This summer, the High Museum of Art presents “Tyler Mitchell: Idyllic Space” (June 21-Dec. 1, 2024), a major exhibition featuring the trailblazing photographic artist and filmmaker’s seamless blend of fine art and fashion photography, along with new photo-sculptural artwork. Mitchell (American, born 1995) centers Black self-determination and empowerment in his practice with affirmative images of people who are often shown enjoying the freedom of leisure, play, and recreation.
“Idyllic Space” is a homecoming for the Atlanta native, who ascended to global prominence when he photographed Beyoncé for the September 2018 issue of Vogue —the first Black artist to shoot the cover in the magazine’s history. Organized by the High’s photography and modern and contemporary art departments, the exhibition was inspired by the museum’s recent acquisition of Mitchell’s photographic work on a mirror, “The Hewitt Family” (2021).
“Since achieving widespread recognition, Tyler Mitchell has continued to gain many deserved accolades for his beautiful and poignant photographs, which we are proud to present in his first exhibition in Atlanta,” said Rand Suffolk, the High’s director. “This collaboration among our curatorial staff is a testament to the connectivity in our collections and also exemplifies the museum’s commitment to celebrating artists from our region whose work is making an impact on a global scale.”
Mitchell reflected on the exhibition: “It’s a pure joy to present my work in collaboration with the brilliant curators Maria L. Kelly and Michael Rooks and at the High Museum of Art —the very museum I grew up going to as a child — whose exhibitions left a formative impact on me far before I recognized the possibility of becoming an artist. I am proud to present this work for the people and the city that shaped me.”
“Idyllic Space” includes more than 30 photographs considering Mitchell’s examination of themes such as masculinity, motherhood, domesticity, play, rest, and the natural world. The playfully theatrical, expressive works explore style, beauty, and identity; they delve into the profound themes of family and connection, capturing not just moments but the essence of relationships, and weaving a narrative of love, intimacy, and shared experiences. Many of the works are inspired by the landscapes, homes, and communities of suburban Atlanta in which Mitchell grew up. Also on view will be examples of his fashion work, including images he shot for Vogue, Louis Vuitton, and others.
A new photo-sculptural artwork created for the exhibition features more than 20 Atlanta-area families who are members of Jack and Jill of America. In his youth, Mitchell participated in the organization, which is dedicated to nurturing future African American leaders — an experience he now considers both foundational and a complicated aspect of his social upbringing and understanding of identity growing up in the American South.
Along with photographs, the exhibition presents a single-channel video installation, also titled “Idyllic Space” (2019), that invites the viewer to recline while viewing Mitchell’s lyrical images of young Black men enjoying seemingly mundane activities such as eating ice cream, swimming in pools and playing tag — a joyous representation that contrasts historically denied pleasures.