Ed Spriggs, the founding director of Hammonds House museum, will give a lecture at the West End Performing Arts Center on February 12 at 6 p.m. It’s part of the Fulton County Arts and Culture’s Black History Month series of events. Hammonds House was recently in the news because of its sudden and unexpected reorganization and temporary closure.
Poem 88 on hiatus
The gallery Poem 88 will go on a year-long hiatus beginning Feb. 7, curator and owner Robin Bernat announced in late January. “The twin obstacles of COVID and the inflation of the real estate market make this an opportune time to reassess and fine tune the structure of the gallery and examine the needs of the communities it serves,” Bernat stated in a press release. The gallery moved from another, larger space in the Floataway Community building on Zonolite Road in January 2021, but rent increases have forced it to vacate this space as well.
Since opening in October 2010, Poem 88 has presented more than 88 exhibits, showcasing the work of more than 300 artists, most of them based in metro Atlanta. Highlights were Paul Stephen Benjamin’s “God Bless America,” Alexis Hudgins “Reality Show” and group shows such as “Nymphs and Shepherds Come Away: Ten Women Artists Respond to Secular Themes from the Renaissance.” The gallery is also known for its musical performances, poetry readings, lectures, film screenings and the annual Valentine’s Salon.
According to the release, Bernat plans to continue “engaging and prompting discussion” through her publications, the most recent being Lisa Tuttle’s “Postcolonial Karma.” Bernat is also planning a feasibility study with community stakeholders to gauge whether there’s enough support for a nonprofit version of Poem 88.
Fahamu Pecou’s latest show
Fahamu Pecou’s latest exhibit, “Behind the SEEN: Process, Performance, and Practice in the Work of Fahamu Pecou” is on view through March 9 at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The Atlanta-based artist and scholar manipulates roles and stereotypes in this show to question how Black masculinity and identity are imagined, circumscribed and read. The works include images and symbols of pop culture, trap music, academia and Yoruba culture in a way that subverts expectations. The exhibit features never-before-seen photographs alongside Pecou’s paintings, offering a glimpse into his process.
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