With fall comes blessedly cooler temperatures and a heated-up arts scene. Museums and galleries truck out their headline shows, and photography is front and center.
“Edge to Edge”
Photographer Chip Simone has curated a survey of Georgia-based photographers at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia with an emphasis on photographers who depict the diversity of the modern South, replacing a common vision of the South as a rustic, rural, lost-in-time place. Spanning generations and sensibilities, participating Atlanta artists include Elizabeth Turk, Dustin Chambers, Jan Kapoor, Jody Fausett and Laura Noel. Sept. 3-Dec. 3. The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. 404-367-8700, www.mocaga.org
“Thomas Struth: Nature & Politics”
One of the contemporary photography world's biggest names, Struth is known for his large-scale color photographs, including images shot in Atlanta at the Georgia Aquarium and a robotics workroom at the Georgia Institute of Technology. For this exhibition featuring more than 30 new works, Struth homes in on technology and the manufactured landscape, including images crafted over 10 years of travel throughout America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Oct. 16-Jan. 8, 2017. High Museum. 404.733.4400, www.high.org
“Where Children Sleep: Photographs by James Mollison”
Photographer Mollison trains his lens on children around the world and where they sleep each night in a poignant, revealing look at the startlingly different realities they live with. From mattresses in vacant lots to bedrooms filled with toys, children, even within the same country, are shown as variously protected and cared-for and painfully vulnerable in Mollison's portraits. Through October 28. David J. Sencer CDC Museum. 404-639-0830, www.cdc.gov/museum
Atlanta Biennial
After a hiatus of nine years, the Atlanta Contemporary resurrects its survey of regional artists. Artists from nine Southeastern states are represented in this 2016 Atlanta Biennial, with big names like Coco Fusco, Harmony Korine and Kalup Linzy exhibiting alongside an interesting blend of artists, publications like Ain't Bad magazine, the regional culinary-culture group Southern Food Ways Alliance and Atlanta music archivists Dust-to-Digital in what promises to be an interesting representation of Southern creativity. Aug. 27-Dec. 18. The Atlanta Contemporary. 404-688-1970, www.thecontemporary.org
“Africa Forecast: Fashioning Contemporary Life”
Looking at culture and society through the lens of fashion and lifestyle, this group show of works by black female designers and artists will also examine the way black women define their lives through fashion. Video, sculpture and photography are featured in a show that includes Ayana V. Jackson, Zohra Okopu, Amy Sherald and Fabiola Jean-Louis. Sept. 15-Dec. 3, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. 404.270.5607, http://museum.spelman.edu
“Vivian Maier: A Deeper Look”
A Chicago nanny who upon her death left behind a secret cache of thousands of photographs, Vivian Maier has been the subject of a documentary film, exhibitions and articles speculating on the double life and remarkable talent of this self-taught street photographer. Atlanta's photo-centric Lumiere Gallery spotlights some of Maier's lesser-known works in this solo show focused on this mysterious, ever-intriguing artist. Sept. 17–Oct. 29, Lumiere Gallery. 404.261.6100, www.lumieregallery.net
“Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink by Bill Yates”
Guest curated by Atlanta arts patron and curator Mary Stanley, this wonderful series of black-and-white photographs by Bill Yates that he took as a young photographer documents the sexual energy, fashion and social mores on display at a Tampa roller skating rink in the 1970s. The Sweetheart was a locus for area kids trying out their moves and seductive powers and a social hub where both children and grownups gravitated to smoke, drink whisky, skate and socialize. Sept. 29-Nov. Hathaway Contemporary Gallery. 470.428.2061, www.hathawaygallery.com
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