Johnson Lowe Gallery
Image Courtesy of Johnson Lowe Gallery
Atlanta Art Week Event:
In Unity, As in Division | Buckhead
Exhibition Opening: Friday, October 6, 2023 | 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
The Power of Collecting Panel Discussion: Sunday, October 8, 2023 | 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
About:
Johnson Lowe Gallery, Georgia, announces In Unity as in Division, a group exhibition featuring new works from seven emerging artists working and living within the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. In Unity, as in Division prompted seven emerging artists within the Atlanta Metropolitan Area to individually create unique, immersive exhibitions in Johnson Lowe Gallery’s primary salons. Each artist will occupy a separate area within the gallery’s sprawling 6,975 square feet of space, culminating in a collective exhibition composed of seven micro-exhibitions. The exhibition showcases the works of Demetri Burke, Danielle Deadwyler, Leia Genis, Wihro Kim, Masela Nkolo, Sergio Suarez, and Ellex Swavoni, continuing the gallery's commitment to championing artists from the Global South.
In Unity, as in Division is a testament to Atlanta's pioneering artists who are actively shaping the city's artistic terrain. Rather than adhering to a collective theme or narrative, Johnson Lowe Gallery dedicated several months to closely collaborating with each of the artists featured to cultivate seven solo micro-exhibitions, capturing their current conceptual, philosophical and creative focus. The result offers a glimpse into the microcosm of Atlanta's artistic landscape, honoring the unique talents of each artist whilst emphasizing the significance of cultivating collaborative and communal relationships within artistic circles.
About The Power of Collecting Panel Discussion: Deepen your understanding of the contemporary art landscape in Atlanta and beyond as we navigate through the diverse roles collectors can play in the art world, with an emphasis on the significance of a focused strategy. Moderated by artnet President Bill Fine, this discussion seeks to provide a wealth of information to assist both future and current collectors in creating a thriving art ecosystem within their communities.
About Johnson Lowe Gallery: Johnson Lowe Gallery is devoted to championing emerging, mid-career, and established artists from diverse cultural backgrounds. The gallery's program is built upon a reverence for the alchemical nature of artistic expression, with the intention to honor the profound nature of visual language and the role it can play in affecting paradigm shifts at both personal and societal levels. Johnson Lowe Gallery is committed to presenting work across all media, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, installation, and photography. Alongside a commitment to support and foster the Atlanta arts community, our curatorial and programming initiatives aim to facilitate cross-cultural and global dialogues. HISTORYBill Lowe Gallery was founded in the summer of 1989 in Atlanta, Georgia by Bill Lowe. Longtime artists in the roster include Thornton Dial, Michael David, Maggie Hasbrouck, Kathleen Morris, Todd Murphy, Jimmy O’Neal, Steven Seinberg, and Kathleen Morris. The extensive exhibition history of the gallery includes internationally renowned artists such as Ida Applebroog, Markus Lupertz, Donald Sultan, Dale Chihuly, Hiro Yamagata, and Leiko Ikemura. The gallery was established as Johnson Lowe Gallery in 2023.
www.johnsonlowe.com | @johnsonlowegallery
Hours of Operation:
Tuesday – Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Saturday: 11:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Sunday, Monday, and Evenings: By appointment
ON VIEW: October 6 to November 11, 2023
Participating Artists:
DEMETRI BURKE: Demetri Burke’s practice is diverse and fluid, never fully standing still for too long. Burke focuses intensely on the black figure, building layer after layer to create murky images of nostalgia through a Southern lens. Each work is unified in its intimacy with the viewer: amalgamations of motifs and thoughts on the depiction of Blackness and the narratives that wrestle with trauma and affection pervade the composition.
Utilizing oil paint, charcoal, and found images, Burke expresses compelling narratives of identity and culture on canvas. Abstraction, montage, and realistic rendering are key parts of his creative process, leaning on constant examination of cultural nuances that become visible in his findings. Burke obtained a BFA Degree in Studio Art from Georgia State University. In 2022, he debuted his first solo exhibition, And Then We Heard the Thunder.
DANIELLE DEADWYLER: Danielle Deadwyler is a multidisciplinary performance artist, actor, and filmmaker. An Atlanta native, Deadwyler is rooted in theatre, dance, and creative writing. Hometown staples such as Gate City Heritage House, Total Dance Theatre, Gary Harrison Studios, Atlanta Street Theatre, Henry W. Grady High School, and Spelman College cumulatively honed Deadwyler amongst a distinctly Southern landscape. As a graduate student under Dr. Robin D. G. Kelley, she focused her analysis on issues facing women and African Americans while attaining a Master of Arts in American Studies from Columbia University.
As a performance artist, Deadwyler’s race and gender-centric works have been included in MAMBU BADU collective's exhibition If We Came From Nowhere Here, Why Can't We Go Somewhere There? (D.C.), Mint Gallery (ATL), Whitespace Gallery (ATL), The Luminary (STL), Atlanta Contemporary Museum, Atlanta Film Festival, among others. She presented (dis)possessed: the live mixtape (2013), a one-woman theatrical performance art project, at Spelman College’s Museum of Fine Art as a part of their Black Box series. Numerous grants have supported Deadwyler’s works, from IDEA CAPITAL (2014/2017), ELEVATE Atlanta, Living Walls (2016), Synchronicity Theatre Stripped Bare Lab, WonderRoot Walthall Fellowship, and Artadia. She is a former Atlanta Film Festival Filmmaker-in-Residence and former MINT Leap Year Residency Fellow.
LEIA GENIS: Leia Genis utilizes cyanotype, installation works, and performance art to examine esoteric concepts of individuals or groups who have been marginalized and excluded from mainstream dialogue, including the disenfranchised, women, and people of color, along with members of the LGBTQ+ community.
A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design with degrees in painting and sculpture, Genis’ artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues such as MOCA GA (Atlanta) and the Ipswich Biennale (Ipswich, UK). An artist and writer, Genis is currently a member of the Atlanta Contemporary staff where she coordinates programming and manages the studio artist program.
WIHRO KIM: Wihro Kim is an artist based in Atlanta, GA, where he received his BFA from Georgia State University in 2015. Since graduating, Wihro has shown consistently in Atlanta and beyond. Notable group exhibitions include Of Origins and Belonging, Drawn from Atlanta at The High Museum of Art, Painting Who? at The Zuckerman Museum, and Building a Ship from a Shipwreck at MOCA GA.
Notable solo exhibitions include Memorandumland at Institute 193 in Lexington, KY, Living Room at The Atlanta Contemporary, and Nothing Lasts Forever Until It Does at Mammal Gallery. Wihro has also displayed work at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in the form of a mural entitled New Plane Blooming and a group exhibition- Inside the Perimeter. Wihro was a finalist for the 2017-18 Edge Award, and while he was in school at Georgia State, he was awarded the Vera Jernigan Green Memorial Art Award. In 2017, Wihro attended the Vermont Studio Center and was a Hughley Fellow from 2016-17. Wihro has been written about in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Burnaway, and ArtsATL.
MASELA NKOLO: Masela Nkolo is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice combines found and manmade materials such as oil lanterns, bicycle frames, cabinet doors, screwdrivers, metal baskets, and other miscellaneous utilitarian objects. These materials are deconstructed and reconstructed into creatures that manifest, and represent the past and contemporary identity of Congo, as seen through his personal experiences and memories.
“By combining different materials, techniques, and ideas from the past and present, I am exploring my genre of expression which is syncretism. Syncretism is the combination of separate concepts into a new, unique idea. For me that’s incorporating classical African art and contemporary art.” Nkolo continues, "My representations of the creations incite an appreciation of self, and also a way of relearning to celebrate ourselves." His work has previously been exhibited on display at various galleries such as Moca, GA; the Mint Museum, NC and Artfields, SC.
SERGIO SUAREZ: Sergio Suárez (B.1995) is a Mexican-born, Atlanta-based visual artist and printmaker. He graduated the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design in 2021 with a B.F.A in Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking. His practice, prompted by an interest in translation, uses different traditions of making to construct a visual language concerned with syncretism, temporality, and the porosity between objects, images, and structures.
His work has been shown around Atlanta, in spaces like Whitespace Gallery, Day & Night Projects, THE END Project Space, ShowerHaus Gallery, the Consulate General of Mexico in Atlanta, Take it Easy Gallery, and the Atlanta Contemporary. Internationally his work has been included in several group exhibitions, such as the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in London, the Haugesund Internasjonal Relief Festival in Norway, OPED Space in Tokyo, and the Ionian Arts Center in Greece; where he was an artist in residency in 2017 and 18.
His work is also included in the SGCI archives of the Zuckerman Museum. He lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia where he is part of the Studio Artist Program at the Atlanta Contemporary. He has two cats.
ELLEX SWAVONI: Ellex Swavoni (born Alexis Crawford) was born in 1992 in Louisville, Kentucky. Her artistic journey began at the tender age of nine when she stumbled upon art toys online, sparking a lifelong passion for sculpture. Through her resourcefulness and the power of the internet, Swavoni taught herself the art of sculpting and manufacturing toy-like figurative sculptures.
As Swavoni grew, she embarked on a transformative exploration of spirituality, diverging from her Baptist upbringing to delve into the rich tapestry of spiritual practices from various corners of the world, particularly those rooted in the African continent. The captivating imagery and narratives she encountered during her quest found their way into her artistic practice, giving rise to an Afrofuturistic aesthetic that characterizes her work.
Swavoni's exceptional skill set has been instrumental in reshaping prevailing narratives surrounding the portrayal of women. Her artistic endeavors are driven by a profound desire to capture the essence of blackness and femininity as guiding forces for both creation and progress. The inspiration for depicting women in this empowering manner can be traced back to the multigenerational matriarchy that enveloped Ellex. Guided by the wise words and resolute hands of her predecessors, she discovered the ability to forge something meaningful out of nothing, defying the forces of adversity.