Exhibition Dates: September 21 – October 29, 2023
Facing Y’all: Inclusion Through the Lens, from The Do-Good Fund Collection – A VISUAL NARRATIVE of the EVER-CHANGING AMERICAN SOUTH.
Facing Y’all celebrated the faces that frame the diversity of today’s South through the lens of its photographers. The exhibition presented 29 works by 18 artists from the renowned Do-Good Fund Collection, including Pinky MM Bass, Sheila Pree Bright, Harlan Bozeman, Carolyn Drake, Jill Frank, Peyton Fulford, Anna Gay, Arielle Gray, Andres Gonzalez, Titus Brooks Heagins, Kevin Kline, Brittainy Lauback, Carl Martin, Ted Partin, Jerry Siegel, Mike Smith, Michael Stipe and Vanessa Winship.
Embracing the colloquial Southern phrase “y’all,” these photographs portray the region’s diverse populace. About her curatorial decisions for Facing Y’all, Gallery Director Shannon Morris said, “Influencing my selection of work for this exhibition was my intention for visitors to see themselves, remember a friend, a relative or someone they know and to perhaps allow themselves a moment of reflection.“
Expanding on this exhibition, artists Sheila Pree Bright, Jill Frank, and Jerry Siegel participated in Let’s Talk, an Atlanta Art Week panel moderated by Shannon Morris through which the artists offered insight regarding their process and engagement with the subjects of their photographs.
Sheila Pree Bright
Sheila Pree Bright is an acclaimed International Photographic Artist who portrays large-scale works that combine a broad range of knowledge of contemporary culture. She is known for her series #1960Now, Invisible Empire, Suburbia, Plastic Bodies, and Young Americans.
Jill Frank
Atlanta-based artist and educator, Jill Frank currently serves an Associate Professor of Photography at Georgia State University. Reviews of Frank’s work are published in Art Forum, Art in America, and The Paris Review. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia have presented her work in solo exhibitions.
Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel (1958) was born and raised in Selma, AL. Siegel graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta and was awarded the Grand Prize for Atlanta’s first Artadia Award. Since the mid-1980s, he has successfully maintained a commercial photography studio while finding time to pursue his passion working on personal projects.
