"A Viewing of Subconsciousness" by Todd Alexander

The Art Institute of Atlanta is proud to have on display in the Janet Day Gallery, artist Todd Alexander's newest show “A Viewing of Subconsciousness.” This bold, large scale exhibition of mixed-media paintings brings forth a profound impact to the viewer.

Todd Alexander, formerly from Atlanta, is a working artist who is armed with imagery, technique, talent and emotion inspired by all walks of life. Born into a family of artists, at a young age Todd experimented with watercolor and oil mediums, as well as hand-thrown pottery. He then pursued scientific and medical illustration at the University of Georgia, working afterward to produce anatomically driven creations for the medical industry. Todd’s creativity has evolved as he re-entered the studio, again picking up once familiar paints and exploring alternative ways to express himself and his subjects.

Through charcoal, paint and collage, Todd allows no boundaries. For him, it’s not about the finished product as much as the journey of discovering emotions and sharing them. His most recent productions evoke the state of balance towards which he strives, using mixed-media of paper, canvas and other elements to align reality with interpretation of dimension. Multiple layers of epoxy, gel medium, and paint allow for a new, and at times unexpected, lens for the viewer to look through and more actively participate with the image.

The works found herein distill universal emotions. Subjects take the viewer to different planes in a view of the subconsciousness - inviting curiosity and contemplation. Collectively they deliver new levels of validation and self-awareness.

The exhibition runs January 22nd- March 2nd. The opening is Thursday, Feb. 8th from 7:00- 10PM - RSVP to aiatlgallery@gmail.com. There will be an artist’s lecture in the gallery on March 1st 12-2:00pm. The Art Institute/ Janet Day Gallery is located at 6600 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd 100 Embassy Row, Atlanta, GA 30328.

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BATTLE ZONE

by Julie Bookman

FOR THIS VISIT,  ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER LEADER ROBERT BATTLE LOOKS TO THE PAST — 1960, THE 1980S, 2004 — TO ENTERTAIN, PROVOKE AND INFORM THE FUTURE.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs Feb. 14-18 at the Fox Theatre. Tickets HERE or at 855.285.8499. 

“ALMOST SPIRITUAL.” That’s how Robert Battle describes Atlanta’s passion for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

“The black experience,” says Ailey artistic director Robert Battle, “is not a one-note samba.” Photo: Andrew Eccles

“The love and electricity we feel every time we’re there is the kind of excitement and commitment that’s usually reserved for pop culture — like for rock stars,” says Battle, artistic director of the nation’s pre-eminent modern dance company.

This visit the 32-member company — in which no one is a star but everyone dances like one — brings 13 pieces for six performances. You’d need to attend four of the six to see them all. What you can count on is plenty of powerful, athletic dance and Revelations as the finale. The spirit-rousing, visually stunning piece created by founder Alvin Ailey dates to 1960.

“Revelations is a light in a dark place,” Battle says from New York. “As we look at this world and our country, Revelations gives us a sense that tomorrow the sun will shine.”

Battle, on the job since 2011, is the third artistic director in Ailey’s 60-year history. He was chosen by his predecessor, Judith Jamison, just as she was chosen by Ailey himself. Battle’s Mass, created in 2004 for the Juilliard School, is new this year to Ailey dancers.

He was inspired to create it after seeing a choral performance of Verdi’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall. “I found myself inspired by the sort of pageantry of a chorus of a hundred people, even how they entered in a somber way and the precise way they organized themselves on the risers, the juxtaposition of it all.

“When they sang,” he says, “the juxtaposition was their voice, like a passport to the world that could travel freely.” The choir leader “was almost like the preacher figure or chosen one born out of the mass. I found myself thinking about it all — the individual, the group or huddled mass, the chosen one freeing himself from the group.”

You never know where you’ll find inspiration, he says.

A scene from the Robert Battle-choreographed “Mass.” Top of page: “Twyla Tharp’s Golden Section.” Photos: Paul Kolnik

Battle’s choreography often features sharp, ritualistic movements and intricate patterns. He’s comfortable endorsing one phrase used to describe his style: rapid-fire movement. “My last name is Battle, and I think that says it all.”

