Artist Jay Miriam-White travels the country for his solo exhibition at the Wolfgang Gallery in Atlanta.
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What could be a greater sign of summer than a trip to America? Jay Miriam-White, who paints evocative figurative paintings in her studio in Brooklyn, told me she was about to go to her solo exhibition From the Mouth of Babies at the Wolfgang Gallery in Atlanta. d ask to come with a disposable camera. Let’s take a look…
Tim and I didn’t sleep until 1 am, and woke up at 4 am. We decided to make sandwiches like we did with our parents when we were kids.
By 5:57 our minibus was jam-packed and we were driving across the Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Manhattan. The sky was calm and gray.
Five hours after leaving Brooklyn, we stopped at a halt in Delaware. It already feels like we’ve been driving for endless hours, and according to the GPS, we have 700 miles to go.
The sun will be setting soon, and I don’t have much news from the road. We drive about nine o’clock and are halfway to Atlanta. I listen to the Radio Rental podcast. None of us here have good cell service, and we think we may have driven into an impassable part of a local road. This road has a local speed limit and occasional traffic lights.
At an unspecified time, we stayed at the Gretna Virginia Hotel. The following exchange of messages took place via text messages: Tim: Did you bring any soap?
Jay: No.
At 7:29pm we had fries for dinner.
The next day at 8:42 we decided to look into the free breakfast buffet. We both took black coffee and I tried the potatoes, but they were undercooked. I have seasonal allergies that seem to be getting worse.
We stopped at a gas station somewhere outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. The gas station had a typical snack front space, and walking down a long wood-paneled hallway, I found myself in this room with what looked like pizza tables from the 70s. It’s now around 11:50 and we have 322 miles to go.
We made it to South Carolina and stopped again for gas. We listen to the Radio Rental podcast and are almost in Atlanta.
I’m getting ready to open. The weather in Atlanta was really warm, much warmer than New York at the time. Tim took a photo of me at the hotel right before we left.
This is the entrance to the Wolfgang Gallery. The gallery is located on a quiet street. There was a wonderful energy in the area and the gallery has a wonderful charm and presence.
After the opening, Tim and Benjamin and Wolfgang’s team and I went for a late dinner at a restaurant called Barcelona. I had the arugula salad; there was sangria and amazing conversations, ranging from art to the existence of UFOs.
The following day, the Wolfgang Gallery hosted a talk with the Committee of the Georgia National Museum of Women in the Arts. I had the opportunity to speak about my work in front of an experienced and inspiring audience of women. After everyone left, Benjamin, gallery director Anna and I posed for a photo.
I went to the nearest gas station and grabbed some pretzels while I waited for the Uber.
It was our last night in Atlanta and we had to leave as early as possible the next day. We felt like seashells washed up on the shore, slowly hugging the night, merrily gathering.
On the road again, this time leaving Atlanta and returning to Brooklyn. We had about 861 miles left and I told Tim to stand in front of this wall because I liked the sign and the color palette. We took two coffees and continued on our way.
After about six hours of pretty bad traffic, we decided to stop at another rest stop. It’s always fun to visit rest stops across America. Each state has its own approach to decoration, and some look like complete stagnation of time.
We learned that such a long driving causes a severe headache. Tim did the whole trip on his own, and I remained a passenger. We both agreed that depth perception felt bad, objects near and far began to seem equally distant.
About two hours from Brooklyn, the rest stop had a large food court and mall feel. The colors were very earthy, lots of browns and greens. We stopped for a drink.
It was so nice to see the pure joy on Mars’ face when she saw us again. We ended our journey and left Atlanta feeling grateful, inspired and grateful for Wolfgang’s team and everything they did to make our trip a wonderful memory.
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