Courting collectors

In a sampler of a show at the Lowe Gallery this summer, more than 25 artists represent the eclectic taste of gallerist Bill Lowe, now in the business for 11 years. Carrie McGee and Pam Longobardi, Suk Ja Kang-Engles and Todd Murphy are stand-outs in Lowe’s profile of Southeastern artists, while internationally known biggies like Ida Applebroog, Markus Lüpertz, Kathleen Morris and Donald Sultan give the gallery a global persona. At the same time, Lowe has noticed the bold strokes of emerging local artists Jennifer Cawley, Honnie Goode and Allison Shockley. All that art adds up to a successful enterprise and a gallery owner who feels good about what he’s achieved after a decade of showing art.

There’s something for everyone in Lowe’s current celebration. At first glance, it’s easy to see how a collector might be drawn to the whimsical rainbow-hued paintings of Andrew Saftel. Carrie McGee’s rusty cast resin “Strands” are more restrained and conceptual. She traps amber lozenges of rust, acrylic and Plexi in slender rectangles of linen canvas and assembles great resinous block quilts.

Large scale abstract, atmospheric paintings by South African born Robin Michalow (whose Atlanta debut was staged by Susan Bridges at the Hastings Seed Co. almost a year ago) appear in a gallery for the first time. A series of Kathleen Morris’ small monoprint portraits are exhibited salon style. Steven Seinberg punctuates a row of his beige collographs and monotypes with new work in charcoal on paper. Labored encaustic paintings by Dusty Griffith contradict Jim Sajovic’s airbrushed figure studies and the ragged urban collages of Chuck Lawson. David Labbett’s rough little people in bronze and steel counter the polished inlaid wood figures by Margarita Checa. Gabrielle Schnitzenbaumer chooses to imitate nature; her human-sized gray dolmens topped with stacked stones are entirely ceramic.

“This show describes the scope of what the gallery has been and continues to be involved in,” says Lowe. He cites how smudgy, wall-sized abstractions fresh from Sean Connaughty’s thesis show are juxtaposed with haunted, figurative paintings by Applebroog, who’s been exhibiting for 33 years. “What excites me most about what’s happened here,” says the gallerist, “is that when we opened 11 years ago, everyone thought Atlanta was not serious about art; they thought no one would buy the range of art that I showed.”

Lowe has proved otherwise, developing different tiers of collectors that allow him to explore diverse aesthetics in his exhibitions. “The level at which people here collect, the range of their passion and the degree of their commitment to collecting is phenomenal,” says the gallerist, who admits that his greatest challenge is to continue stimulating his collectors.

By displaying such a spectrum of artmaking, Lowe hopes to inspire young artists who get to show their work next to internationally acclaimed sculptors and painters. He also contends that he’s raised the bar on Atlanta’s visual education. He sees how artists and collectors as well as more casual viewers take note of the broad art exposure that he offers. “People have told me this gallery feels like a museum,” he recounted. For him, success goes with the fact that he simply loves art. “If you believe in it and it’s high quality, you can sell it.”

The exhibition continues through Aug. 26 at the Lowe Gallery, 75 Bennett St., A-2. Tues.-Fri. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat. noon- 5 p.m. 404-352-8114.