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Jackson Fine Art is excited to present a solo exhibition of Julie Blackmon’s distinctive domestic compositions, alongside newly uncovered works by 20th-century master Elliott Erwitt. Both artists have made their impact on the medium through finding narrative beauty in their everyday surroundings, wordlessly expressing both the comical and the poignant.
 
Contemporary American photographer Julie Blackmon draws inspiration from the raucous tavern scenes of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painters, creating photographs based around the people and places in her small community. Blackmon has compared her surroundings to a giant Hollywood prop closet, where a Starbucks employee out on a smoke break may appear in her next photograph, or the beauty shop she passes every day becomes the setting for a new piece. “It’s a fun perspective to have … to see the world around you as a potential story or idea. It changes how you see things. Nora Ephron said, ‘everything is copy,’ and that has really stayed with me. I live and work in a generic town, with a generic name, in the middle of America, in the middle of nowhere… but the stories unfolding around me are endless.”
 
Blackmon’s work serves as a mash-up of pop phenomena, consumer culture, and social satire. Taking its name from the 2022 photograph “Metaverse,” which depicts a hectic household scene unfolding around a toddler clad in a virtual reality headset, Jackson Fine Art’s exhibition follows Blackmon’s trajectory of incorporating the cultural signifiers of the present moment into touching domestic tableaus.
 
In the viewing room will be a selection of works from the new Elliott Erwitt monograph Found Not Lost (Gost, 2021). Drawing from seven decades of previously unprinted and unexhibited work, the ninety-four year-old photographer views once dismissed negatives — one uncovered box contained a scrawled warning in the artist’s hand “don’t bother – pix useless” — with fresh eyes, resulting in a collection of 171 new classics. Known for his sardonic humor and winking playfulness, at times this exhibition reveals a more contemplative, quiet Erwitt. As the artist explains, “there is a time for pictures that say hello, and there’s a time to listen.” 
 
On Friday, May 13th from 6 to 8pm, we’ll hold an opening reception at the gallery with Julie Blackmon in attendance. On Saturday May 14th at 11am, join JFA and Julie Blackmon for an artist talk and gallery walk.

Jackson Fine Art is located at 3115 East Shadowlawn Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30305. For more information about Jackson Fine Art and our artists, visit jacksonfineart.com