08.09.24 // AS PRETTY DOES OPENS AT ALABAMA CONTEMPORARY


Phenix City, Russell County, Alabama — Michael, from What Has Been Will Be Again.

Seven pictures from What Has Been Will Be Again, each part of The Do Good Fund collection, are on view in As Pretty Does at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center in Mobile, Ala., Aug. 9-Oct. 19, 2024.  Curated by Micah Mermilliod, the exhibition also features works by Lucinda Bunnen, Keith Calhoun, Rosalind Fox Solomon, Jill Frank, Carlos Gustavo, Betty Press, and Mark Steinmetz.

From the press release:
Growing up in the Deep South often feels like growing up in a different time or country. The unique landscape, history and ways of being stand apart from the monolith of mainstream culture. Viewed from the outside as backwards and lacking; stereotypes of southerness are inert, and fail to include the South’s true complexity, enduring charm, and diversity. The reality of the South is lived, active and chosen every day. There’s a colloquialism here that “pretty is as pretty does,” or in other words, pleasant behavior always outweighs pleasant looks. 

In this exhibition, featuring work from eight photographers collected by The Do Good Fund of Columbus, GA, each artist captures what we do—a farmer fashioning a scarecrow for his garden, parading dancers, or a brass band performing for a church service. These images convey the ways we live, with intricate layers of identity and belonging woven into the fabric of Southern life. These are decisive moments. Intimate portraits and landscapes alike embody the spirit of the South as lived and living. 

As Pretty Does celebrates ways of being, the familiar and unexpected alike. Through the lenses of these photographers, history and modernity intersect, and the ordinary becomes extraordinary.  While not always traditionally beautiful, the allure, honesty, and unpredictability found in these everyday moments resonates like jazz through humid Southern air.

Curated by Micah Mermilliod in partnership with The Do Good Fund. The Do Good Fund is a collection of contemporary, post World War II photographs capturing the rich culture in the Southeastern United States. Since 2012 this public based Georgia charity has collected works from Guggenheim Fellows and emerging regional artists alike, and stands as one of the most complete artistic views of modern Southern living.  

For more info, visit the ACAC website.

......................................