Atlanta-based artist and documentarian Artemus Jenkins has lived in the city for 15 years. In that time, he has become an unflinching observer of its many merits and, perhaps, missteps.
These and other reflections inform his new solo exhibition, “They Should Have Never Gave You Niggas Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice,” at Hidden Gallery on view through the end of the month.
“The title itself — I know it’s got some triggering elements to it. But even, you know, the word to me is not really all that serious at this point,” Jenkins said about the title of his exhibition. “It’s been traveling for so long, and it means a number of different things to a number of different people. But words, you know, do just kind of become words at some point. And what you do with them is a part of exercise and artistic license.”
Inspired by the writings of W.E.B. Du Bois, the lyrics of Kendrick Lamar, and Jenkins’ own life, the exhibition explores Atlanta through collage, photography, text, paint, pastel and other media in an immersive tour of local life on the individual and collective scales.
“[The exhibit] is very much a critique rooted in similar thoughts that Mr. Du Bois had about Atlanta all over 100 years ago. Just really kind of looking at the fact that there’s a lot that we could be doing and a lot of potential in the South, in our communities,” he said.
