Art don Karen Lowe shares three Atlanta artists to watch

As director of Atlanta’s Chastain Arts Center, Karen Lowe spends a good chunk of time surveying the city’s (and the nation’s) artistic landscape to find the next-generation of talent bound to blow up and make waves. So, it only made sense that — as we started compiling a piece about visual artists to watch in the A — we hit up Lowe. A native of the metro area who rubs elbows with visionaries like Radcliffe Bailey and Fahamu Pecou (among many others), she offered Slo*Mo her take on three creatives that folks need to take notice of (before their stuff gets too damn pricey).

Yanique Norman: “With her work, Yanique presents a surrealistic perspective of black femininity — i.e., the feminine power of African-American women — and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. She came out of the gate self-taught, so she has a natural talent. Through her education at Georgia State, however, her style is evolving. But because of her knowledge of self and the history of our people, she’s able to put all of that into the work with a unique point of view.” More info: www.sandlerhudson.com/ yanique-norman.

Matt Haffner: “Looking at Matt’s work is almost like looking at storyboards. It’s a contemporary twist on realism. The way he presents the work, you definitely know what you’re looking at — but his pieces tell a story that relates to him and his own personal experiences. There’s a cinematic quality to his work, and I love the minimal approach.” More info: www.matthaffner.com.

Aubrey Longley-Cooke: “Aubrey brings knitting into a contemporary realm. He creates imagery through this traditional craft of knitting. He creates a series of images, and then he animates them. Case in point: He made a series of needlepoint creations of his dog and then, in a video, he made it appear like the dog was running. Honestly, it’s the best thing ever! He’s taken something that some people see as archaic and boring and made it exciting.” More info: www.spoolspectrum.blogspot.com.