...an Atlanta Biennial… will be the third large-scale exhibition produced by The Temporary Art Center (TAC), a curatorial project founded in 2018 by Atlanta-based artist Scott Ingram. The Temporary Art Center is an artist-centric curatorial platform designed for community engagement and maximum exposure for the artists involved. Our goal is to bolster the careers of Atlanta artists by building on our individual strengths to collectively expose our community, and the world at large, to the depth and breadth of talent that our city holds.
On view from September 28 - November 3, 2024, …an Atlanta Biennial… will coincide with Atlanta Art Week, the new Atlanta Art Fair, Atlanta Design Festival, City of Atlanta Elevate, and the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC). The exhibition schedule takes advantage of a time when the spotlight is on the local art scene and when collectors and galleries from around the country are in Atlanta engaging with artists, galleries, and the local art scene more broadly.
...an Atlanta Biennial… will feature the work of approximately 30 Atlanta-based artists chosen by an Atlanta-based curatorial team that includes Dr. Fahamu Pecou, Melissa Messina, Antonio Darden, and Scott Ingram. All four curators were or are practicing artists.
- Pecou is an interdisciplinary artist and scholar whose works combine observations on hip-hop, fine art, and popular culture to address concerns around contemporary representations of Black men.
- Messina is a nationally recognized arts professional with two decades of curatorial experience and is the Curator of the Mildred Thompson Estate.
- Darden is a multidisciplinary conceptual artist whose work is reflective of his multi-racial background.
- Ingram is an Atlanta-based artist with a diverse artistic practice that includes painting, drawing, sculpture, and screen-printing as well as the production of furniture and design products.
As with other TAC projects, the exhibition title, ...an Atlanta Biennial…, has a double meaning. As an independent curatorial project, we are able to play with all of the trappings, expectations, and pitfalls of a biennial but without the constraints associated with being a formalized institution and being obligated to present a second biennial. The exhibition fills both a critical and curatorial void with no other local institution taking on the challenge of a true Atlanta biennial. The exhibition will bring together the work of 30 of arguably the best artists currently living and working in Atlanta - those who are more established and are regularly exhibiting outside of Atlanta and the next generation of up-and-coming artistic talent. Curatorially, the exhibition will present the breadth and depth of talent currently working in Atlanta and will firmly place the work of Atlanta-based artists within the critical, curatorial, and artistic discourse happening both in and beyond Atlanta.
The exhibition is sited in a 6,000sf ground floor retail space in the Fourth Ward Offices designed by Olson Kundig and developed by New City Properties and located immediately adjacent to the Eastside Beltline Trail. The exhibition will take advantage of the campus-like setting of the venue with inclusion of several outdoor sculptures and public events that will draw people down from the Beltline to the gallery and animate the campus.
WHAT YOUR DONATIONS WILL FUND
The budget for …an Atlanta Biennial… is $89,500. Your donations will cover costs associated with:
- Wall construction + painting
- Equipment rental
- Electrical work + lighting
- Artist production fees
- Framing + transportation fees
- Professional fees (graphics designer, photographer, project manager, curatorial)
- Exhibition graphics + didactics
- Shop buildout
- Insurance fees
- Marketing fees
- Program fees
Please support this project by making a tax-deductible donation.