On View: August 24, 2019 – December 22, 2019

Public Opening: Saturday, August 24, 7-12am

(In conjunction with ART PARTY; ticketed event)

ATLANTA —July 16, 2019 —Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (Atlanta Contemporary) is pleased to announce the upcoming Fall exhibitions including a solo exhibition by Bryan Graf, Landlines; a solo exhibition by Emma McMillan, Project X; with the following project spaces: Contemporary On-Site, COCO HUNDAY; Sliver Space, Wihro Kim; and Chute Space, Bailey Scieszka.

This season’s exhibitions continue to demonstrate the transformative power of free admission and Atlanta Contemporary’s mission to engage the public in the creation, presentation, and advancement of contemporary art.

“While this new fiscal year sees the departure of our curator, we are excited about our future. On behalf of the staff and Board of Directors, we thank Daniel Fuller for being such an integral part of Atlanta Contemporary over the last four and a half years,” says Veronica Kessenich, executive director of Atlanta Contemporary. “We will surely miss him and thank him for his leadership and service to Atlanta Contemporary.”

Randy Gue, board chair states: “The Board of Directors is excited about what's next for Atlanta Contemporary. Beginning with ART PARTY and the Fall exhibitions, Veronica Kessenich, executive director, and the staff continue the good work of transforming Atlanta Contemporary since we eliminated admission four years ago. Join us for this unique year as we bring in new voices and new experiences into our exhibitions, programming, and partnerships.”

Bryan Graf, Landlines

Gallery 3

In Landlines, Graf continues his exploration across a varied range of photographic approaches and subjects. Finding equal importance in conceptual, visceral, and narrative approaches to the medium. The exhibition title, Landlines, is borrowed from landline telephones- which are in a fixed, specific location to communicate with someone. While we’re communicating from this place, there’s also the ambient sounds and beautiful static surrounding us. Thoughts fade in and out, lists are made, doodles jotted on notepads – activities that are not directly a part of our conversation, but nonetheless are there; active in space and time. There is value in the silent pauses, daydreams and interferences that are a part of the landscape of communication.

Emma McMillan, Project X

Gallery 4

Project X examines the work of Atlanta architect John Portman, whose prolific output since the 1960’s shaped the face of the city. Titled after Portman’s unrealized 1969 utopian residential building, Project X confronts the architecture, theory and legacy of Portman’s designs and career.

McMillan’s series of large oil and aquarelle paintings borrow from Portman’s visual tricks such as forced perspective, blur, vertigo, and mirrored reflection to emulate the dimension reminiscent of his buildings in downtown Atlanta. Utilizing care and control in her painting technique, McMillan evokes Portman’s iconic structures through the post-modernist preoccupation with hyperspace and the suppression of depth. Hanging banners and feminine iconography stabilize and support the airy, light-filled surfaces.

COCO HUNDAY

Contemporary On-Site

COCO HUNDAY (est. 2016) is an artist run exhibition space located in Tampa, Florida. This space is directed by artist Jason Lazarus, and the gallery focuses on presenting solo shows of emerging and mid-career artists. Recent exhibitions at COCO HUNDAY include Thomas Kong’s FILLERUP, Ben Fain’s DREAMCATCHER, and Sanaz Sohrabi’s DOCUMENTS INFIELD

Wihro Kim, Living Room

Sliver Space

Wihro Kim is an artist based in Atlanta, GA, where he received his BFA from Georgia State University in 2015. He has had solo shows at Institute 193 in Lexington, KY, and Poem 88 and Mammal Gallery in Atlanta. He has been included in group shows at The High Museum, The Zuckerman Museum, and MOCA GA amongst others.

Bailey Scieszka, Secret Honor

Chute Space

Bailey Scieszka lives and works in Detroit. She holds a BFA from the Cooper Union in New York City. She has recently shown with MOCAD (Detroit), Stems (Brussels), Larrie (New York), Maria Bernheim (Zürich), and What Pipeline (Detroit). Her puppet dramas have been performed at Paris Internationale and NADA New York. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Forbes, The New York Times, Mousse, Cura, Cultured, The Los Angeles Times, and The Detroit Metro Times. What Pipeline recently published More Heart Than Brains: The Collected Plays of Bailey Scieszka. Much of Scieszka’s work emerges from the mind of her alter-ego Old Put, a demonic-shape-shifting-clown whose works across performance, video, painting, and drawing are layered with popular reference.

Image: Installation detail, William J. O’Brien, exhibition Shame Spiral, 2019, photo Kasey Medlin, courtesy of Atlanta Contemporary

About Atlanta Contemporary

Atlanta Contemporary engages the public through the creation, presentation and advancement of contemporary art. Founded in 1973 as Nexus, a grassroots artists’ cooperative, Atlanta Contemporary has since become one of the southeast’s leading contemporary art centers. We play a vital role in Atlanta’s cultural landscape by presenting over 45 exhibitions throughout the year, featuring consequential artists from the local, national, and international art scenes. We are one of the few local institutions that commissions new works by artists, paying particular attention to artists of note who have not had a significant exhibition in the Southeast. We organize 90+ diverse educational offerings annually, unrivaled by other local organizations of our size. We are the only local organization to provide on-site subsidized studio space to working artists through our Studio Artist Program, removing cost as a barrier to the creative process. Visit atlantacontemporary.org to learn more.

All press inquiries, contact:

Veronica Kessenich, Executive Director

veronica@atlantacontemporary.org