Pop Smart - What animal would you be?

A few years ago, over a bottle of Spanish wine, some friends and I played the “What would you be?” game. It was essentially a personality-revealing exercise that explored what we would be if we were a color (light pink), an article of clothing (a flowy skirt), or a food (strawberry pie). The game went on through the night to cover bars, songs and characters in literature, but the question that stumped us all was a simple one: What animal would you be?

If only New York artist Kate Javens could have answered for us. Javens’ exhibit of animals in the Named For... series shows breathtaking, beautifully painted animals that represent enlightened individuals. Poet Walt Whitman is a moth. Harvard law professor Derrick Bell is a bull. Boston abolitionist/journalist Benjamin Drew is a horse.

Luckily for any of us who missed her exhibit last time it was here (reviewed here by Felicia Feaster), Javens’ work is returning to Atlanta March 6. Her work will be on exhibit at the Marcia Wood Gallery and will include new pieces made especially for the gallery show, work from the Named For... series and work from American Beasts, which is currently on exhibit at the Blanden Art Museum in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The exhibit kicks off with an opening reception March 6 (6-9 p.m.) and the animals will be around until April 12.