With warm, spring weather finally gracing Atlanta with its presence, I took a mid-week trip to the Old Fourth Ward and checked out Atlanta-based artist Greg Mike’s solo art exhibition, Heavy Mental, at ABV.

I originally stopped by on its opening night, but the scene was a madhouse, so I didn’t get a good look at the collection. But with only the agency team working upstairs, I had plenty of space to move around and check out all of Greg’s artwork.

As you can see, he prominently features a set of cartoon-like characters in his work.  His most recognizable character, the chipped-toothed Larry Loudmouf, is showcased on its own large piece.

I love how he melds the characters together in the large works and then gives them all some breathing room on the smaller canvases.  For me, the combination of vivid colors, intertwined characters and how they are presented are reminiscent of a fast-moving, stream of consciousness-type dream.

In those types of dreams, the environments, people, situations and activities all tend to morph and mutate independently, yet still progress collectively over the course of these late-night, subconscious visions.  These are the types of dreams that you awake from knowing that a whole lot just happened, but you only clearly remember bits and pieces – and those bits and pieces don’t necessarily make any sense. 

Yo son, I had crazy visions. – GFK

So now that you’ve gotten an eyeful of how my mind works, go check out Greg Mike’s show at ABV on Auburn Ave in the Old Fourth Ward. Enjoy.