In Retrospect (Art)

The ultimate excuse for drinking excessive amounts of champagne, i.e. the close of 2007, is only a few days away and making a "top 10 of 07" is all the blog-rage these days, which really appeals to my compulsive list-making habit, so figured I would give it a shot.

As a disclaimer I will admit I see the futility in this as there is no possible way I experienced all of the art to be had in this fair city over the past year, and considering I didn't start this blog until about halfway through the year, I probably covered less than a quarter of it. And so, I am the first to say these lists are more for my own entertainment than any sort of actual quantification of what happened this year in Atlanta's art scene. The list is chocked full of personal bias and limited awareness... but here goes anyway!

throat clearing...

Countdown for the Top 10 Works of Art that left the biggest impression in 07:

#10
Charles Hemard's series "Departures and Junctures" from the "Responding to Home" show at the MOCAGA. (previous post here and here)

#9
Dietrich Wagner's "Bomber Boy" from the "Furious! The Angry Show!" at Eyedrum. (previous post here)



#8
Christopher McNulty's "Cosmos" at Saltworks Gallery. (previous post here)



#7

Michele Schuff's lantern installation from her "Lux In Tenebris" show at whitespace. One of, if not the most well crafted installation I saw all year.

#6
Tony Romano's "The Inward Morning, Variation #2" at Marcia Wood Gallery. (previous post here)



#5
Kerry Moore's "Untitled (Bomb)" from the "In Exile From the Land of Reason" show at Eyedrum.

#4

Pandra William's installation "Urban Tumulus" from the Eyedrum show "Dead Flowers: Haunted Gardens; Seeded Wastelands." (previous post here)

#3

Caroline Smith's porcelain beauty at whitespace. (previous post here)

#2

Bradly McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry's video "Topsy, Turvy" at Kiang Gallery. (previous post here)

#1

Julia Fenton's "Untitled (Lady)" from the "In Exile From the Land of Reason" at Eyedrum. The form of a woman emerging from plastic pink army men, valentine's heart candy, and pink streamers. It stole the show.

(Sidenote: I stole this detail pic off of someone's flickr album. Thanks "Mr Kimberly")

Moving on now to the Top 5 Showings of Art in 07

#5
Jody Fausett's show of photographs "Smoke From Another Fire" at whitespace in March paired with the release of his book "Second Place" this summer. (Previous post here)

#4

Kiang Gallery's Asian infused group show ""International Programming and Contemporary Art From China and the US" in October to kick off the gallery's new space on the west side of Midtown. (Previous post here)

#3
Christopher NcNulty's show of sculpture "Days" at Saltworks Gallery in September. If you allowed yourself to fully comprehend the breadth of the show it was pretty overpowering. (Previous post here)

#2
The group show "Dead Flowers: Haunted Gardens; Seeded Wastelands" at Eydrum in October. The show was created by Susan Cipcic, Deisha Oliver, Karen Tauches, and Shana Wood, and brought together a great group of artists who really pushed the concept into something creepy, provoking, and amazing. (previous post here)

And, well, the #1 spot is kind of tie but these shows were done in tandem together so I figure it's ok.

#1 (.b)
"In Exile From the Land of Reason" curated by Linda Armstrong at Eyedrum in January. The group show, including Julia Fenton, Bill Fisher, Richard Lou, Kerry Moore, Joe Peragine, and Todd Woodlan, was a very succinct, humorous, and compelling showing of well crafted and intelligent political art. It was definitely the best politically motivated show I have seen in a long time.


Seaberg Acrobatic Poetry

#1 (.a)
"Sculptureyedrum Outdoors 2007," in January was curated by sculptors Corrina Mensoff and Bill Spence. It was held in the old leaky warehouses beside Eyedrum which were transformed into a site of experimental and engaging sculpture. Mensoff and Spence managed to bring together a huge number of sculptors, with a wide range of materials and methods. It seemed that pushing boundaries was the only agenda in the show and it was truly exciting to experience. It was a reminder of how much great art is being created in this city and how little of it is actually shown.

Installation by Corrina Mensoff

Even the pigeons roosting in the rafters got involved and shitted all over this guy

Unfortunately, I don't have the names of a lot of these sculptors anymore, it's hard to believe this show opened almost a year ago.

A Bill Spence sculpture being taken advantage of.

This typewriter piece, done by UGA grad student John Powers, garnered a lot of attention. It was awesome.

That's the list. Feel free to leave comments on all the many things I forgot or foolishly left out. What artwork will you still remember well into '08?