Cool Intentions

Provocative old guard and ambitious new leaders. Masterpieces and can’t-miss marvels. This is Atlanta’s arts scene—and these are the 20 scene stealers changing the conversation.

1. The Next Chapter
Atlanta is undoubtedly one of the most populated and industrious business hubs of the world. Its fast-paced, technology driven environs have perhaps compromised its ability to express itself artistically. To explore this idea, a collective of local visionaries, writers and influencers have launched the first edition of a new book series, Atlanta Art Now. Art critic Cinqué Hicks and the founder of Possible Futures, Louis Corrigan, have teamed up again (they were behind Flux 2011, a public art free-for-all) to deliver the inaugural edition. Noplaceness: Art in a Post-Urban Landscape (Possible Futures, Inc., $25) captures imaginative residents who bravely continue to combat the global trend of evolving simplicity by using art to maintain their home’s individuality with numerous literal accounts of their work coupled with color photography. This page-turning exhibition of contemporary art brandishes those who strive to prevent their prized city from becoming a victim of, well, noplaceness. atlantaartnow.com

2. Polished Off
Cover-star Scott Ingram got his start installing the works of art-world giants at the High Museum of Art, then spent seven years at Solomon Projects producing sculpture, tributes to iconic furnishings and modern color field paintings using a very familiar form of enamel—nail polish. Earning profuse comparisons to midcentury masters like Morris Louis and Gene Davis, his “automatic drawings” display strategic color arrangements propelled by gravity, producing an effect the artist likens to the human path from birth to death, each line possessing a slight deviation from the other. They also embody a buoyant spirit, which has made them darlings of decorators and landed them in private collections the world over. And though an era may be ending for Solomon Projects (the Midtown gallery closed on Nov. 26), Ingram doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon. He arrives at Emily Amy Gallery this month to debut a splashy solo show—his first nail polish exhibit in six years—on Dec. 9, featuring nearly two dozen aggrandized works on paper, panel and canvas and running through Jan. 28. A decade after their first exhibition, the hues have become brighter and the lines (“stilettos,” as he calls them) have grown taller... but they still have the uncanny ability to charm collectors young and seasoned, aesthetic and staid, with equal measure. 1000 Marietta St. NW, 404.877.5626, emilyamygallery.com

3. Time to Collect

Jennifer Schwartz is on a mission. This year, the 30-something gallery owner created The Ten (thetenphoto.com), a monthly online exhibit of 10 images with a low price point that entices new collectors to get their feet wet in investing in fine art photography. With the success of that project, she takes her show—Crusade for Collecting—on the road. “I am going on a 10-week, 10-city tour, where I do pop-up shows featuring works from incredible emerging photographers from across the country.” 1000 Marietta St. NW, 404.885.1080, jenniferschwartzgallery.‌com

4. Force of Abbott
Just nine months on the job (he started April Fool’s Day 2011), Brett Abbott, The High’s curator of photography has been busy. Abbott was charged with two things when he took the position. No. 1: Pick up the department and get things back on track. He just opened Quartet: Photographs by Ralph Gibson noting “this has been in talks for years and I’m really happy we’re finally putting it on.” And No. 2: Answer the question “Where are we going?” and form a strategic plan. “It had been nine months between when I came and the last person left. There was a long period with no one steering the ship,” Abbott says. He got Chip Simone’s show up and is about to put up two more through a partnership with MoMA. “At the same time is another show by Richard Miszrak. He did Picturing the South years ago in the ’90s,” he continues. His show Revisiting the South, circles back. “I’ve been thinking about the future and getting us there. The High is going to be an exciting place for photography enthusiasts.” high.org

5. Taylor Made
Tommy Taylor stayed away long enough. After 10 years, he has returned to Atlanta with a critically lauded show in February at Whitespace. “I went to South Carolina and painted more in six months than I had in six years in New York.” A change in geography has inspired a change in artistic style. “Historically I’ve done colorful improvisational abstracts. I’m going in a totally different direction with [this show]. It will be visually exciting.” 814 Edgewood Ave. NE, 404.688.1892, whitespace814.com

