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?Hairball? regurgitates five years of folk-inspired, pop surrealist art at Alcove Gallery The Alcove Contemporary Arts Gallery will celebrate its fifth year anniversary on July 25 with ?Hairball,? a show of new works by some of the gallery?s favorite artists. The exhibition includes work by Bethany Marchman, Bryan Cunningham, Jerimiah Ketner, Julia Martin, Dan May, Sergio Mora, Sket One and Davey Wong. Gallery owner Chris Warner explained that the theme of the show not only pays tribute to the often whimsical, folk-inspired work featured at Alcove, it?s also a metaphor for reflection and processing thought. The theme, ?Hairball,? has so many different explanations,? Warner said. ?It can mean a form of regurgitation. As artists and viewers of art, we are all filters of a kind. And it's what we've all been doing in the gallery for the last five years. It's a happy regurg though. It?s a party.? Further embellishing on the ?Hairball? theme, Warner has booked Atlanta's most hirsute metal tribute band, Van Heineken, to play at the opening night party, which is planned as a black-light prom night bash. ?My first show ever was Van Halen?s Diver Down tour,? Warner said. ?So this is gonna brings back of lot of memories. I just hope that people don?t walk away with too bad of a hangover. The whole reason for the show is to walk away with some inspiration. ?I?m just blown away that we are still in business.? Warner said that he gave minimal direction to the artists, but he did approach those whose work would fit in naturally with the ?hairball? theme. ?I told them that anything that has to do with hair was welcome,? he said. ?Sergio Mora went into Wolfman mode. Davey Wong paints monkeys. Bethany Marchman?s work explores hair in a very interesting way. She?s right on it,? Warner said. ?The way I interpreted the theme is to go with what I've been doing lately,? Marchman said. ?I incorporate different imagery and symbols into the hair. I have been using a lot of birds as well. Birds have different meanings. If you look at witchy old wives? tales, you?ll see that owls are often associated with death. ? I like to draw upon female-centric superstitions.? Marchman said that Alcove has been at the forefront of Atlanta?s growing underground art scene. ?They have always been true to showing all kinds of different artists at different levels of their career, local, national international. Eclectic ?more avant-garde ? kind of pop surrealist ? It's the biggest grouping of this sort of thing that you'll see around here,? she said. While many galleries have come and gone during the last five years, Warner?s vision for his gallery has proved to be durable. He credits his success and the gallery?s longevity, in part, to the evolving tastes of Atlanta?s art collectors. ?When we first started out, people were definitely less interested in anything involving obscure thought,? Warner said. ?The Southern taste has matured. It's really been quite wonderful.? Though it might seem counter-intuitive, Warner suggests that economic uncertainty and times of peril are actually good for the art business. ?In times of crisis, we turn to vices,? he said. ?You always have to have one or two vices. I like art and I like music. I get the same buzz from a great piece of art as I do from a good beer or shot of whiskey. And you only have to buy it once. Art keeps on giving back.? The ?Hairball? party/art opening will begin at 7 p.m. on July 25. Alcove Contemporary Arts Gallery is located in Decatur at 2852 East College Avenue. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.alcovearts.com, or call the gallery at (404) 663-0159.
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