‘Preternatural’ features works by Dana Montlack, Pam Longobardi, and Noah Reyes at Spruill Gallery. (Photos by Kevin Storer)
At first glance, the programming at Spruill Gallery suggests a natural pairing. The main exhibition, Preternatural, brings together two established Atlanta artists connected to Georgia State University — Regents’ Professor Pam Longobardi and instructor Dana Montlack — to address humanity’s relationship with the natural world. This exhibition runs concurrently with Under Construction, a solo installation by emerging artist Noah Reyes that investigates our relationship with the built environment.
One show looks at the natural world; the other considers the constructed. Yet the most compelling conversation in the gallery is not one of harmony but of a welcome and necessary friction — a juxtaposition between refined aesthetics and raw material honesty that elevates the entire experience from pleasant to profound.
To their credit, Longobardi and Montlack sidestep the more literal clichés of environmentally focused art in Preternatural. There is no dirt on the floor, mud on the walls or flora in the space. Instead, the artists approach the subject with a scientific precision and a highly refined aesthetic.
This is most evident in their confident use of framing and display as an integral part of their work. Longobardi’s devalued currency collages are presented with ample white space, a choice that smartly activates the shimmering copper backing to add a dynamic energy to the works on paper. Similarly, Montlack surrounds her smaller printed images with large, rusted metal frames, creating a powerful material contrast.
On one hand, this is a feat. The refined presentation successfully neutralizes Spruill’s distinctive Victorian architecture, creating a clean, almost commercial feel. On the other, this very polish is what creates the risk of sterility. Without a counterpoint, the cumulative effect could be an atmosphere that, for all its successes, potentially feels flat.
Intertidal #6 by Dana Montlack.
Intertidal #7 by Dana Montlack.
Island of Refuge (Green Lake Yellow Flowers) by Pam Longobardi.
Threshold VII (Wildfire) by Pam Longobardi.
A step into the adjacent gallery space, however, changes everything. Here, Noah Reyes’ Under Construction immediately grounds the viewer in a world of raw, material honesty. The air is different; you can smell the sawdust. Reyes, drawing from a background in construction, has built a faux wall from raw two-by-fours and uses its cut-out windows to cleverly frame and draw the eye toward a series of wood panel works hung on the gallery walls. These panels are the undeniable stars of the entire visit.
Reyes leaves the plywood visible, its industrial text and markings fully exposed. At most, the surfaces are treated with simple white gesso or framed by more of their own raw material. To present these humble forms with the gravitas of formal paintings is an act of radical confidence and brave subtraction. In a gallery context, where artists often strive to transform their materials, Reyes has the wisdom to simply present the material as it is, arguing that the humble sheet of plywood — the foundational element of the built world — is an object worthy of contemplation in its own right.
Under Construction, solo exhibition by Noah Reyes.
These works evidence genuine expertise — not just as an artist but as a builder who understands the inherent dignity of their materials. This type of deep domain expertise manifested as art is uniquely exciting because it cannot be faked. The authenticity and thoughtfulness of these details are evidence that Reyes contributes a truly unique voice to Atlanta’s arts community.
It is in the stark contrast between these two exhibitions that the true success of the visit lies, and that success is largely a curatorial one. The decision by Spruill Gallery Director Shannon Morris to deviate from the gallery’s typical two-artist format and program Reyes’ installation alongside the refined works of Preternatural was an act of insightful matchmaking.
One senses that Morris recognized that the main exhibition, for all its technical skill and aesthetic beauty, could feel one-note or overly refined. Reyes’ work provides the necessary antidote — the sawdust on the floor; the globby, unpretentious application of gesso; the visible butt joints. It provides the dirt that is notably and correctly absent from the other conversation about nature. By doing so, it doesn’t just succeed on its own terms — it makes the entire experience richer, transforming what might have been a quiet, pleasant exhibition into a dynamic, memorable and deeply thought-provoking one.
Preternatural, featuring works by Pam Longobardi and Dana Montlack, and Under Construction, an installation by Noah Reyes, will remain on view at Spruill Gallery through October 30.
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Dr. Kevin M. Storer is a multidisciplinary computing researcher living, working and collecting art in Atlanta. His approach to art criticism and collecting prioritizes the discursive power of artistic practice over purely aesthetic qualities. This perspective is informed by his internationally-awarded scholarship on the complex relationships between people and the objects we create — especially as they shape our identities and social realities. Kevin earned his Ph.D. in informatics from the University of California, Irvine.
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