Good news for the Atlanta art scene: prominent art dealer Marcia Wood is opening a second location on Monroe Drive, in the space recently occupied by Get This Gallery, which closed last year. The building is owned by Nancy Solomon, who had her namesake gallery there from 1994 to 2011. Wood says that the Midtown location will become her anchor gallery, open Tuesday through Saturday, and the existing location in Castleberry Hill will become more experimental and available for independent projects vetted by her.
Describing the characteristics of each location, Wood cited the edgy, creative neighborhood of Castleberry Hill as an appropriate setting for “projects that a commercial gallery usually cannot afford to accommodate.” Though Wood has no trouble drawing collectors and art lovers to Castleberry, the Midtown location—at a bustling intersection and steps from the BeltLine—will certainly be more central and accessible.
“It’s also inspiring to me that while Midtown and Castleberry Hill are physically very near each other, each neighborhood has its distinct personality. This is one of the most stimulating things about living here. I like the idea of two locations creating the opportunity for interchange.”
On February 20, a show of paintings and drawings by Brian Novatny opens at the Castleberry gallery and will remain on view through March 21. It is the New York artist’s third show with Wood and his first in Atlanta since 2006.
First up at the Midtown space, opening March 26, are two solo exhibitions. The New York-based Kate Javens, who has shown with Wood since 2005, will show a new series of her animal paintings inspired by Charles Wilson Peale. Atlanta artist Christian Bradley West, whose work has been exhibited at the museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Swan Coach House Gallery, Eyedrum, and other venues, will have his first show with Wood, of photo-based paintings. Both are on view through April 18.
Wood says she’s optimistic that the “slow but hopeful return of the economy” will make Atlanta appealing for galleries again. “I know of several new galleries that are actively considering coming here,” she says. She credits the nonprofit “organizations and spaces like Flux Projects, WonderRoot, the Goat Farm, and GloATL for keeping the city’s cultural flame burning.”