6. Back in Action
After a decades-long estrangement, curator and collector Bill Arnett is bringing a show to the High Museum of Art late next year. Arnett, a collector and patron of African-American works, brought several important shows to The High but left in 1976 following a public controversy. “My father was vindicated,” says Matt Arnett. “He never did anything again with The High. But an olive branch was extended over the past several years and he is bringing a show about Thornton Dial back to the museum.” 1280 Peachtree St., 404.733.4200, high.org

7. To the Letter
Underground artist Dubelyoo (pronounced W) is a master at blending hip-hop culture with pop culture. “The shift between the two has become a starting point for a new series of art,” says the Atlanta-based “Art Bishop,” whose renderings of rap icons and comic book, multimedia style is instantly recognizable. In 2012, he plans to focus on larger, more social commentary-driven work, “as well as produce more traveling art exhibitions.” dubelyoo.net

8. Chinese Imports
Marilyn Kiang, owner and director of Kiang Gallery, has always exposed our city to investment-quality works by rapidly emerging talent from China. We’re sad she’s closing her gallery in March 2012, but know she has something up her sleeve. “2011 was a very good year,” Kiang says. “Zhang Dali’s A Second History series, which we first exhibited in Atlanta in 1996, is currently on view at MoMA’s New Photography 2011.” In December, the gallery will exhibit Ben Steele’s work. 1011-A Marietta St., 404.892.5477, kiang-gallery.com

9. Death Becomes Hur
“I started to color and shred the silk flowers and noticed they matched my mother’s wedding blanket,”says Atlanta artist Gyun Hur of her inspiration for creating artwork from discarded funeral flowers. Her large-scale installations (crafted by shredding hundreds of blooms then adjusting them with tweezers and business cards) blend the fragility and beauty of the past with the vividness of the now. Besides a massive FLUX-commisioned exhibit at Lenox (it was 30 by 16 feet and utilized 7,000 flower heads) last spring, Hur’s work has earned her both the Hudgens prize and the coveted Artadia award. gyunhur.com

10. Rain Makers
Rainforest Films founders Will Packer and Rob Hardy were honored this year by the prestigious 2011 National Black Arts Festival Gala for their contribution to the film industry. After the enterprising duo produced, wrote and directed Trois: The Escort—an independent African-American film that grossed more than $1 million the fastest—their Atlanta-based Rainforest Films is now one of the most successful production companies in the nation. Packer and Hardy’s stellar portfolio boasts numerous blockbuster films including Stomp the Yard, Obsessed and Takers. They also co-founded the new television network, Bounce TV in 2011, and have directed television shows including ER and The Vampire Diaries. Now with comedian Steve Harvey’s new movie Think Like a Man recently completed, Rainforest Films continues its reign in 2012. rainforestfilms.com

11. Unbeweavable
Lifting the ancient craft of tapestry-weaving to the forefront of contemporary fiber artistry, Jon Riis’ provocative textiles knit social and cultural commentary together with luscious silks, metals and semi-precious stones. The amount of detail on his work (handsewn pearls and beads with metallic threads) is mind-blowing. His flawless tapestries adorn the walls of such contemporary art shrines as the Museum of Modern Art and the Musée Guimet in Paris. His splendidly spun series, inspired by imperial and Buddhist religious garments, currently hangs in the Museum of Design Atlanta’s exhibit The Opulent Object in Wood, Metal, and Fiber. jonericriis.com

12. The $500,000 Muse
Decatur poet A. E. Stallings was recently honored with a $500,000 “Genius” award from the MacArthur Foundation, for her inspired use of forms and characters from antiquity to shed light on modern themes. Her poems draw heavily on classics, ancient myths—particularly of the underworld­—nature, motherhood, children and domestic tension. Now living in Athens, Greece (she did attend UGA and jokes about going from Athens to Athens), her inspiration comes at odd times, “When I am doing something else… as I wait for a bus, or in a line at the bank, or at some other fortress of bureaucracy.” macfound.org

