Women Abstract Expressionists

CL Critic Okla Jones Recommends: The summer exhibition at rek features a talented group of women who manifest their artistic vision through abstract expressionism. This collection was also constructed to showcase the pioneers in Southern art who have been overlooked throughout the years. The artists included are Kathy Costley Broyles, Daisy-Anne Dickson, Niyati Jiwani, Shardaya Jones, Amber McCants, Alisha Morgan, Kimberly Ort, Victoria Phillips, Jill Pope, Carol Santos, Shanon Schneider, Marianne van der Haar and Patricia Young, and its second “First Friday” celebration takes place on Aug. 5. — OJ

CL Critic Kevin C. Madigan Recommends: Open less than a year, this smallish art gallery on a nondescript bit of Lawrenceville Highway is easy to miss. But step inside and there is much to admire. The rek (lowercase for some reason) focuses on eclectic southern art “with a tilt toward the eclectic, quirky, edgy and unconventional,” its owners say. “Paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, ceramics and fabrics inspired by street art, graffiti, tattoo art, pop art, low brow, abstract and outsider art are regularly featured.”The gallery just concluded a comprehensive exhibition of famed political cartoonist Mike Luckovich’s work which was sanctioned and attended by the man himself. It’s now showcasing a number of contemporary abstract expressionists of the female persuasion; work by Daisy-Anne Dickson, Niyati Jiwani, Shardaya Jones, Amber McCants, Alisha Morgan, Kimberly Ort, Victoria Phillips, Jill Pope, Carol Santos, Shanon Schneider, Marianne van der Haar, Patricia Young and Kathy Costley Broyles is on display. Broyles is part of the Urban Art Collective, a large studio space in Chamblee that houses dozens of artists, galleries and workshops. “I will be showing two pieces at rek,” Broyles told Creative Loafing. One she calls Joy Rhythm is an abstract of “dancing hues,” she said. “The colors are kinetic - skipping and twirling - and soothing at the same time, moving in tune to the wind like leaves falling from trees. It just makes me happy to look at it.” — KCM