In my old vinyl collection is the Velvet Underground’s 1967 iconic LP with Andy Warhol’s yellow banana on the cover. A song on that album written by Lou Reed, “All Tomorrow’s Parties”, is an apropos title for the inaugural exhibit this April of the new Atlanta westside gallery, Hathaway David Contemporary, or HD for short. New York painter and founder Michael David and co-founder Laura Hathaway launched the space with an opening, that despite torrential rains, drew about 800 attendees, including Atlanta artists, writers and curators, museum directors and a few of the Brooklyn artists who traveled for the show.
The show was a mix of artists from Michael’s former Brooklyn based Life on Mars gallery along with Atlanta artists that he has also shown. Unfortunately, he recently announced that the New York gallery would be closing this year. David taught at both SCAD in Atlanta and also at the Atlanta Fine Arts Atelier that he founded here in 2002.
His new westside gallery is 8,700 square feet huge, with high ceilings and polished floors, an imposing glass garage door and plenty of storage space. I attended the opening and returned on a Saturday when Anna, the very pleasant gallery assistant, answered questions and graciously showed me some of the paintings that were being held for the upcoming Re-Hang exhibit that will open next week on June 16th.
This is a highly condensed version of the show. Don’t miss the opening next thursday to view the entire exhibit.
I know some of the Brooklyn artists in the show, like Loren Munk and Farrell Brickhouse, only through social media. I was happy to finally meet Farrell in person, along with Mary DeVincentis, at the opening. My 2009 interview with Loren Munk was precipitated by seeing his YouTube videos online, under his alter persona, the James Kalm report. I became Facebook friends with Farrell back in 2010 and have enjoyed his daily postings of his thickly painted figurative abstracts.
Farrell Brickhouse, SciFy #6, 2015. Oil on canvas, 20x16inches.
Loren Munk, Bushwick Unfinished, 2003-2014. Oil on linen, 84x72inches.
Mary DeVincentis, Swinger, 2016. Acrylic on yupo, 26x20inches.
Pam Longobardi, Bounty Pilfered, 2014. Ocean plastic from Alaska, Greece, Hawaii, Costa Rica on the Gulf of Mexico; steel amature and driftnet floats from the Pacific North Gyre, 136x84x54inches.
Longobardi is an Atlanta based artist/activist who sources materials from plastic garbage patches littering the oceans; “this strange material legacy that we’re leaving behind.”
Brenda Goodman, Almost a Bride, 2015. Oil on wood, 80x72inches.
Arnold Mesches, Postures 2, 1981. Acrylic on canvas, 60x120inches.
Mesches has been around for some time, he’s 92. Take a look at his impressive bio and other symbolic and figurative works.
William Downs, The Longest Walk, 2016. Ink wash and mixed media on found folders, 15x18inches.
William Downs is an Atlanta based artist and currently a lecturer in drawing and painting at Georgia State.
Todd Bienvenue, Boys Will be Boys, 2014. Oil on canvas, 76x67inches and High School Hi Jinks, 2014. Oil on canvas, 76x67inches
Shara Hughes, Being Shady, 2016. Oil on canvas, 58x52inches.
Shara is one of the founders of SeekATL, an artist run group that coordinates monthly studio visits in metro Atlanta and environs. Originally from Atlanta, she recently relocated back to Brooklyn.
Jessica Scott Felder, Compass Rose, 2012. Installation, 144x72x72inches
Karen Schwartz, Neither Fish Nor Fowl, 2016. Ink, oil, charcoal on linen, 74x74inches.
Fran O’Neill, Shadow, 2016. Oil on canvas, 84x84inches.
The bold and gestural work of Fran O’Neill gives Gerard Richter a run for his money. Rather than using a giant squeegee, her own body – literally her arm – is involved in the brushwork.
Sharon Horvath, Dark Matter (for my Father), 2010-2014. Pigment, ink and polymer on paper on canvas, 60x84inches.
Whitney Wood Bailey, Order/Chaos: Ages, 2016. Oil and mixed media on paper, 60x40inches.
Thorton Dial, A Bird Will Always Try to Fly, 1991. Oil, braided rope, enamel, burlap, carpet and industrial sealing compound on wood, 72x48inches.
The prolific and self-taught Dial died this past January. The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns 13 of his works. Dial once told Atlanta collector William Arnett that ““Art is like a bright star up ahead in the darkness of the world…”
Pam Longobardi, Downstream, 2013. Ink, gouache, acrylic, pigment and devalued currency collage on paper, 13x11inches.
Through Aug. 14. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays. Free. Hathaway David Contemporary, 887 Howell Mill Road N.W. (behind the restaurant Bocado), Suite 4, Atlanta. 470-428-2061, www.hathawaydavid.com.