EXHIBIT PREVIEW
“Art Against the Wall”
Curated by Atlanta artist Radcliffe Bailey. Through Aug. 22. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. Free. Gallery 72, 72 Marietta St., Atlanta. 404-546-6815, www.ocaatlanta.com.
In a new exhibit at Gallery 72, Atlanta artist Radcliffe Bailey hopes to create a conversation about ongoing wars.
It might include a discussion about the Buffalo Soldiers, or the Black Panthers. It most certainly will include the destruction and emotional toll caused by war.
The exhibit, "Art Against the Wall," in conjunction with the Atlanta Cyclorama, is part of the city's commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's Battle of Atlanta.
“We’re still in a battle,” said Bailey, 45, who curated the exhibit at 72 Marietta St. “There’s the Civil War and there’s wars from the Middle East to Africa. I don’t think they (wars) will ever be over. I’m just curious about conflict around the world right now. I’m not offering solutions. I’m not an historian. I’m an artist.”
Bailey, who lives in Atlanta, is a painter and mixed media artist whose work has been shown at the High Museum of Art, the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York and from Senegal to Colombia.
He hopes the exhibit will spur conversation “with others and myself. I’m just throwing it out there. As an artist, I deal in the business of emotions.”
A coffin, for instance, is his way of dealing with death as a devastating consequence of war.
The exhibit features the work by artists Mohau Modisakeng, PAA Joe, Stephen Shames, George Washington Carver, Donald Locke and E.K. Huckaby. Artifacts are courtesy of the Jack Shainman Gallery, Atlanta History Center, Dr. Stephen and Anika Dawkins, Brenda Locke and Brundyn + Gallery.
The show, which is free, runs through Aug. 22.
Bailey has put together a collection of art and artifacts that nurture his curiosity about what’s going on in the world with an intense interest in African-American and African culture.
He’s included a vase made by Carver. What, you might think, does that have to do with war?
“Some people want to know why did you put in George Washington Carver,” he said. “What does that have to do with anything? I think it shows someone who operates on the opposite end of war. This is someone who deals with creativity and humanity.”
Although information about the exhibit might suggest a heavy focus on the Civil War and the Battle of Atlanta, Bailey said he wasn’t interested in creating a “re-enactment.”
“I changed it and said I’d rather focus on civil wars,” he said.
