News from the Contemporary

DATE: MARCH 6, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UNTIL: JUNE 1, 2006

SUBJECT: STUART HORODNER IS JOINING THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER AS DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS.

FOLLOWING A NATIONWIDE SEARCH, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND STAFF OF THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT STUART HORODNER IS JOINING THE CONTEMPORARY AS DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS.

Following a nationwide search, the Board of Directors and Staff of the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center are pleased to announce that Stuart Horodner is joining the Contemporary team as Director of Programs. In his new position, Mr. Horodner’s duties will include the conception and management of the Contemporary’s exhibitions and education programs.

Of the selection of Horodner, Rob Smulian, executive director of the Contemporary, said, “We were committed to getting the right person. Stuart brings a wealth of experience and his ideas for the Contemporary’s future made him the standout candidate. We’re all looking forward to supporting his vision.”

Mr. Horodner comes to the Contemporary from the Atlanta College of Art where he has been Gallery Director since 2005. He also held the position of Curator of Visual Art at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in Oregon; and was Director/Curator of the Bucknell University Art Gallery in Lewisburg, PA. He is widely published, writing on topics of contemporary art and culture for journals and catalogs. In 2004 he created “Affair at the Jupiter Hotel”, an intimate art fair that brings galleries and collectors to Portland each year.

“The Atlanta art scene impresses me; there are talented artists, intelligent dealers, and passionate collectors here. I’m enjoying being a part of this community, and I’m looking forward to be working with dedicated colleagues at The Contemporary. Together we’ll make an inclusive, creative, and risk-taking institution of consequence for artists and audiences,” said Horodner.

Stuart Horodner will begin his tenure at the Contemporary in June, 2006.

Founded in 1973, the Contemporary is a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to excellence, experimentation and education in all forms of contemporary art. Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, 535 Means Street, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, phone (404) 688-1970, www.thecontemporary.org.

###

March 2006
Stuart Horodner Bio

Stuart Horodner comes to the Contemporary with a broad range of knowledge and experience with national and international contemporary art, and well developed networks of colleagues in the field.

Stuart Horodner is a native of New York City, and was educated as a visual artist with a BFA from The Cooper Union in Manhattan; and an MFA from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His experiences at both commercial and nonprofit art institutions have allowed him to work closely with artists, collectors, critics, funding sources, educators and fellow curators. He has curated critically acclaimed solo exhibitions for Leon Golub, Melanie Manchot, William Pope.L, and Jessica Stockholder; as well as numerous group shows, residencies, and special projects with artists including Richard Wentworth, Kay Rosen, Tony Tasset, and Luca Buvoli. He has contributed art writing to publications including Bomb, Sculpture, Surface, Dazed & Confused, and Art Issues.

Stuart was co-owner and director of the Horodner Romley Gallery in New York City from 1992 to 1996. He was Director/Curator of the Bucknell University Art Gallery in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania from 1997 to 2001. From 2001 to 2004, he was the Curator of Visual Art for the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, as well as an associate professor at both Portland State University and Pacific Northwest College of Art. In 2004, he organized the “Affair at the Jupiter Hotel,” an annual art fair that brings emerging and established galleries and collectors to Portland.

Most recently, Stuart was the Gallery Director of the Atlanta College of Art Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia.

DATE: JANUARY 30, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UNTIL: JUNE 3, 2006

SUBJECT: COURTING DISASTER AT THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER FEATURES THE WORK OF THREE ARTISTS WHO CONFRONT NATURAL AND MAN MADE CATASTROPHE. THE EXHIBITION RUNS FROM APRIL 14 THROUGH JUNE 3, 2006. THE OPENING ARTISTS' RECEPTION WILL BE HELD ON FRIDAY, APRIL 21 FROM 7 – 9 PM. THE RECEPTION WILL BE PRECEDED, AT 6 PM, HILARY WILDER'S DISCUSSION OF HER WORK.


