See & Do: Visual art: Memorial Paintings by Jack Whitten
June 3rd, 2008 by Web Editor in Visual Arts
Alabama-born painter Jack Whitten has been in the game for more than four decades and has spent a good chunk of that time being unduly dissed by the New York art establishment. In MEMORIAL PAINTINGS, however, Whitten shows that his career is ripe for re-evaluation. Whitten’s abstract, mosaic-style paintings, in an exhibit continuing Tues., JUNE 3, at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, pay homage to a panoply of deceased artists, musicians and political figures the artist has encountered. New York’s MoMA also has a few Whitten drawings on display now, but the 10-foot-by-20-foot granddaddy of Whitten’s career, “9.11.01,” is right here in Atlanta. Containing paint, bone fragments, ash, dust, more than a gallon of human blood and God only knows what else, “9.11.01″ collapses a lifetime of painting into a single epic work. Through June 14. Free-$5. Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thurs., 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m. 535 Means St. 404-688-1970. www.thecontemporary.org.
— By Cinque Hicks
(”9.11.01,” 2006)
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