The 43rd Atlanta Jazz Festival, regarded as one of the country’s largest free jazz festivals, is back after a year-long hiatus following the pandemic. The Festival, which has a new date for 2021 over Labor Day Weekend, has announced the art piece “Theories of the Lowest End” by local Atlanta photographer and conceptual artist Michael Reese as the official artwork of this year’s Festival. The conceptual art piece, which is a 35mm Color Film with Digital Painting Overlay, features a lone jazz artist playing his stand-up double bass looking out from the stage onto the audience draped in a purple, pink and blue dusk sky.
Michael Reese’s work often reflects themes surrounding the human condition from the perspective of his African American identity and family history. His work is usually exhibited in galleries throughout Atlanta, such as The High Museum, and in prominent spaces like the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Reese’s “Theories of the Lowest End” will be featured on posters, notecards and blankets for this year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival. The artwork is currently being featured on a 50 x 60-inch throw blanket perfect for watching jazz performers from the lawns at Piedmont Park, available at shop.atlantafestivals.com, the Festival’s first online merchandise store.
“Jazz in my opinion is one of the purest desires of the human spirit and its need to be free. It is improvisational and born out of the tragedies and triumphs of the historical African American experience. As an artist my goal is to translate the spirit of the music into a two-dimensional space. When a musician is in “flow state” time does not exist, the audience itself quite often does not exist either. It is a moment in time when the musician becomes one with his or her instrument; transcending all, the essential thing in that moment is the music itself; nothing else,” said artist Reese.
In addition to the throw blanket featuring Reese’s artwork, official Festival merchandise is now available via the online store where Atlanta Jazz Festival fans can purchase hats, T-shirts, tote bags and aprons with the Atlanta Jazz Festival logo. Merchandise will also be available for purchase in person on festival grounds at Piedmont Park Sunday, September 5, and Monday, September 6.
For more information about artist Michael Reese, please visit www.michaelreesestudios.com. To view the official artwork, click here. To purchase official Atlanta Jazz Festival merchandise, please visit the official online store at shop.atlantafestivals.com.
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