Athens is full of talented artists, but what is the best place to see their work? Since the mid-1970s, the Lyndon House Arts Center has hosted an annual juried exhibition that is a wide-ranging opportunity to see local art. Now in its forty-eighth version, on view through May 6, the current show includes one hundred fifty-four works by one hundred seven artists. A different expert from outside the area selects the works each year. In 2023, it was Maria Elena Ortiz, curator at the Modern in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ortiz writes that the show is the ideal opportunity to get the pulse of what is sparking creativity within the artists’ community. The works in it deal with landscape, identity, and abstraction, along with conceptual strategies. She adds that they provide a new insight about the story of art in this country and showcase a bold perspective. All of these artists created works inspired by the histories, cultures, and environments of Georgia, reflecting on today. The artists epitomize current trends in contemporary art such as scenes of the everyday, figuration, textiles, abstraction, conceptual video, and experimental works on paper. The exhibition illustrates the convergence of different art practices and mediums, breaking the boundaries between art and craft. The selection is a microcosm of what happens creatively locally, echoing national trends.
The show fills both floors of the Lyndon House building on Hoyt Street in downtown Athens. Admission is free and gallery hours are Tuesday and Thursday ten to eight, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday ten to five.