For More Information Contact:
Stan Woodard
Communications Director
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
535 Means Street, NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
404 688 1970 ext.213
swoodard@thecontemporary.org
www.thecontemporary.org

COURTING DISASTER: KATHERINE TAYLOR, HILARY WILDER, DONNA MINTZ AT THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER FEATURES THE WORK OF THREE ARTISTS WHO CONFRONT NATURAL AND MAN MADE CATASTROPHE. THE EXHIBITION RUNS FROM APRIL 14 THROUGH JUNE 3, 2006. THE OPENING ARTISTS' RECEPTION WILL BE HELD ON FRIDAY, APRIL 21 FROM 7 – 9 PM. THE RECEPTION WILL BE PRECEDED, AT 6 PM, HILARY WILDER'S DISCUSSION OF HER WORK.

Friday April 21 - June 3, 2006
Courting Disaster: Katherine Taylor, Hilary Wilder, Donna Mintz
Artists' Reception Friday April 21, 7 - 9 pm
Hilary Wilder Artist's Talk, April 21, 6 - 7 pm
Donna Mintz Artist's Talk, April 26, 6:30 viewing; 7 pm talk
Katherine Taylor Artist's Talk, May 17, 6:30 viewing; 7 pm talk
“The Human Factor: Influence and Response” a conversation led by Andrea Weyermann, PhD
May 24, 7 pm

Courting Disaster: Katherine Taylor, Hilary Wilder, Donna Mintz presents the work of three accomplished artists, each delving into themes related to natural and man-made disaster and catastrophe. All three artists employ exquisite technique to portray compelling representations of the aftermath of disaster. The show opens on Friday April 14, 2006 with an artists’ reception and runs through June 3. The opening Artists’ Reception on April 21 is preceded by a talk presented by Hilary Wilder.

Personal experience and shared cultural memory are catalysts for all of these artists, which is appropriate for a discussion of disaster. Images of hurricane-ravaged and flooded neighborhoods, sunken ships and rubble-strewn avenues conjure thoughts about what happens when normal existence is interrupted by nature’s rhythms. Not to be forgotten are the results of decisions made at the human level that lead to what are often termed “natural disasters”; when humans intervene to divert mighty rivers or to build structures upon precarious landscapes the results are often ruinous.

All three artists have dealt with these issues in their artistic practice for some time, but the exhibition is particularly timely in the wake of the catastrophic events during and following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The effects of storms, fires, and earthquakes can be counted by observation of landscapes and civilizations; there are no easy answers but Courting Disaster: Katherine Taylor, Hilary Wilder, Donna Mintz offers starting points for discussions about the human role in the natural environment. As humans are part of nature, are our actions not part of the natural order of things?

During the run of the exhibit each artist will discuss aspects of their work with visitors. Hilary Wilder will present an artist’s talk on April 21 from 6 – 7 pm, immediately preceding the opening reception. Donna Mintz will discuss her work on Wednesday April 26 from 6:30 – 8 pm; and Katherine Taylor will present on May 17 from 6:30 – 8 pm. On May 24, clinical psychologist Dr. Andrea Weyermann will lead a panel discussion titled “The Human Factor: Influence and Response” The discussion is intended to explore regions of experience that are often unacknowledged, such as society’s role in the occurrence of the event itself and the long term affects on the environment and on those that experience trauma. Joining Dr. Weyermann will be artist Katherine Taylor and an environmental scientist to be confirmed.

Katherine Taylor’s paintings depicting the aftermaths of Hurricane’s Camille and Katrina are personal commentaries on disasters visited upon her hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi. As a child, Taylor lived through Camille and her paintings are amalgams of her memories and the stories told to her. In the case of Katrina, Taylor visited her Biloxi in the hurricane’s aftermath and witnessed the cultural and economic effects. Using historic imagery and her own photography as reference material she comments on how we see our environment as it changes; she shows us that we are part of the changing landscapes that we inhabit.

Hilary Wilder uses painting and installation to depict recent natural disasters while referencing art historical movements from the Romantic to high modernism. For Laguna she alluded to California’s wildfires of 1994; the work reflects the ambivalence this “disaster” engendered; it was not necessarily an unexpected event and the monetary loss was limited to a fairly affluent community. Her depictions of “disasters” are often meant to connote a “general sense of fracture or disorder”. Sunderland, a network of images of collapsed structures, borrows from documentary photography but is not intended as a marker for a specific incident.

For Donna Mintz, the line between natural and man made disaster is a thin one. The flooding of a Native American civilization following the damming of a river is a man made event equally devastating as the tornado that ripped through her grandmother’s homestead early in the 20th century. Mintz uses sculptural imagery such as structures held within jars of water to depict what might be unseen beneath the reservoirs that provide society’s drinking water. Family records of the devastation of a tornado forms the basis of an installation that will expose personal memories that were shared by her family.