13. Place Your Bids
Daniel Biddy’s been getting a lot of buzz in the Atlanta art scene as of late—for good reason. His evocative large-scale collages mix bold hues with meticulously layered images from old books and magazines (which he says come from friends or “the garbage”), resulting in pop culture-saturated masterpieces. As for his artistic process, Biddy explains, “I really did learn evening I needed to know in kindergarten.” danielbiddy.com

14. Paper Trail
J. Adam Stewart, a 35-year-old, self-taught painter and Georgia native, prefers to house his surreally real subjects within—and on—lacquered wood. His newest collection, Creases & Folds II: Paintings of Paper on Paper captures intricate origami birds, beasts, boats and butterflies in oil, and are on view at the Westside’s Inherent Design Lab in early 2012. Can’t wait that long? Drop by No. 246 in Decatur for a cocktail and a gaze at Stewart’s commissioned piece. You can’t miss it.
996 Huff Road, 404.997.3586, inherentdesignlab.com, jadamstewart.com

15. Taming of the New
It’s not easy for a gallery in Marietta to rival metro area art spaces, but dk Gallery does. Known as the premier OTP art gallery, owner Donna Krueger says it comes down to accessibility. “Everything we do, from our events to our ambiance, is to be accessible.” The space hosts a monthly party to kick off the gallery’s new theme—patrons can view works based on motifs such as “Resolution” in January and “Anticipation” in February. 25 W. Park Square, Marietta, 770.427.5377, dkgallery.us

16. Draw Forth!
Animation can mean so many things nowadays. It can be hand-drawn on paper, digitally created on a computer, or animated frame by frame with a stop-motion puppet. Matt Maloney, who has been animating since the late ’90s, has done all types and styles. This year, the video game he helped create Black Bottom Parade, made it to the finals of IndieCade, which is like the OSCARS of independent games. “I fell into animation for games after working with SCAD and Georgia Tech faculty like John Sharp and Tony Tseng,” says the associate chair of animation at SCAD Atlanta. “They are brilliant game designers who needed animated content for their projects.” Most of Maloney’s independent work is stop-motion. “I build the puppets, construct the sets, and then animate them frame-by-frame to make them move. It’s an old-school style that goes all the way back to marionette puppetry.” Follow him at @mt_maloney

17. The Playwright Stuff
Her ability to convey universal themes as seen through a Southern Jewish female perspective has helped make Janece Shaffer a nationally produced, award-winning playwright whose star is getting brighter. Her play Managing Maxine was commissioned by the Alliance Theatre and Brownie Points debuted at the Theatrical Outfit. Her newest work, Broke, premiered at the Alliance in 2011 to heaps of praise from critics and audiences.

18. Kristofer Cometh!
We’ve put him in this lineup before, but all for one good reason; Self-taught artist Kristofer Laméy keeps bringing it. Every year he’s up to something new. Right now he’s revolutionizing the aviation design business with private jet company Duncan Aviation and he’s also conspiring with MODA to bring about a controversial new exhibition in September 2012 that will make Atlantans less gun shy. (Wink, wink.) kristoferlamey.com

19. Bowled Over
Through their glass-like sheen, Matt Moulthrop’s turned-wood bowls and vases have a multidimensional iridescence that looks nothing like the stumps and branches from whence they came. The 33-year-old Marietta wood turner, whose work was included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 40 under 40: Craft Futures, reveals there’s a narrative to every chunk of wood. “The artistry of wood turning comes not from the hand, but from the eye,” says the third-generation artist who learned his craft from his father and grandfather. “You have to see the shape first.” moulthropstudios.com

20. Take the Stage
Pinch ‘N’ Ouch Theatre showcases the “latest generation of playwrights as opposed to the youngest generation,” says Grant McGowen, producer and artistic director. The troupe left New York in 2010 and found Atlanta audiences receptive to its edgy, raw, dark plays. “Our niche is to introduce new plays here. We hope to do a world premiere soon.” pnotheatre.org