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COLLAGES. PRIZES AND SHOPPIN’
Everyday Miracles: Currently on view at The
Grit is a sprawling show of over 100 collages
by Garland Sutton, longtime Athens resident
and avid newspaper reader. Beginning roughly
a year ago, Sutton set himself the monumen
tal task of creating a collage a day for an
entire year, utilizing found images and text
exclusively from The New York Times.
The works are small, uniform in size and
arranged in groups of two or three (occa
sionally solo) around the interior of the
restaurant. Walking among them is a strange
experience—for one, you're gawking at art
while people are trying to eat their tofu, but
more importantly, you find yourself reliving
the past year of your life, up against Sutton's
manipulated context of the news. His hand
some collages ingeniously include a clipping
of the date of their making, and, in a sense,
give a form of personal context to any viewer.
Almost every piece extracts (as if by magic!)
a maxim of wisdom from the day's headlines:
Anyone can be happy or You are loosening the
snapshots. Sutton's real talent lies in his deft
manipulation of these constructed texts and
their paired imagery; in his hand, a packet
of matches is personified as a tortured choir,
a sleeping child falls through sky, casually
noting the miraculous. On view until Jan.
2 and worth repeat visits, Sutton's project
was a year in the making, and the result is
mesmerizing, consuming, complete. Highly
recommended.
Hot Times in Duluth: Odds are, you've never
heard of the Hudgens Prize, or possibly, the
Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth, GA.
The humble arts facility just outside Atlanta
was recently host to a cash award for an artist
living and working within the state of Georgia;
at a jaw-dropping $50,000, this is an event
to be taken seriously. From a pool of over 350
applicants, five finalists were chosen to cre
ate exhibits from which the winner would be
selected and announced at a gala event tak
ing place earlier this month (kind of like the
Turner Prize at the Tate Britain, only not as
much money, but with better food).
The finalists included Jlha Moon, whose
virtuosic paintings blend Eastern mark-making
with Western motifs; Ruth Dusseault, whose
documentary photographs investigate trends
in recreational battlefields; Scott Ingram,
a Renaissance man who combines sculp
ture, installation, drawing and print to cre
ate bodies of work interrogating modernist
architecture; and Gyun Kur, a young Korean
installation artist who enlists her family to
create intoxicating, ephemeral works from
shredded funeral bouquets. These four art
ists hail from Atlanta (where their work is
primarily exhibited and known), but the last
finalist, Hope Hilton, resides just outside
Athens in Winterville, where for the past sev
eral months, she's been quietly creating the
stunning exhibition that's currently making
waves at the Hudgens Center.
Hilton's work is primarily informed by the
history of the southern United States, and
after receiving an MFA from Hunter College in
New York, she relocated to Winterville, admi
rably taking note that the South, that Georgia,
was where her investigations demanded she
live. Her show at the Hudgens Center draws
upon archival research conducted in local
libraries and focuses on the medicinal proper
ties of local plants that, historically, were
employed by slaves to treat physical and emo
tional maladies. It's a heady subject, espe
cially when considering the recent debates and
legislation surrounding universal health care
in the United States, and one
Hilton approaches with equal
parts wisdom and tenderness.
After delicately rendering each
researched plant in watercolor,
she Xeroxed her drawings and
transferred them to a variety
of papers, displayed salon style
in a corner of the gallery. The
images are ghostly and human,
with just the right amount of
remove; Hilton's genius is her
silent blending of the nistorical
with the personal. Installation
artist Gyun Hur ended up taking
home the big money (hurray!),
but in my opinion, her biggest
competition of the evening
was our home girl Ms. Hilton. On view until
February 19, 2011, and—I must say—highly
recommended. The handsomely installed show
highlights some of the most exciting work in
Georgia happening right now. Well worth the
drive.
Train Hoppin' Xmas Shoppin': If you're like
me, the prospect of buying presents for
everyone you know this season is daunting,
mind-numbing and just plain wrong. The good
people of the Railroad Arts District have
done their best to soothe our collective pain,
assembling a Holiday Market that may pos
sibly fill every gift need in one big handmade
sweep. Featuring works by Kenneth Kase,
Will Eskridge, Jamie Voivedlch, Amanda
Jane Crouse and many, many more, the holi
day market is open to the public from 3 p.m.
to 9 p.m. this Friday, December 10. Located
on Tracy Street up and down the warehouses,
with several booths inside ATHICA. Just
down the way, Trace Gallery will open their
doors for their December Studio Pottery
Invitational, featuring the ceramic work of
the Trace Gallery Collective and various studio
artists. If anyone wants to buy me a Christmas
present I'll take a couple of Ted Saupe cups,
please. On view until January 7, 2011. More
information at www.tracegaUeryathens.com.
Correction: Last edition of Art Notes, I men
tioned the upcoming group photography exhi
bition, PsycoUagraphka, at Visionary Growth
Gallery out near DanielsviUe. You should defi
nitely check it out, but I should amend that
the opening is 2 p.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec
12 For more information, see www.visgrow.
com.’
• Brian Hibtalberg6rarts@flagpoie.com
Garland Sutton’s collage, “They Only Scream Once.” is on exhibit in
The Grit until Jan. 2.
Shop PeachMac this Holiday.
DECEMBER 8,2010 • FlAGPOLE.COM 13