Artist’s bios
Katherine Taylor is an artist and educator born in Biloxi, Mississippi. She received her MFA from Georgia State University. Currently, Taylor is an adjunct professor at the Atlanta College of Art where she teaches in the drawing and painting departments. Her work is exhibited and collected nationally and has been included in museum exhibitions in Albany, GA, and Tallahassee, FL. New American Paintings recently featured her work on the back cover of volume #58. Taylor is represented by Marcia Wood Gallery.
Hilary Wilder was born in 1973 in North Conway, New Hampshire and currently lives and works in Houston, Texas. In 2004, she completed a two-year fellowship as both a Visual Artist resident and a Critical Studies resident in the Core Program at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. She has recently exhibited work at the Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, the Blaffer Gallery at the University of Houston, and the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art. Her videos have been screened at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Art in Motion II festival at the University of Southern California, and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. In addition, she has written catalogue essays for exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Rice University Art Gallery. Wilder received an M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin in 2001.

Donna Mintz was born in Gainesville, GA in 1956. Her evocative paintings are recognized for their contemplative, atmospheric study of anonymous spaces. She is influenced by her naturalist studies and by the convergence of art with poetry, history, and science. Her work is exhibited nationally and is widely collected in private and corporate collections. She lives and works in Atlanta, GA and is represented here by Sandler Hudson Gallery.

Founded in 1973, the Contemporary is a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to excellence, experimentation and education in all forms of contemporary art. Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, 535 Means Street, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, phone (404) 688-1970, www.thecontemporary.org.

###

SUBJECT: EIGHT ARTISTS WILL PRESENT ONE WEEK SOLO EXHIBITIONS FOR THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER’S SUMMER 2006 SERIES, BRING IT ON! EXHIBITIONS WILL RUN FROM JUNE 17 – SEPTEMBER 16.

THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT EIGHT ARTISTS HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THE SUMMER 2006 EXHIBITION SERIES, BRING IT ON! THE SELECTED ARTISTS ARE AVANTIKA BAWA, JENNIFER BURKLEY, DIDI DUNPHY, RASHIDA FERDINAND, ELIZABETH JOHNSTON, ALLISON RENTZ, DANIELLE RONEY, AND TOM ZARRILLI. EXHIBITIONS WILL RUN FROM JUNE 17 – SEPTEMBER 16.

Eight artists will present one week solo exhibitions for the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center’s summer 2006 series, Bring it on! Exhibitions will run from June 17 – September 16.

For Bring it on!, the Contemporary invited artists, curators, and artist collaboratives to submit proposals for exhibitions, which would utilize any part or all of the gallery space. All mediums and methods were encouraged; special attention was paid to those who proposed using the space in innovative or nontraditional ways. The number and quality of the proposals prompted the selection committee, comprised of the Contemporary’s full-time staff, to expand the scope of the series from three one week exhibitions during June, July, and August to include eight exhibitions, with September being added to the schedule. Two artists will present during each period. “We were delighted with the quality of so many of the submissions and felt that Atlanta deserved to see the exciting work of as many of these artists as possible,” said Rob Smulian, the Contemporary’s executive director.

The selected artists range from the well established to students and new faces on the scene. They are Didi Dunphy of Athens, Georgia; Rashida Ferdinand of New Orleans, Louisiana; Jennifer Burkley of Placitas, New Mexico; and Tom Zarrilli, Allison Rentz, Avantika Bawa, Danielle Roney, and Elizabeth Johnston, all Atlanta based artists. Exhibitions will include installation, performance, photography, sound, and video.

The exhibition schedule for Summer 2006 is as follows: June 17 - 24, Didi Dunphy, Tom Zarrilli; July 15 - 22, Rashida Ferdinand, Allison Rentz; August 5 - 12, Jennifer Burkley, Avantika Bawa; September 9 - 16, Danielle Roney, Elizabeth Johnston. Brief details of the planned exhibitions are below.