As always, Ailey audiences can expect some social consciousness in the program. A highlight is likely to be Shelter, created in 1988 by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founder and artistic director of Urban Bush Women, the Brooklyn- dance troupe whose works often illuminate the disenfranchised.

Ailey dancers first performed the 22-minute Shelter, described as a hard-hitting interpretation on homelessness, 25 years ago. This is its first revival in 15 years.

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s “Shelter.” Photo: Paul Kolnik

One day in New York, Zollar says, she found herself stepping over a homeless person. “When it became normal and didn’t have any impact —when I stopped seeing it — that is when I thought we were losing portions of our humanity.”

Since the piece premiered, New York’s homeless population has tripled to 63,000, according to a recent NBC News estimate. Georgia has about 14,000 homeless people.

Battle sees Shelter’s relevance expanding. “I think we’re having to think about shelter and protection in larger ways. There’s a real fear out there of needing shelter from the very laws that are supposed to protect you.”

At least two other pieces in the lineup date to the 1980s, as well:

TWYLA THARP’S THE GOLDEN SECTION (1983). This 16-minute piece, set to a New Wave score by David Byrne, was the finale to Tharp’s The Catherine Wheel, an acclaimed 1981 project. Two years later, it became a stand-alone piece “celebrated for its expression of blissful joy.” In 2006, The New Yorker described Ailey’s re-staging as “daring, driving choreography with breathtaking leaps.”

STACK-UP  by Talley Beatty (1982). Beatty’s piece examines “an urban landscape and all the things that can happen within that context,” says Battle. More plot-driven than most Ailey pieces, it’s a colorful, energetic number of physical pyrotechnics done to a disco vibe from the Fearless Four, Grover Washington Jr. and Earth, Wind & Fire.

An Ailey performance promises a wide range of themes, moods and emotions. “The black experience,” Battle says, “is not a one-note samba.”

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Wine Down at the Sixth Annual Uncorked Atlanta Wine Festival at Park Tavern

Back for the sixth rendition, wine connoisseurs are invited to the Uncorked Atlanta Wine Festival at Park Tavern hosted by Atlanta Sport & Social Club on Saturday, February 3, 2018 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Overlooking the picturesque Midtown skyline and Piedmont Park, revelers can enjoy over 50 varieties of complimentary wine and craft beer tastings, including an extensive list of cabernets, chardonnays, merlots, Park Tavern’s handcrafted brews, and much more, while jiving to DJ performances and challenging each other to wine-themed trivia, blind taste testing and much more.  Hungry partygoers can also nosh on local favorites including burgers, bowls, tacos, salads, sandwiches, fresh sushi and more. In addition to tastings, music and more, attendees will receive an Uncorked Atlanta tasting glass as a souvenir.  

Tickets are available for ages 21 and up online for $42 and are $54 at the door. To purchase tickets or more information, visit www.uncorkedatlanta.com. Park Tavern 500 Tenth Street NE Atlanta, GA 30309 

For ages 21 and up. Tickets are available at https://www.xorbia.com/e/assc/uncorked-atlanta-wine-festival/.

For more information, visit www.parktavern.com or call 404.249.0001.

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Erik Madigan Heck: "Old Future" Opening at Jackson Fine Art

Jackson Fine Art is thrilled to officially announce their first Atlanta exhibition of work by acclaimed fashion photographer Erik Madigan Heck, one of the most innovative and exciting young artists in contemporary photography. Heck's painterly large scale photographs are at once classic and futuristic, with influences ranging from Gustav Klimt and Edgar Degas to the high contrast color and visionary design of Pop Art or Michel Gondry.

This intersection of past and present lends both Heck's first monograph and our exhibition their title – Old Future.  As Susan Bright writes in her contribution to the book, published by Abrams in 2017, "Heck flies into the future with his back turned – he faces history, allowing it to turn back on itself, reassigning and regrouping it with each new project." Vulture named Old Future one of the top 10 photography books of 2017. 

