Arts & Entertainment
Radcliffe Bailey Closes Sunday at High
Mays High School graduate and internationally-celebrated artist wraps up his first main exhibition at the museum on Sunday.
It is not uncommon for Atlanta-based artist Radcliffe Bailey to have his work displayed in some of the nation's major museums and galleries. His pieces are a favorite of art collectors.
But having his work displayed in one of the major galleries of the High Museum of Art in his hometown, a place where he visited many times as a student while at Benjamin Mays High and as an art student at the Atlanta College of Art, Bailey lets on with a grin that this is a big deal.
“Yes, it's exciting,” Bailey, a graduate of Mays High School in Cascade Heights, said during an interview at the High.
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The announcement of the exhibition is being prominently displayed on the front of the museum which faces Peachtree Street and there are also street banners on Cascade Road, in his community.
"That's what seemed weird to me," Bailey said. "I'm driving down Cascade and look up and there I am."
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Titled “Memory as Medicine,” Bailey said the exhibitions is not a retrospective of his work.
"This is not my last show. I still have a lot in me and a lot of places that I want to explore in terms of my work," Bailey said.
The exhibition has 25 pieces including some owned by collectors, new work and some never displayed before.
“Memory as Medicine” is presented in three themes “Water,” “Blues,” and “Blood.” “People go to the medicine cabinet when they are feeling sick, said Bailey, 42. “I go to my memory which heals me.”
His work displays many memories of his childhood, past experiences and family members.
There is also a tribute to baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron who had huge impression on Bailey as a young baseball player.
During the run of the exhibition the High is presenting a series of films which will complement the theme of the exhibition. The exhibition will go on tour after its run at the High.