Fresh Blood at Mason Murer

“ Inevitably some works stand out more than others in such an immense show, but a unique level of maturity and engagement with the audience is visible throughout—qualities often lacking in graduate work ”

Summer long show ‘Fresh Blood’ opened at the Mason Murer gallery late May, showcasing over 40 recent graduates to come out of Atlanta. Everything from photography to painting to drawing to sculpture is on show at this extensive exhibition. Inevitably some works stand out more than others in such an immense show, but a unique level of maturity and engagement with the audience is visible throughout—qualities often lacking in graduate work. In fact, you could go as far as saying some the artists featured in this show may be previewing the Atlantic art scene in years to come.

One such artist, Julie Sharpe, exemplifies the premise of this show. As a fine art photographer, Sharpe intertwines the very intimate theme of family in her work with a very du jour practice amongst photographers of working with ‘found photographs’ in order to examine deeper psychological meaning of identity, particularly in the mixed media piece Portrait as My Aunt. 

Courtesy of the artist Curtis Ames.

Another artist grabbing my eye at the exhibition was Justin Plakas. Similarly to Sharpe, he utilizes photography and transforms it into mixed media pieces. The shrouded characters and dark, ambiguous, modern settings give his work an unsettling atmosphere that engages the audience and forces them to ask questions about modern day society.

Fresh Blood artists include:

Paul Light Jr, Brian Steel, Asia Matos, Margaret Hiden, Travid Dodd, Deane Andrus, Jessie Brandon, Tyrus Lytton, Julie Sharpe, Brandon Jones, Justin Plaka, Kaellyn Hong, Curtis Ames, Madalina Anton, Sandrine Arons, M R Barry, Katrina Brooks, Denise Burke, Jeff Cecil, Anling Chung, InKyoung Chun, Sergei Isaenko, Nate Kamp, Jessica Miller, Andrew Phillips, Ben Rollins, Duncan Shirah, Ellen Siebers, Rose M Barron, Rabecca Signariello, Freda Sue, Lance Turner, Kevin Vincent, Jonny Warren, Charlie Watts, Augusta Wilson, A C Burns, Jesica McVey, Kyungmin Park, Page Hall, Victoria Campbell. *

 

Courtesy of the artist Andrus Deanne.