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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 03 > Entry
Picture this: Packed new gallery
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When we emerge at our final destination somewhere south of the Earth’s crust, chances are excellent it will closely resemble Saturday night’s grand opening of Vaknin at 905 Juniper St. in Midtown.
The debut of the latest art gallery from real estate agent Uri Vaknin featured a wall-to-wall smorgasbord of the city’s notable partygoers all neatly wedged in place, a hearing-impaired DJ, a serious scarcity of flow and approximately 200 people standing between you and a plastic cup of pinot grigio.
Still, the reason to endure all these social not-so-niceties was the gallery’s opening exhibition artist, acclaimed Atlanta photographer Harriet Leibowitz. The longtime shutterbug’s latest show, “Visceral Beauty,” represents a skin-filled, edgy departure for Leibowitz, featuring showering male nudes, tatted-up toughs and some boy-on-boy bedroom action.
Leibowitz told us she shot the series of color photographs at the Clermont Lounge on Ponce de Leon Avenue and a vacant warehouse space on MLK Drive.
“For a middle-aged grandmother, showing this work took a lot of courage,” she explained. “Before this, all my work has been so idealized and controlled. It was time to depict those more visceral images that transfix us all.”
Adding to the impact, Leibowitz invited all of the exhibit’s models to the opening. All of her subjects remained clothed in person.
The gallery’s fedora-festooned owner, meanwhile, kept busy greeting old friends at his new space.
Attendees included hairstylists Carey Carter and Richie Arpino, photographer Jeff Slate, Atlanta Peach editor Elizabeth Roth, Pecan Pie Couture owner Clint Zeagler and charitable fund-raiser Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel.
From our preferred perch out on the sidewalk near the gallery’s plate-glass windows, we asked Spiegel for her reaction to the exhibit.
“Believe it or not, I have seen some racier things in my life,” she quipped. “I thought it was all quite nice.”
Just then, perhaps fearing the crowd had somehow been underexposed to Justin Timberlake’s omnipresent single “SexyBack,” a helpful gallery worker arrived outside to crank up the DJ’s external speaker.
One curious absence at the gathering? Vaknin’s über-publicist, Liz Lapidus. We were told that she was in Portland, Ore., for the weekend. In response to our logical follow-up, yes, Lapidus’ assistant assured us, the trip was indeed voluntary.
Ex-DJ back at 99X
“I’m Sean Demery, and I’m back to haunt you again.”
99X turned back the clock Monday morning by bringing back Demery, the station’s afternoon jock from the 1990s, and making him the lead host on “The New Morning X” show.
The rock station is hoping Demery will help resurrect its ratings, which have slipped markedly over the past five years.
Rumors of Demery’s return started in early August on the AJC Radio Talk board. At the time, he said he wasn’t interested. But a few weeks later, he quit his job as program director at Live 105 in San Francisco and rejoined his old friend Leslie Fram in Atlanta.
Cumulus Media, the Atlanta broadcasters who purchased 99X this year, wanted an older-sounding, more female-friendly morning show, leading to the departure of Fred Toucher in the spring.
The two newcomers on the show are Rob Jenners, 28, who last worked at a “Regular Guys”-style morning show in Miami, and Monti Carlo, a 31-year-old standup comic who used to do traffic for Z93 (now Dave FM) from 2000 to 2002. Having never worked as a quartet before, they did trial runs last week to get used to each other.
“I want it to be a continuation of the original ‘Morning X,’ really topical, really pop culture oriented,” Fram told Buzz, referencing the popular 99X team that lasted from 1993 to 2003 with Jimmy Baron, Steve Barnes and Fram.
The first day on-air featured an interview with Kiefer Sutherland, a bit in which Monti Carlo quizzed drunk folks at Smith’s Olde Bar, a parody song about immigration and a new tune from the band Incubus.
Sick bay
On Friday, Q100 and Jezebel magazine shopping corespondent Jessica Dauler was jolted back to reality after a weekend spent at Diddy’s Hamptons house in New York.
Dauler was exiting an I-285 ramp in her 2006 Mercedes convertible when she looked in her rearview mirror. To her horror, there was a pickup headed straight for her.
“He didn’t even attempt to hit the brakes,” Dauler told us Monday. “I just braced myself for the impact. I don’t remember much. I’m lucky to be alive.” With the back of her car “gone,” Dauler told us she also sustained back and neck injuries and has a lingering headache.
Dauler had high praise for her decision to purchase a German-made automobile. Miraculously, at press time Monday, Dauler had not yet been offered a Mercedes endorsement deal. …
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Chubby Checker is 65. Magician Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy is 62. Singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac is 57. Drummer Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) is 44. Singer Gwen Stefani of No Doubt is 37. Actress Keiko Agena (“Gilmore Girls”) is 33. Stone Mountain-based singer India Arie is 31. Actor Seann William Scott (“Dukes of Hazzard,” “American Pie”) is 30. Singer Ashlee Simpson is 22.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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