art events unfold in September and October giving art fans an almost overwhelming array of choices.
For the third year of Atlanta Art Week (Sept. 30-Oct. 6), founder and curator Kendra Walker has organized more than a dozen exhibitions, lectures, panel discussions, receptions, studio tours and pop-ups across the city and Athens. Events take place at Whitespace Gallery, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, the Goat Farm, The Athenaeum, Jackson Fine Art and Spalding Nix Fine Art, among other venues.
It was the success of Atlanta Art Week that enticed Kelly Freeman to launch the first Atlanta Art Fair, debuting Oct. 3-6.
“All of the word-of-mouth that Atlanta Art Week generated about the Atlanta community was just a huge asset for Atlanta in general,” said Freeman, director of Atlanta Art Fair. “(It was) really instrumental in making people from outside of Atlanta and outside of the American South pay attention to what’s going on there.”
Both events are sure to bring more exposure and opportunities to Atlanta galleries, museums and artists.
Despite their overlapping run dates and names, there are some key differences between the two events.
Atlanta Art Week is the OG homegrown affair balancing nationally known galleries and curators alongside local curators and artists like Courtney Brooks and Alfred Conteh. Events are free, but advance registration is required.
Credit: Kyle Flubacker
Credit: Kyle Flubacker
The brainchild of Walker, a native of Warner Robins and a Georgia State graduate who has worked with a small team to grow the event, Atlanta Art Week’s goal is to attract collectors, press and visitors to Atlanta in the same way similar events have become cultural destinations in cities like London and New York.
This year’s Atlanta Art Week will feature exhibitions from national galleries like OCHI, based in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Los Angeles, which will exhibit the work of Hana Ward, whose compelling figurative works explore identity and transformation. Ward will present new paintings and ceramic lamps at her solo show “Cowpea Consciousness,” curated by Melissa Messina.
“Like many visionary organizers out there, I admire (Walker’s) curiosity, her hard work, and her fearlessness,” said OCHI gallery director Meghan Gordon.
“OCHI participates in four to six art fairs annually and part of the appeal of Atlanta Art Week is that it’s not a fair,” she said. “OCHI’s roots are actually in Idaho, and we think a lot about regional conversations, cultural exchange and artistic strategies that can shift perception of identity in relation to geography. There are conversations happening in Atlanta that our artists want to be a part of, and part of the appeal of Atlanta Art Week is how it has developed organically and prioritized local discourse.”
Credit: deen babakhyi
Credit: deen babakhyi
Also from the national stage, renowned Chicago gallerist Mariane Ibrahim comes to town to appear in conversation with Atlanta-based artist Patrick Eugene.
“I’m a big fan of Patrick, and I’m a big fan of his work, but I don’t think a lot of people are familiar … with his work and him … (or know) he’s based here,” said Walker. “While we have a lot of attention and eyes on the city of Atlanta and the contemporary art scene here, I think this is a really cool moment to kind of showcase that.”
Atlanta Art Week boasts several firsts this year. For the first time, it will operate a headquarters at Ponce City Market, and several film screenings will be included in the mix of events. Among them is “gOD-Talk,” a documentary about the intersection of religion and culture in African American history produced by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“I feel like with year three, we’re kind of at that moment of people understanding what this is, what it’s about and feeling more comfortable about it. The Smithsonian — they actually reached out to us,” said Walker.
Atlanta Art Week 2024 also boasts a big sponsor: Bank of America.
“It’s just going to allow us to scale and really do some interesting things in the future,” said Walker.
Credit: Atlanta Art Fair
Credit: Atlanta Art Fair
Other highlights include a pop-up exhibition of select works by MFA grads from Georgia State’s Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design and the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art at Works on the Westside.
Atlanta Art Fair, on the other hand, is a ticketed weekend-long event at Pullman Yards organized by Art Market Productions (AMP), which also puts on San Francisco Art Fair, Seattle Art Fair and Art on Paper.
The one-stop-shop Pullman Yards space will feature lectures, art installations and more than 50 exhibitor booths hosted by galleries and cultural institutions from Atlanta — including Marcia Wood, SCAD, Sandler Hudson, Wolfgang, Memento and Poem 88 — and beyond. National galleries from New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Brooklyn and Detroit will participate, as will international galleries from Finland, Colombia, Canada and Ireland.
Allison Thorpe, vice president of Sutton public relations, which is bringing in press from Vanity Fair, Dwell and ARTnews for the event, said 8,000-10,000 people are expected to attend.
New York curator Nato Thompson, the fair’s artistic director, has curated two installations, one featuring Atlanta photographer Sheila Pree Bright’s “Plastic Bodies” series and “The Many Worlds,” a multimedia piece from Choctaw Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson, currently exhibiting at Kennesaw University’s Zuckerman Museum of Art.
Credit: Courtesy of Tandem Press
Credit: Courtesy of Tandem Press
Thompson has also tapped Atlanta curators Karen Comer Lowe and Lauren Jackson Harris to create two themed exhibitions.
Freeman describes the distinction between the two events as Atlanta Art Fair is “a centralized gathering space, and Atlanta Art Week involves an adventure through the city.”
Both events have some glitzy elements. Atlanta Art Week is partnering with the members-only club Soho House. And Atlanta Art Fair is featuring a box design collab between Hine cognac and Atlanta Contemporary resident artist (and Hapeville city councilwoman) Chloe Alexander. And on opening day, the fair hosts a panel discussion on “Atlanta’s Cultural Renaissance,” moderated by Vanity Fair culture correspondent Nate Freeman.
Besides making a profit for its makers (from booth rentals, ticket sales and partnerships), the goal of Atlanta Art Week is to provide an art education to visitors.
“There are experts in every one of those booths that can teach you so profoundly about the artists that they represent,” said Kelly Freeman. “As an attendee, you can have no experience with the art world whatsoever and walk into the space and be confronted by all of these people who are the best at what they do in the world, who are just there to talk to you about it.”
EVENT PREVIEW
Atlanta Art Week. Sept. 30-Oct. 6. Free, RSVP required. Various venues. atlantaartweek.co
Atlanta Art Fair. Oct. 3-6. $35 single day, $65 all-access pass. Pullman Yards, Porter Hall, 225 Rogers St. NE, Atlanta. pullmanyards.com
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