Saturday morning at 8am on WCLK's The Local Take I speak with Atlanta artist Shanequa Gay about her two very different exhibitions that are going on this week. Ini She Ation at the Chastain Art Centeris closing on Saturday, August 3rd. Lit without Sherman: A Love Letter to The West End is at the Hammonds House Museum through October 13th.
Gay describes herself as a poet with an artist's soul. We talk about the two exhibits being very different and both coming from her creative mind.
I ask her about the "Southern" flavor that permeates the Love Letter to the West End, she shares whether it was deliberate or just part of that love. We talk about the drum major symbolism for W. E. B. DuBois, who did much of his work at Clark Atlanta University.
Toile is a big part of the exhibition. I ask her how she came to make the toile in the exhibition actually come to life. She mentions another project where she researched the french inspired fabric. I ask her about the research, and work that goes on behind or before the art it done. Gay says that she loves history and is "bookish." She speaks about coming to earth as an artist, but also shares her academic background.
Both are site-specific exhibitions meaning that when they end, they end. The colorful walls at the Hammonds House will be painted white when the exhibit ends. She also talks about the current gentrification that is occuring in the West End neighborhood.
For more information on Shanequa Gay
For more information about Lit without Sherman: A Love Letter to the West End
For more information about Ini She Ation
