Temporary Art Center presents ...an Atlanta Biennial

The Temporary Art Center (TAC) is a curatorial project founded in 2018 by Atlanta-based artist Scott Ingram. TAC is truly temporary, existing only as project-based initiatives. Til The Lights Go Out, the first iteration of the Temporary, took place in 2018 and was the final exhibition at Hathaway Contemporary Gallery. The building was slated to be torn down to make way for a new multi-use development. Inspired by the work of Gordon Matta-Clark, the exhibition featured commissioned site-specific and traditionally installed artworks by local artists all of which were destroyed when the building was demolished. 

The second iteration of The Temporary entitled PROJECT, took place in 2019 at the Conklin Metal Building, a 66,000-sf industrial space in Atlanta that was scheduled for demolition. The exhibition featured the work of 28 artists, both artists working in Atlanta and former Atlanta-based artists. The concept for PROJECT — as in “a project” or, more importantly, “to project” — came from the 1988 Freeze exhibition organized by Damien Hirst in London, an event that launched the careers of many of the Young British Artists. The curatorial goal of PROJECT was to raise awareness about the number of artists who begin their careers in Atlanta but migrate elsewhere for better opportunities, and to produce a group show that would inspire a new model for how Atlanta invests in and supports artists. 

The current iteration of TAC is scheduled to run Sept 28 through Nov 3, 2024. Entitled …an Atlanta Biennial… the exhibition is sited in a 6,000sf ground floor retail space in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward. 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 and will bring together the work of 30 of arguably the best artists living and working in Atlanta - those who are more established 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.