By Leia Genis

Copyright observer

There’s nothing quite like late September in the art world. After a generally quiet August full of preparations and vacations, the floodgates open and we are inundated with fairs, blockbuster exhibitions, galas and more. This trend is true the world over, and Atlanta is no exception. From the High Museum’s Driskell Gala, which took place last week, to the Atlanta Design Festival and the opening of Guggenheim fellow Jiha Moon’s solo exhibition at Atlanta Contemporary, there’s too much to see. Amid it all, generating the most buzz of any event around town, is the Atlanta Art Fair.

Produced by AMP Productions and directed by Kelly Freeman, the fair’s sophomore edition at Pullman Yards brings 70 galleries from around the globe to Atlanta for four days through September 28. While the first edition was dominated by painting and drawing, this year brings a greater diversity of mediums, with a noticeable increase in textiles, photography and lenticulars.

In continuance with the first edition, signature offerings go beyond booths to include bespoke art installations and panel discussions. Among them, Jackson Markovic’s series of lightboxes, Baroque Sunburst (2025), presented by Atlanta-based gallery Hawkins Headquarters, stood out. Each lightbox, measuring four feet by six feet, is a long-exposure photograph documenting neon and LED club lights in motion. The resulting streaks of color and text abstract the original into a bleary mix of brightness and darkness—a sensation many familiar with such clubs will recognize. Notably, these lightboxes are spread not only throughout the fair but also across the city. Acting as satellite programming, they can be spotted on façades of buildings like the Atlanta Center of Photography. (As you explore, keep your eyes open; you may glimpse other flickers of the fair’s programming beyond its grounds.)

In addition to installations, the fair has organized a robust slate of panel discussions. Happening every other hour during open hours, one could spend the entire day in the fair theater listening to conversations. A standout is the “Hollywood of the South” discussion on Friday afternoon. Atlanta is now a hub for film and television production, with entities like Tyler Perry Studios and Turner Broadcasting calling the city home, and building this industry stronghold required infrastructure and legislative development. Moderated by Okla Jones, entertainment editor at Essence, the conversation brings together leading voices shaping the industry, including Hollywood producers, film festival directors and special guests from across film, music and talent management. But of course, the main attraction of any fair is the booths. Here are our five favorites from the Atlanta Art Fair:

D29 | Eckert Fine Art presenting Bin Feng, Eric Forstmann, Michael Kalish and Jeanne Moutoussamy Ashe

Based in Washington Depot, CT, Eckert Fine Art presents a group of two-dimensional artists working across painting and drawing. Of particular note are paintings by Bin Feng. While most prominently known for his photography, the Chinese artist here presents a suite of works in ink and watercolor. With a reduced palette of pale reds, oranges, greens and blues, he creates slice-of-life compositions with a coy edge. Take Advertising Board (2021-2022). Against a solid white ground stands a male figure—potentially the artist himself—sporting a checkered suit with arms raised. Leaning against him is a small ladder, with an even smaller version of the suited figure ascending it. Considering the title, this piece reads as an ironic take on how artists must be both creators and advertisers in today’s cult of personality. Feng’s restrained humor left me laughing—a rare and welcome reaction in front of art.

E03 | Luca Fine Art presenting Peter Demetz, Alea Pinar Du Pre, Marco Grassi, Yigal Ozeri and Juan Miguel Palacios

Based in Atlanta, GA and only recently opened, Luca Fine Art presents a group booth of its represented artists. While some works felt lackluster—the gold leaf, glitchy portrait by Marco Grassi struck me as hokey—there are true gems, particularly an artwork by Alea Pinar Du Pre. Represented here with Venus Cupid (2025), a 67 x 51-inch painting, Du Pre reimagines a Renaissance-style nude composition choreographed into a dance-like arrangement. The scene, however, is split into cyan, yellow, magenta and black rows, as if misprinted by a faulty machine. This disruption reads as a nihilistic take on commercialization in the contemporary world. Even the treasures of the past, Du Pre suggests, are not sacred in a globalized capitalist system. The painting was a harrowing reminder of the fair’s own commercial realities.

G09 | ZieherSmith presenting Caroline Allison

Based in Nashville, TN, ZieherSmith presents a solo booth by Caroline Allison. Despite working across cyanotype, digital photography and sculpture, she returns consistently to the natural world. Two artworks from her “Book of Hours” series are presented, depicting blue skies and puffy clouds. Printed on a firm substrate, the photographs are molded like thermoplastic sheets, producing waves and creases, almost as if crumpled by hand. The resulting wall reliefs remain recognizably cloudscapes but appear bubbled from the surface. Their effortless manipulations echo the ways humanity is literally reshaping nature. While the earth retains beauty, Allison’s distortions are troubling reminders of climate change.

F19 | Bertrand Productions presenting Bethany Carlson Coffin, Mike Rae and Stacey Lee Webber

Based in Philadelphia, PA, Bertrand Productions presents three artists across sculpture, embroidery and painting. Stacey Lee Webber’s embroidery works stand out. Using uncut sheets of real U.S. currency obtained from the U.S. Mint, she creates needlework on bills as her substrate. Her “Obsolete Bills” series—two examples shown here—features vintage state banknotes from 1782 to 1866. In one, a one-dollar bill with George Washington’s portrait is stitched amid campfire flames, a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a bandana around his neck. Defiantly punk, these pieces critique the federal government’s allegiance to cis-het white men at the expense of others. Through stitching, Webber dismantles patriarchal history and re-centers women’s crafts.

G01 | Martinez Art Gallery presenting Lucy Cookson

Based in Sag Harbor, NY, Martinez Art Gallery debuts at the fair with a solo booth by Lucy Cookson. Presenting watercolors that merge the human figure with the natural world, she delivers an exuberant mastery of the medium. In The Sweetest Sound I’ve Ever Heard (2025), a naturescape of flowers, insects and greenery fills the frame, painted without depth of field so that forms merge into one another. The composition, reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism, bursts beyond the frame. Boisterous but controlled, Cookson communicates the abundance of the natural world while showcasing her command of watercolor. Beauty, she suggests, is often right in front of us.

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