Heck's otherworldy imagery is mostly created in-camera, with only minor modifications done in post-production, and all of his photographs are naturally lit. 

In the past 12 months, Erik Madigan Heck has been exhibited in London, New York, and Minneapolis, with exhibitions forthcoming in Switzerland, Toronto, and Dubai. He is a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, TIME, The New Yorker, and Harper's Bazaar UK. In 2013 he became one of the youngest photographers to receive the prestigious ICP Infinity Award, and in 2015 was awarded with the Art Directors Club’s Gold Medal and the AI-IP American Photography award for his Old Masters Portfolio, published by The New York Times Magazine. He lives and works in Connecticut and New York City. 

Join Jackson Fine Art on Friday, January 26 for an opening reception to Future Old from 6-8PM. Jackson Fine Art is located at 3115 East Shadowlawn Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30305. For more information about Jackson Fine Art and their artists, visit jacksonfineart.com. 

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AJFF 2018 arrives Jan. 24, with 192 films screening in 23 days

by Encore Atlanta

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens in less than two weeks, promising 192 screenings in 23 days and a slew of special events. The ambitious festival begins Jan. 24 and ends Feb. 15, and comprises narratives and documentaries representing 27 countries. For the full lineup, schedule, tickets and program guide, go HERE.

The fest will be all around town. Opening and closing screenings are at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. All other screenings take place at one or multiple venues: Atlantic Station Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX, Hollywood Stadium 24, Perimeter Point 10, Springs Cinema & Taphouse, Tara Cinemas 4 and the Woodruff Arts Center.

Most screenings feature post-film Q&A conversations with filmmakers, actors, community leaders and academics. That lineup includes director Neil Berkeley (Gilbert); comedian Gilbert Gottfried; director Ofir Raul Graizer (The Cakemaker); director Amichai Greenberg (The Testament); director Astrid Schult (Winter Hunt); and director Ferenc Torok (1945).

General admission tickets are $15; $13 for senior citizens, students and children; and $12 for matinees. Ticket details HERE.

Special events include:

A still from the documentary “Sammy Davis Jr: I’ve Gotta Be Me.”

OPENING NIGHT. 

The documentary Sammy Davis Jr: I’ve Gotta Be Me (U.S., 100 mins) screens at 7:30 p.m. The 2017 film includes interviews with Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis and Kim Novak, among others.

A post-screening conversation with filmmaker Sam Pollard follows.

$36. Includes admission and parking. It has no other screenings.

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS NIGHT. On Feb. 3, The Boy Downstairs (U.S., 91 mins) screens at 8:30 p.m. Director Sophie Brooks’ 2017 feature, her first, is described as a “fresh take on the girl-meets-boy story, with a lightly comic and deeply touching contemplation of modern relationships, life choices and independence.” The night begins with a 7 p.m. party. $36, includes the party and the screening. Young Professionals Night is at the Woodruff Arts Center. The movie also screens at 1:40 p.m. Feb. 4 at Regal Atlantic Station and 12:20 p.m. Feb. 9 at Springs Cinema & Taphouse.

A scene from “The Last Suit.”

CLOSING NIGHT. 

The Last Suit (Argen-tina/Spain, 86 mins) screens at 7 p.m. Feb. 15.

This 2017 feature follows an 88-year-old Jewish tailor who leaves his home in Argentina for Poland, hoping to find the man who saved him from certain death during the Holocaust. A discussion with writer/director Pablo Solarz and a dessert reception follow. $36. Includes parking, the screening and the reception. It has no other screenings.

AJFF films are generally for adults, but several selections are family-friendly, including the Israeli teen dramedy Almost Famous (three screenings, two locations) and an adventure about family titled A Bag of Marbles (five screenings, four locations).

Topical movies include The Cakemaker (five screenings, five locations), which documents unconventional relationships; An Act of Defiance, which explores race relations; and The Cousin, Shelter and Remember Baghdad, which looks at political-religious extremism. The Cousin screens four times at four locations; Shelter screens five times at three locations; and Remember Baghdadscreens twice at two locations.