Founded in 1973, the Contemporary is a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to excellence, experimentation and education in all forms of contemporary art. Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, 535 Means Street, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, phone (404) 688-1970, www.thecontemporary.org

Bring it on! A summer series of solo positions
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center June 17 – September 16, 2006

June 17 – 24
Recess Playscape / Didi Dunphy - Dunphy is interested in the intersection of art, performance, and design. The Recess objects include the See Saw, the Swing, and the Inside Skateboards and are designed for play. The hope is that through play, cooperation, and collaboration good ideas will be born. Didi Dunphy lives and works in Athens, Georgia. www.modernconvenience.com

A year in the yards of clutter and the driveways of divestment / Tom Zarrilli - Since 2004 Tom Zarrilli has kept an online journal documenting what he has encountered at yard sales in Atlanta neighborhoods. For the Contemporary, Zarrilli will install a staged yard sale featuring some of the objects most often found in his research. Video, digital media and photographs will be embedded in the installation and visitors are invited to root through the installation to uncover the embedded media. The appearance of the piece will change as viewers move things about. Tom Zarrilli lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. www.yardsaleaddict.blogspot.com

July 15 – 22
March of the Tapetum Lucidum / Rashida Ferdinand - Tapetum lucidum is a reflective coating on the choroids of non-human vertebrae eyes. It is a Latin term for "bright carpet" and allows animals to see at night. Ferdinand will suspend hundreds of eye forms from the ceiling of the main gallery to suggest a number of symbolic touch points. The eye forms represent protective talismans and the metaphysical concept of the third eye, an aid to creativity. The piece is also inspired by bottle trees, where the hanging of bottles from trees is used to ward off evil spirits. Rashida Ferdinand is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana.

c o n t a i n i n g = h a t e / Allison Rentz - In an effort to remove hate from the world; Rentz will devise a container for hate. Her installation will include sound, video, and performance. She will crawl through the gallery space burdened by the "container for hate". www.allisonrentz.com

August 5 – 12
Entitlement: The Past is Never Dead and Buried / Jennifer Burkley - For Bring it on! Burkley will install a pathway of aspirin strung garlands to create an immersive experience for visitors. When walking through the path visitors will touch the roping of pills, which will feel like pearls. The effect will be of a tactile journey -- light and airy in places, multi-layered in others. Jennifer Burkley is from Placitas, New Mexico.

Navigating Space/s - Pt. 2 / Avantika Bawa - Bawa's installation will explore the interior and exterior nuances of the Contemporary’s site. Using sculptural collage and audio she intends to question the relationship between real and abstract space. Navigating Space/s Pt. 1 was installed at Gallery Nature Morte in New Delhi, India. Avantika Bawa lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia and is co-founder of drainmag - Journal of Contemporary Art and Culture. www.drainmag.com

September 9 – 16
Genesis Trial / Danielle Roney - While considering globalization to be at the forefront of artistic convergence, Roney will tap into her recent experiences in China to address the contradictions between commoditization and tradition. Using sculpture, light and sound her installation will encompass much of the gallery space to create an immersive experience for visitors. Danielle Roney lives and works in Atlanta. Georgia. www.danielleroney.com

Emily's Gift / Elizabeth Johnston - Through the use of photography and video, Johnston will present work that is inspired by her mentally disabled older sister. The photographs will give prominence to her sister's peers and the video will focus on the inner workings of familial relations. She hopes "that viewers can see that working with people who have mental disabilities is not an exploitative act but an issue that is very close to her heart." Elizabeth Johnston lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia.

For More Information Contact:
Stan Woodard
Communications Director
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
535 Means Street, NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
404 688 1970 ext.213
swoodard@thecontemporary.org
www.thecontemporary.org

###

SUBJECT: THE PAPER SCULPTURE SHOW, EVIDENCE: PAPER WORKS, AND THE WORLD OF WATERMARKS ON EXHIBIT AT THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER FROM JANUARY 27 – MARCH 25, 2006.

