“I think oftentimes, in markets outside of New York, Chicago, and L.A., there’s this tendency to look to [those cities] for compelling contemporary work,” says Masud Olufani, an actor and mixed-media artist who served as a juror for Gathered III, an exhibition opening on May 16 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia. “The work that’s being produced here is just as compelling as anything you’ll find [there].”
A biannual exhibition now in its third cycle, Gathered III is meant to be a celebration of the growing contemporary art scene across the state. Out of more than 350 submissions, Olufani and his fellow jurors (painter Rocio Rodriguez and photographer Jerry Siegel) selected 58 works—from paintings to sculpture to video art—by 36 artists. “We were locked in a room for a day,” he says. “We wanted to cast a broad net, and to show that artists in the state of Georgia are diverse and creative across a spectrum of styles and mediums.”
Among the artists featured are architect and mixed-media artist Amy Landesberg, photographer Lucinda Bunnen, sculptor Imi Hwangbo, mixed-media artist Lillian Blades, and painter and performance artist Maurice Clifford.
Gathered III runs May 16 through July 1 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia.