ArtsCriticATL.com

Temporary public art has gone viral. The latest pop-up is “Elevate/Art Above Underground,” a project sponsored by Underground Atlanta and the Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs Public Art Program.

The Museum of Design Atlanta opened its splendid new digs in March, and it has moved as fast as one of those red Ducatis in its inaugural Italian motorcycle exhibition to become a community center for design.

No matter whether Daniel Minter makes paintings, sculptures, prints or illustrations for children’s books, he is at heart a storyteller. As his solo exhibition at Hammonds House Museum attests, the Maine-based Georgia native makes use of legend, history and an observant eye in his chronicles of the African-American experience.

If you find yourself approaching the intersection of Freedom Parkway and Moreland Avenue, you will spy a structure on a grassy knoll. From a distance, it conjures up strange associations. A Constructivist tepee. The remains of the space shuttle’s scaffolding. A crazy-ass jungle gym.

When a curator takes a new museum post, his eye and hand are not immediately visible. After all, museums schedule exhibitions years in advance, and it takes time to get to know the permanent collection and the community. The High Museum of Art’s new photography curator, however, is off to a running start. Before Brett [...]

“The Important Thing About a Chair” and “Things,” at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center through June 19, are shows focused on artists as makers of objects. It’s a simplistic notion: Artists make things. But it’s a profound idea, too: Out of nothing comes the special alchemy of creation and an object to ponder and discuss. [...]