Marginalized voices amplified in Atlanta exhibits

Many of the exhibitions in Atlanta this fall are dedicated to telling stories of marginalized groups. Among the artists featured this season are acclaimed New York photographer Deana Lawson, who captures powerful slices of Black American life in living rooms and pastoral outdoor settings; emerging artist Jackson Markovic, who documents the denizens of Cheshire Bridge Road; and Madame Grès, a renowned French fashion designer, who paved the way for body con designers like Azzedine Alaia but died penniless.

“Recollections, Oscar Muñoz.”

Colombia’s most acclaimed contemporary artist, Muñoz often uses enigmatic, temporal elements to speak to ideas of death and life in a variety of media including film, video, photography, installation and sculpture. His work has also engaged with Colombia’s violent history including the bombs and killings that defined the war between the country’s drug cartels and the Colombian government in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Six works by Muñoz are on display in an exhibition co-organized with the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, which recently staged the first retrospective of the artist’s work. Aug. 27-Dec. 10, Bernard A. Zuckerman Museum of Art, 492 Prillaman Way, Kennesaw. 470-5783223, arts.kennesaw.edu/zuckerman “Tabitha Soren.” The former MTV VJ and national news correspondent presents images with a poetic and sometimes troubling air that often center on women and girls during both private moments and news-making public ones. Works from her “Running” series, like “Laura” of a vividly pregnant woman in flight flanked by an enormous cross, conveys something disturbing about the state of women in modern life. Soren, who has shown her work around the world, often uses her training as a journalist to research and study a topic as the underpinning for her eventual subject matter. Sept. 16-Dec. 23, Jackson Fine Art, 3115 E. Shadowlawn Ave., Atlanta. 404-2333739, www.jacksonfineart.com “Fellini and Fantasy.” Original shooting scripts and color drawings offer a window into the creative process of one of world cinema’s greatest talents, Federico Fellini, who brought unmatchable glamour, heartache and absurdity to the screen in an indelible array of film classics. In conjunction with the Michael C. Carlos exhibition, Emory Cinemateque will screen films by the revered Italian director, including “La Strada,” “La Dolce Vita,” “The Nights of Cabiria,” “Amarcord,” and “8½,” among others. Oct. 1-Jan. 8, Michael C. Carlos Museum, 571 S. Kilgo Circle, Atlanta. 404-727-4282, carlos. emory.edu

“Deana Lawson.” A photographer known for her intensely intimate, staged portraits of Black people in their homes, Deana Lawson’s work is, in the artist’s words, “about setting a different standard of values and saying that everyday Black lives, everyday experiences, are beautiful and powerful and intelligent.” Lawson finds many of her subjects riding the subway or on the streets of New York. She chooses their outfits and poses them in a way to make the viewer feel like they are witnessing a secret, private moment as potent as a family photo. The exhibition at the High covers Lawson’s work over the past two decades and is co-organized by two notable national institutions known for contemporary art, ICA/Boston and MoMA PS1. Oct. 7-Feb. 19, High Museum of Art, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 404733-4400, high.org

“Jackson Markovic: Is It All Over My Face?” The artist-run Day & Night Projects in Atlanta’s booming Adair Park neighborhood (grab a pizza at Slim & Husky after taking in the show) spotlights a roster of up-and-coming Atlanta artists in shows this fall including Antonio Darden, Jaime Bull and Markovic, whose portraits chronicle the denizens of Cheshire Bridge Road including transgender women and unhoused people, illustrating the many contradictions that define an area in flux. Oct. 13-Nov. 5, Day & Night Projects, 585 Wells St. SW, Atlanta. 404-623-7289, www.daynightprojects.art

“Madame Grès: The Art of Draping.” Channeling the togas of antiquity, French designer Germaine Emilie Krebs defined her five-decade long career creating “goddess” gowns in silk jersey and paper taffeta. Founded on an admiration for the female form, Grès created clothes worn by paragons of femininity like Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo and Jacqueline Kennedy. Called “the Sphinx of Fashion” for her secretive personal life, the influential 20th century designer was called a sculptor of fabric for her elaborate and innovative draping of material. Nov. 10-June 30, SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film, 1600 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, 404-2533132, www.scadfash.org

COURTESY OF HIGH MUSEUM OF ART Detail from “Coulson Family” (2008) by acclaimed photographer Deana Lawson, whose work will be featured in a solo exhibition at the High Museum of Art from Oct. 7-Feb. 19.