Culture Surfing

And Lil Wayne would be proud.

MINT Gallery celebrates its 3rd annual MIXT show this Saturday, August 22 from 8-11 p.m. Each year the exhibit gathers a swarming list of local artists (some of whom are also noted music personalities) and crowds the room with two-part installations: an original work of art paired with a mix tape created as its “sound track.” That’s right: There will be a Walkman and headphones hanging next to each painting, sculpture, and video. (The press release promises animation in addition to traditional still artworks.) And if you buy the art, you get the audiocassette, too!

This year’s show will feature the talents of over 30 working artists, students, professors, and musicians, including Bean Summer, Emily Maxwell, Saint, Rachael Spiewak, Kelly McKernan, Jason Travis, Chris Hamer, Travis Thatcher, Sunni Johnson, and many more. Last year’s MIXT was a riot, so I’m sure it won’t disappoint.

Otherwise, I plan to check out the screening of Koolhaas Houselife at Whitespace Gallery. The film starts tonight, Friday, August 21 at 9 p.m., and is part of the gallery’s Summer Falls programming, a multimedia “intermission” masterminded by John Otte. It’s a chance to see cool sculptures and cinema in one night.

And look out for the Methane Studios poster show at Alcove Gallery on Saturday!

For more local arts events, visit clatl.com/events or, check this week’s visual arts To Do List at BURNAWAY.ORG.

(Photo courtesy MINT Gallery)

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Just two quick highlights, for social justice geeks and fans of local music, art, and basketball:

1. I’m curious to hear more about Audacity of Hoops, a public art exhibition in Mechanicsville — a neighborhood far, far away from Atlanta’s mainstream districts for the arts — organized by the Dirty Truth Campaign and artist Lisa Tuttle. Several large-scale color photographs center on themes of urban blight, and provide a social context for pick-up games and other activities, on and off the court.

2. Saturday’s also the night of the MINT Gallery benefit concert at WonderRoot. Acts will include Lindsay Appel, Travel by Train, Jack Carter and Old Soles Company, and Grand Prize Winner from Last Year (yes, that’s their real name). And don’t forget the WonderRoot cops and robbers party on Sunday!

For more local arts events, visit clatl.com/events or, check this week’s visual arts To Do List at BurnAway.org.

(Photo by Kody Wynne/Flickr)

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The Plastic Aztecs are known for their alternate universes and quirky takes on cultural amusements. The latest art showing from them did not disappoint, and we have the photos to prove it.

(Photos by TL Pixley)

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There’s something about R. Land’s Pray for ATL design that inspires feelings of love. Those weathered hands seem so earnest. Especially when they’re covered in scales.

This weekend features not one, but two exhibitions uniting art, film, and … fish. The first is Alcove Gallery’s Big Tuna anniversary celebration tonight, July 10, from 7 p.m.-midnight. Why’s it called Big Tuna, you ask? It’s an art show inspired by the films of David Lynch. The name nods to the fictional town in Lynch’s 1990 classic, Wild at Heart, a flick starring Nick Cage as a karate-kicking Elvis Presley wannabe. The second is R. Land’s Art Opening and a Movie: Zaat at the Plaza Theatre on Saturday. (Click here for Curt Holman’s Zaat feature.)

Meanwhile, Whitespace Gallery’s Agents of Seduction looks promising. If you miss Friday’s opening, there’s still printmaker Teresa Coleman’s artist talk on Saturday, July 11 at 2 p.m.

For printmaking action of a more socially engaged variety, Jenny Zhang makes two appearances: at the Atlanta Printmakers Emerging Artists in Residence group show on Saturday night, and then at Monday’s JUBA SPIDER Panel Discussion at Apache Café.

Plus don’t forget Saturday’s show at MINT by the plastic Plastic Aztecs, who’ve received much love recently, including one Creative Loafing article, one YouTube “commercial,” and one Studio Visit interview by yours truly.

For more local arts events, visit clatl.com/events or, check this week’s visual arts To Do List at BurnAway.org.

(Wheatpaste by R. Land/Photo by Mike Germon)

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Fantasy in art is often bridled by the need to point out flaws in the human condition, absurdities of modern culture, or the destruction left in the wake of human pursuits. Given that there are so many targets out there, the near absence of a political message may be the most enticing element of the Intergalactic Strongthang Competition. For the lastest work from young Atlanta art collective Plastic Aztecs, wild imaginations fuel a made-up outer-space competition for pure artistic fun.

On July 11 at MINT Gallery, the Aztecs — Andrea Sanders, Dorothy Stucki and Becky Furey — will roll out the Intergalactic Strongthang Competition, “an event occurring every century organized to celebrate strength and unity by the Intergalactic Federation of Amateur Strongthangs.” In an arena/museum setup complete with repurposed exercise equipment, announcer audio, and slowed-down, cut-up jock rock, competition will ensue in alien costumes constructed of gold-painted football pads, full-body skin-tight Zentai suits, strategically placed fur, antlers and more.

Continue reading “Mint Gallery spaces on the Intergalactic Strongthang Competition“

(Photo courtesy Plastic Aztecs)

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FIRE, BURN, and CAULDRON BUBBLE: A collaborative mixed-media work by McKernan, Raflo, and Vidal

I’ve spent the last few days backtracking through my e-mail — recently, it’s become a font of broken promises, cancellations, and other conversations generally ending with “OMG, sorry I’m too busy, y’all!” … But no more! Time to pull those forget-mes out of the gutter!

For example, did you know MINT Gallery received its official nonprofit status? … At the end of February!? Sorry I neglected to mention that tidbit.

So if you’ve never been to MINT, now’s a good time to check it out. This Sat., June 13 at 8 p.m. the gallery hosts something of an estro-fest art opening titled Outlines and Outliars, featuring a trio of young lady-artists, Kelly McKernan, Chelsea Raflo and Cristina Vidal. (McKernan you may recall from a brief aside earlier this year.) The venue is located on the back side of the infamous Sam Street Lofts (684 John Wesley Dobbs).
Continue reading “Estrogen and Outliars: MINT’s for real, y’all!” »

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1) Silver Scream Spook Show features The Creature from the Black Lagoon at Plaza Theatre.

2) Pastor Troy performs at Apache Cafe.

3) Caribbean Carnival parades along West Peachtree Street and parties at the Masquerade.

Continue reading “5 things to do: Saturday” »

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