On Saturday, June 16, Flux Projects will present its first project in the sky, Cloud by Brad Downey. The project will run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and be visible throughout Atlanta’s intown neighborhoods. Specific viewing locations will be released closer to the event.
Cloud will be presented in conjunction with June’s Westside Art Walk. This monthly event presented by the galleries of the Westside Arts District takes place the third Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Downey earned a fine art master’s degree in painting and sculpture from London’s Slade School of Art, where he studied under Bruce Mclean. He grew up in a military family that lived in towns and cities across the United States before setting in Atlanta. In 1998, he moved to New York to attend the Pratt Institute. Influenced by the energy of the city, Downey began to look for alternative ways of depicting the world around him. Ultimately, he decided to pursue a film degree.
His first film, “Public Discourse,” a documentary about street art, proved a pivotal point in his artistic career. The film has been screened at over 70 venues around the world including the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and the Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival. It includes work by street artists such as Swoon, Obey Giant, Revs, Nato, Desa, Ellen Harvey, Keith Haring, JJ Veronis, and Johnny Swing, and features music by Japanther. “Public Discourse” also compelled Downey to take an active role in front of the camera as a full-fledged graffiti artist. Downey continues to use film, sculpture, painting, and drawing in his practice. He is best known for his amusing interventions in the urban landscape.
“We thank Living Walls for bringing Brad Downey to speak in Atlanta and for introducing us,” commented Anne Dennington, executive director of Flux Projects. “This project is going to be something completely new for Downey and Flux Projects. We are excited to give an artist who has done so much the opportunity to explore a new realm, and we are looking forward to bringing Downey ‘home’ to work in Atlanta for the first time. He now lives in Berlin, and Cloud will be the first of his projects that his family will see in person.”