Art Around Athens

Hooray! We're back to highlighting local visual arts events in the Athens area and sometimes beyond, and there's some fun stuff going on this weekend, beginning with the opening reception on Friday (January 8) at 7 p.m. at the Lamar Dodd School of Art for the exhibition "New York Paintings, 2006-2009: Selected Works by James Herbert." Herbert is professor emeritus at the art school, where he taught until 2006, and currently resides in New York. The exhibition is in Gallery 101 at the Dodd and will run through February 3.


That same evening, beginning a bit earlier, a t 6 p.m., White Tiger Gourmet, at the corner of Boulevard and Hiawassee, will hold an opening reception for an exhibition of photography by brothers Rand and Hudson Lines titled "Morning Gravy." The exhibition runs through January 31. You can see some of the Lineses' work at their Web site, here.


On Saturday (January 9), from 7 to 9 p.m., ATHICA (Athens Institute for Contemporary Art) will hold an opening reception for its brand-new exhibition "Nurture: Video and Photography by Amy Jenkins," organized by Lizzie Zucker-Saltz. Here's some description from ATHICA's site:

This exhibit marks three firsts for ATHICA: it is our first focusing on the personal yet universal issues of parenting and breast-feeding, our first large-scale video-art exhibit, and our first full-run solo artist exhibition. The works are from Jenkins' "Cradle" series, in which the artist films herself and members of her family in order to reveal salient aspects of familial relationships. In the artist's words 'Visceral and emotional, these personal narratives offer a window into intimate life, where the commonplace becomes surprising and unexpected.' Poignant and humorous, these beautifully composed works are sure to appeal to families and art lovers alike.

The curator selected several pieces focusing on breastfeeding in order to focus the community on the significant mental and physical health benefits for mother and baby as well as create discourse around the issues of its suppression in visual culture (where bottle is king) and the ongoing legal battles surrounding public breastfeeding. One of Jenkins' works, a 19 minute video, "The Audrey Samsara," was subject to a censorship scandal in 2004, which guest essayist Mary Jessica Hammes explains is her exhibition catalog essay.

We are delighted to be debuting video works by Jenkins such as "Held," "Milky-Milk" and the recently completed "Audrey Superhero." "Tug," [above] a photograph in the format of a long horizontal strip, features the artist and her spouse pulling on opposing ends of a bright red rope, a now-grown Audrey by her mother’s side. The composition elegantly condenses contemporary parents’ struggles with sharing child-rearing responsibilities into a striking image rich with feminist issues. This is the artist's ' first solo exhibition south of Kentucky, which follows two decades of the New Hampshire-based artist's exhibitions at national and international museums and galleries.

ATHICA has many more events associated with the exhibition, a list of which can be seen on their Web site.

Finally, on Sunday (January 10) at 9:30 a.m., the Lyndon House Arts Center will host "An Approach to Design," a free lecture by Sabiha Mujtaba, artist and instructor at Highland Woodworking in Atlanta, about her custom wood furniture and art pieces. We don't have many more details than that, but it sounds interesting.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. We hope it's snowy!