Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place has made its anticipated debut at Atlanta’s beloved High Museum of Art. The exhibit surveys the last 10 years of Burks’ dynamic practice, which combines globally sourced handcraft with industrial design.
Presenting more than 50 works drawn from several of his key projects alongside a multifaceted new commission, also titled “Shelter in Place.” This is the first major museum exhibition of Burks’ work in over a decade, and it demonstrates his holistic approach that unites art, architecture and design while synthesizing craft, community and industry.
Shelter in Place explores ideas concerning domesticity during a time of worldwide upheaval, tackling the question of how we can design interiors to enable joyful living while empowering creativity.
As an African American designer, Burks has forged a distinctive path by embracing the challenge to advocate for hand production as an innovative approach for industry, which is an important method he uses to interrogate the modernist trope of better living through design. In this way, his work reflects how designers have responded to recent global crises by redefining our relationship to our homes.
The exhibit is organized into various relevant themes, including Craft as Collaboration, Modernist Orthodoxies, Weaving as Metaphor, and Environmental Inclusion. Also on view is “Crafting Diversity,” a new collaboration with students at Berea College in Kentucky that highlights the inclusive and innovative nature of Burks’ design process, all while spotlighting an institution that has fostered a utopian, anti-racist culture.
Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place is on display at the High Museum of Art from September 16, 2022 with plenty of time to experience the beautiful exhibit, concluding in March 2023. For more information and to book your tickets to visit the High, click here.
However, you can experience the High Museum of Art for free due to their monthly free days. For more information on this, click here or the link below.