High Museum centennial plans: Basquiat, two photo exhibits, sculpture

The exhibition takes those paintings as a starting point to argue for a broader view of the artist than the familiar image of the young New York graffiti star, emphasizing his interest in art history, identity, authorship and the circulation of images. The show also places his work in conversation with artists including Robert Rauschenberg and pioneering Black printmaker Bob Blackburn.

The Basquiat exhibition is just one part of a centennial schedule that ranges from contemporary sculpture and photography to children’s books and the behind-the-scenes work of art conservation.

Credit: © The Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy of Pace Gallery.

Credit: © The Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy of Pace Gallery.

The centennial exhibits launched in late August with “I SPY! Walter Wick’s Hidden Wonders” (continuing through Jan. 3, 2027), the largest survey to date of the photographer and creator of the “I SPY!” children’s books. The exhibition explores Wick’s fascination with miniature worlds, optical illusions, puzzles and science through photographs, models and rarely seen works.

Credit: ©Martin Puryear, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery

Credit: ©Martin Puryear, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery

The touring exhibition “Martin Puryear: Nexus” (Sept. 25-Jan. 17, 2027) makes its only Southeastern stop at the High with more than 70 works by the acclaimed sculptor. The show spans Puryear’s career, from drawings made during his Peace Corps service in Sierra Leone to sculpture associated with his 2019 U.S. Pavilion exhibition at the Venice Biennale.

In October, “Photography as a Way of Life: Minor White, Aaron Siskind and Harry Callahan” (Oct. 9-Feb. 7, 2027) brings together work by the three influential photographers who helped redefine the medium in the 1950s and ’60s. Callahan spent the last 16 years of his life in Atlanta, where he became a vital figure in the city’s cultural landscape and captured its evolving character, most notably through his celebrated “Peachtree Street” series. The High Museum holds numerous photographs from his Atlanta years and presented his work in major exhibitions in 1997 and 1999.

The spring schedule also includes “Doris Derby: A Civil Rights Journey” (March 19, 2027-Aug. 1, 2027), organized by the High. Derby, who died in 2022, moved to Mississippi in 1963 and spent nearly a decade working within the Civil Rights Movement as a photographer, activist and organizer. Unlike the dramatic images of marches and police confrontations that came to define the era’s visual record, Derby photographed the quieter, grassroots work of the movement, including literacy programs, health initiatives, cooperatives and craft and quilting groups. The exhibition will include more than 75 photographs.

“Future Work: Preserving the Legacy of Art” (Feb. 12, 2027-June 6, 2027) will offer a look at another side of museum work, examining how conservators and collections staff study and care for artworks. Among the works featured will be a Mary Cassatt pastel and a work by Italian Baroque painter Guercino.

Credit: © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.

Credit: © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.

The centennial marks a century since the Atlanta Art Association, founded in 1905, received its first permanent home, a Peachtree Street mansion donated by Harriet “Hattie” High in 1926. A purpose-built museum followed in 1955, and the High became part of the Woodruff Arts Center when it opened in 1968. The High moved into its Richard Meier-designed building in 1983, with a Renzo Piano-designed expansion completed in 2005. Its collection now numbers more than 20,000 works.

In conjunction with its centennial, the High will debut reinstallations of its American and African art collection galleries in the fall. These exhibits will be organized by thematic and material connections as opposed to chronological or linear presentations. The reinstallations in the American galleries will also mark the debut of acquisitions including paintings by Jacob Lawrence and Grandma Moses and a quilt by Carolyn L. Mazloomi. In addition to American and African art, the museum will introduce more than 200 “centennial acquisitions” across photography, contemporary design and contemporary art.

Among other ways of marking the centennial, the High will produce a book featuring 100 large-scale reproductions of landmark artworks in the museum’s collection with accompanying texts and a photo-enhanced timeline of the institution’s history.

Several exhibitions currently on view will extend into the centennial year, including “Amy Sherald: American Sublime” (through Sept. 27); “Paper Trees” (through Feb. 21, 2027); and “Los Porfiados (The Stubborns)” (through Nov. 29). “New Acquisitions: Photography,” featuring recent additions to the High’s collection, remains on view through Sept. 6.

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Andrew Alexander is an Atlanta-based writer, editor and arts journalist. A longtime contributor and former ArtsATL senior editor, his work appears regularly in metro, regional and national publications, covering theater, visual art, music, film, dance, literature and the artists and institutions shaping Atlanta’s cultural landscape.

Credit: ArtsATL

Credit: ArtsATL

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