[RELATED: ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FEST RELEASES FIRST 8 TITLES]

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ATLANTA FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC SPACES CELEBRATES THE 5th ANNUAL CALLANWOLDE ARTS FESTIVAL

Join the Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces (AFFPS) on Saturday, January 20 and Sunday, January 21, 2018, as they celebrate the fifth annual Callanwolde Arts Festival. The award-winning, two-day indoor festival is located in one of Atlanta’s most distinctive historic properties, the 27,000-square foot Callanwolde Mansion in Druid Hills, and features approximately 86 painters, photographers, sculptors, metalwork, glass artists, jewelers and more.  The festival, which is open to all ages, will also offer artist demonstrations, live acoustic music, food trucks with healthy alternatives, and live music and dance performances. Admission is $5 at the door.

Art lovers are also invited to take advantage of the ticketed V.I.P. Preview Sales Party on Friday, January 19th from 6 to 9 p.m.  Upon arrival, guests will be greeted with a glass of wine to sip on as they stroll throughout the historic home and will be the first to view and shop the artwork showcased at this year’s festival.  Guests are also invited to enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres while they mix and mingle with the artists and enjoy live acoustic music.  Admission to the V.I.P. Preview Sales Party is $20 and is open to all ages. Tickets can be purchased at the door.  For more information visit http://callanwoldeartsfestival.com.   

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Operation Colombia for your taste buds at The Consulate Atlanta

The Consulate Atlanta travels the globe every ninety days to create authentic, international dishes to entice and seduce the adventurer's palate. Their stop this time is Colombia, following a very successful tour through Ethiopia, which was preceded by Cuba, Guam, Brazil, Russia and Denmark. The mid-century styled restaurant offers a staple menu as well, that includes grilled octopus in a sweet mango chili sauce, Korean Pulled Duck Confit and Pan Seared scallops, just to name a few.

Executive Chef Lin has once again, curated a menu of delicious traditional dishes, some which feature a modern, re-constructed twist which has become a signature trademark approach for The Consulate Atlanta. The Colombian menu, with its Ajiaco soup, Arroz con Pollo and Posta Negra does not disappoint. The menu offers a feast for your taste buds that pair excellently with their Colombian inspired specialty crafted cocktails.

The globe was spun and a new destination was chosen on January 5th - secure your visas because in three months, The Consulate Atlanta will be jet-setting to India! BUT for now, make sure and visit them for a mouthwatering taste of Colombia.

Here is a glance at their MENU: 

—  VISA MENU —

 — COLOMBIAN SALAD —
Ensalada de Frijol y Maiz  (Bean & Corn Salad)   7
black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, white beans, chick peas, fresh cilantro, red and green pepper,  scallions, light vinaigrette

 —  FEATURED COLOMBIAN DISHES —

Sweet Plantains   7       mojo mint garlic sauce

Chef Lin’s Empanadas           
 Teriyaki ground Beef   (2)      12        
onion, red pepper, sesame seeds, scallions        
V - Teriyaki Trio Mushroom   (2)     10      
 (white button mushrooms,  Oyster mushrooms, Bunapi mushrooms)        
Empanada Duo   11
1 beef, 1 mushroom

ATL  Arepa    10          
Avocado, Tomato, Artisan Lettuce,  Quesito Colombiano

BLT Arepa    12
Hickory Smoked Thickcut Bacon, artisan Lettuce, Tomato, Quesito Colombiano

Ajiaco   14    ( Chicken and Potato Soup )
pulled chicken breast, red and purple potatoes, corn, guascas, avacado, capers.

Arroz Con Pollo   22
beer marinated, Springer Farms chicken quarter, jasmine rice, carrots, red and green peppers, corn, onions, cilantro, ginger.

Posta Negra    23
14 hour marinade Eyeround Beef, Worchestershire Coca Cola Sauce   

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