Image: High Museum of Art, Atlanta
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta will host an after-hours program on August 22 that brings Tariku Shiferaw’s ‘Element (Kendrick Lamar)’ into a live conversation with music and process. Titled ‘On Art and Music: Element (Kendrick Lamar),’ the event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. in the museum’s Taylor Lobby and includes an exclusive viewing of select galleries, a discussion with creatives, a live beat breakdown by producer Tane Runo, an opportunity to meet the panelists, and access to a cash bar.
The program centers on Shiferaw’s abstract painting ‘Element (Kendrick Lamar),’ which is currently on view in the High’s galleries. The museum describes the work as directly inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s discography and notes that Shiferaw’s practice links abstract geometry with popular music culture. According to the event listing, Shiferaw and Runo will analyze the painting during a public conversation, followed by audience questions and a musical selection by Runo.
The High positions the program within its broader schedule of public conversations and evening events, which also includes regular Friday Jazz and other drop-in offerings. The museum’s events calendar shows that the August 22 program is ticketed, with member tickets priced at $20 and not-yet-member tickets at $30. Doors and the bar open at 6 p.m., the conversation begins at 6:15 p.m., the musical selection follows at 7 p.m., and the program concludes at 9 p.m.
Shiferaw, identified by the museum as Ethiopian, born 1983, and based in New York City, is described by the museum as an artist whose work explores “mark-making” and engages physical, social and political spaces. His exhibition history, as listed by the High, includes institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, the California African American Museum and the Modern Art Museum: Gebre Kristos Desta Center in Ethiopia. The painting included in the program is identified as an acrylic on canvas from 2020, a gift of Kent Kelley in the High’s collection. Shiferaw holds an MFA from Parsons School of Design and a BFA from the University of Southern California.
Runo brings a different but related creative perspective to the evening. The High identifies him as a music producer, songwriter and recording artist based in Los Angeles, with credits on tracks by Nicki Minaj, JID, Kacey Musgraves and others. The museum also notes that he most recently produced ‘dodger blue’ from Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy Award-winning album ‘GNX.’ The event listing says the program will feature a live beat breakdown, reinforcing the museum’s emphasis on the relationship between sound, structure and visual form.
Demetri Burke, the High’s Art Bridges Cultural and Civic Engagement Fellow, will moderate the conversation. The museum says Burke coordinates ‘Oasis,’ its monthly art and wellness program, along with other community-engaged initiatives. The evening is set in the Taylor Lobby at the High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, and is presented as an opportunity to view the painting in the galleries before hearing from the artist and producer behind the program.
