You don’t have to be a student to enjoy all of the beautiful, unusual and thought-provoking artwork spread across the University of Georgia’s many galleries. Check out the fall preview below, and remember to check Flagpole’s weekly Art Around Town listings to find out about exhibitions on and beyond campus.
THE ATHENAEUM: In “Fission or, Eclipse,” New York-based artist Rose Salane arranges seemingly mundane objects collected from disparate archives to analyze systems of evaluation, exchange and organization that shape urban life. An opening reception will be held Sept. 12 from 6–9 p.m., and the exhibition will remain on view through Nov. 23. Salane will offer an artist talk on Sept. 11 at 5:30 p.m. in Auditorium S151 of the Lamar Dodd School of Art.
DODD GALLERIES: Currently on view through Sept. 26, “Trick Mirror” includes a series of portraits by Dodd professor and recent retiree Diane Edison that attempt to negotiate an understanding of self in relation to family and friends. Contemplating the complexities of platonic, professional and romantic relationships, her portraits are semi-autobiographical in nature as she translates and superimposes parts of her own likeness onto the subjects.
In “Inland” (Aug. 29–Nov. 7), Dodd alumna Hong Hong examines the body as a closed ecological system through large-scale paintings made from hand-formed paper incorporating fragments from the natural world and the artist’s personal history. Plants, soil and water from specific sites of meaning intermingle with poems and heirlooms, suggesting a narrative and the passing of time.
GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART: Currently on view through Dec. 1, “Saint Petersburg as Franz Liszt Saw It” was organized in conjunction with the American Liszt Society Festival at UGA’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music, an event scheduled for October that celebrates the legacy of the Hungarian composer and pianist. Pulling from the museum’s permanent collection, the exhibition features works on paper that illustrate Russian cityscapes in the 1840s during the time of Liszt’s visits.
Captured from within locations across the Southeast, Micah Cash’s photography exhibition “Waffle House Vistas” (Aug. 24–June 1) contemplates the built and natural environments, contrasting the comfort of the iconic diner’s familiar interior with the diversity of physical and cultural landscapes that exist beyond the windows. The exhibition, which pulls from a photo series and book by the same name, will premiere a new video that disrupts the nostalgia of the still images and further emphasizes Cash’s directive to look up from the plate and observe the surroundings.
“In Dialogue: On Wonder and Witnessing at Tallulah Falls” (Sept. 7–Jan. 12) pairs George Cooke’s 1841 oil painting “Tallulah Falls” with contemporary photographs of Tallulah Gorge by Caitlin Peterson. As part of the museum’s “In Dialogue” series, which aims to create conversations around works from the permanent collection by placing them in new contexts alongside works of other artists or time periods, the exhibition reexamines the notion of a natural wonder and the ethics of witnessing nature in relation to the Indigenous and environmental histories in the region.
Three additional exhibitions are slated to be on view Sept. 21–Dec. 1. “Mind the Gap: Selections from the Permanent Collection” bridges the past and present through an array of works representing the spaces between tradition and innovation as well as historical and contemporary narratives. Shot during the 2005 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the photographs in “Joel Sternfeld: When It Changed” capture the shocked expressions of scientists, government officials, journalists and other world leaders as they receive alarming evidence of ecological crisis. Organized in response to Sternfeld’s exhibition, the companion installation “The Artist as Witness” investigates environmental changes and how humans have impacted the natural landscape through works by artists including Arthur Tress, Robert von Sternberg and Diane Farris.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER LOBBY GALLERY: Exploring themes of life and death, Joseph Peragine’s exhibition “Low Anchored Cloud/Spring Hoax” pulls from two distinct bodies of work. Three large-scale paintings from “Low Anchored Cloud,” a series named after a Henry David Thoreau poem, present soft-focused animals in lush, dreamlike environments. The 20 smaller paintings from Peragine’s “Spring Hoax” series depict skulls recurring in various arrangements of vibrant flowers and insects, pulling inspiration from Dia de los Muertos imagery and vanitas, a genre of still life painting symbolically showing the transience of life. Currently on view through Dec. 21, this is his first solo show on campus since becoming the director of the Lamar Dodd School of Art two years ago. A reception will be held Aug. 20 at 5 p.m.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIES: Currently on view through December, “Athens Potluck” features portraits of local musicians taken by Jason Thrasher for his eponymous book originally published in 2017. Each subject selected the next person to be photographed, creating an introduction to the music scene that organically flows from one genre to the next. In addition to over 100 photographs, the exhibition fills the five gallery rooms with selected stories, artwork, artifacts and memorabilia. Thrasher will offer a curator’s talk on Sept. 20 at 3 p.m.
Riding the high of the recent 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, “Bulldog Olympians: A Celebration of UGA’s Olympic History” (Aug.–Jan.) spotlights UGA athletes who have represented the country in the international competition. The exhibition was curated by Jack Bauerle, former coach of UGA’s Swimming & Diving program as well as head coach of the U.S. women’s swim team in the 2008 Olympics; Jason Hasty, UGA Athletics History Specialist; and John Frierson, staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association. Hasty will lead free tours at 3 p.m. on Fridays before home football games.
The new shows join “For All the People: A Century of Citizen Action in Health Care Reform,” an exhibition that shares how movements of ordinary citizens have helped shape the American healthcare system. When “For All the People” comes down in October, “Precious, Almost Sacred: Voting Rights in America” will go up—right in time for the presidential election—exploring the long battle to extend suffrage, the evolution of voting methods and the efforts to protect access to the ballot box.
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