For More Information Contact:
Stan Woodard
Communications Director
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
535 Means Street, NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
404 688 1970 ext.213
swoodard@thecontemporary.org
www.thecontemporary.org

Friday January 27 - March 25, 2006
The Paper Sculpture Show
+ Evidence: Paper Works
Mail Room - Mail art from the collections of Benjamin Jones, Ruth Laxson, and Kathy Yancey
Exquisite Corpse - Collaborative drawings by Melissa Herrington, Benjamin Jones, Alex Kvares, D.E. Johnson, Ruth Laxson, and Kathy Yancey
Paper Garden - an installation comprised of recycled junk mail by Marilee Keys
+ The World of Watermarks - presented in collaboration with the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking at Georgia Tech

January 26, 5 - 7 pm Patrons' preview
January 27, 7 - 9 pm Artists' Reception
Artists' gallery tour 6 - 7 pm
February 7, 6:30 – 8 pm, “Why paper?” A conversation with Benjamin Jones, Ruth Laxson, and Kathy Yancey led by Carrie Przybilla
February 18 & March 11 – Paper Saturdays - Free admission to the gallery to create paper sculptures
Visit www.thecontemporary.org to register your group. (Pre-registration is not required.)
March 25, 7 – 9 pm – closing party with music and Exquisite Corpse silent auction closing

Three exhibitions on the theme “paper”, The Paper Sculpture Show and Evidence: Paper Works, and The World of Watermarks will be on view at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center from January 27 – March 25, 2006. The Paper Sculpture Show features plans for paper sculptures created by twenty-nine international artists and artist teams. The exhibit develops as visitors work from those plans to create the artworks. The Paper Sculpture Show is a traveling exhibition created by Independent Curators International (iCI), in collaboration with the SculptureCenter and Cabinet magazine. Evidence: Paper Works encompasses three exhibitions, Paper Garden, Mail Room, and Exquisite Corpse, featuring the work of seven regional artists. Evidence: Paper Works was conceived by the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Also on view from January 27 - March 25 the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum at Georgia Tech will present The World of Watermarks, an exhibit outlining the processes and history of watermarking on paper.

For The Paper Sculpture Show twenty-nine artists and artist teams were asked to design a paper sculpture to be cut out and assembled using very basic materials. Each project will be displayed in stacks within an exhibit design by artist Allan Wexler. Visitors will be encouraged to "complete the artworks" by cutting out and assembling the sculptures of their choice. The visitors’ creations will remain in the gallery after they leave, resulting in an exhibition that will grow and change throughout its duration. Subsequent visitors will have the opportunity to see multiple versions of the same piece, each made unique by the hand of its fabricator.

The Contemporary’s concurrent exhibition Evidence: Paper Works includes Marilee Key’s Paper Garden; Mail Room, an exhibit of mail art from the collections of Benjamin Jones, Ruth Laxson, and Kathy Yancey; and Exquisite Corpse; collaborative drawings executed by Melissa Herrington, Benjamin Jones, Alex Kvares, D.E. Johnson, Ruth Laxson, and Kathy Yancey.

For Paper Garden, Marilee Keys will create an immersive site specific installation made from junk mail that she received over the previous nine months. Using the medieval technique of paper quilling as a starting point, Keys will be working off the walls and suspending elements from the ceiling to create a new topography of shadows, space and volume.

Mail Room and Exquisite Corpse both play off of games created by artists in the early part of the 20th century. Mail Room is an exhibit of the mail art from the collections of Benjamin Jones, Ruth Laxson, and Kathy Yancey. The process of mailing the packages, the distance that artworks travel and the spirit of sharing are all important tenets of mail art. The premise that “senders receive” is key to the mail art movement. To receive mail art, one must send mail art.

The exhibit Exquisite Corpse takes its name from the collaborative drawing game created by the Surrealists. The first artist begins the drawing and that portion is concealed, with only trailing lines left to be picked up by the next artist. Each exquisite corpse drawing is worked on by three artists. The drawings will be on silent auction for the run of the exhibit; the final bidding will take place during the March 25th closing party. Proceeds will benefit the Contemporary.

The World of Watermarks is an exhibition created for the Contemporary by the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum at Georgia Tech. A watermark is a change in the thickness of the paper that can be seen when the paper is held up to the light. Without illumination, the watermarks on display would look and feel just like plain pieces of paper. Examples of the progression of watermarking and educational text will be featured. Running concurrently at the Paper Museum will be an exhibition of The Third National Juried Collegiate Handmade Paper Art Show. The exhibition showcases a wide variety of sculptures, paintings, books, and drawings; Thirty-three works by students representing eleven schools were chosen for inclusion.

Founded in 1973, the Contemporary is a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to excellence, experimentation and education in all forms of contemporary art. Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, 535 Means Street, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, phone (404) 688-1970, www.thecontemporary.org

###