Arts & Entertainment

Piecing Together Art Below Piedmont Avenue

BeltLine Artist Ian Thompson installs a mixed-media sculpture under a Midtown bridge with help from one of its residents.

Ian Thompson hasn't had the easiest time under the Piedmont Avenue bridge, which sits near Ansley Mall and on the edge of .

His arms are covered with burns from an industrial hot glue gun, the main tool for his project. He spent hours towing a 12,000-pound lift along the rocky terrain of the Atlanta BeltLine. He's battled time and logistics. 

But the result is a mixed-media sculpture that "will automatically grab your eyes," said Roger Gist, a landscaper who lives under the Piedmont Avenue bridge. Gist has watched and assisted Thompson during his art installation for this year's "Art on the Atlanta BeltLine."

Find out what's happening in Midtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Thompson's piece is one of 66 projects commissioned for the public art program, which is in its second year along the 22-mile loop. 

"It's almost like pop art," Thompson said of his piece called "Fustian Circumlocution." The artwork transforms recycled cardboard boxes with paint and duct tape into an intriguing, geometric sculpture that creeps along the bridge like kudzu. 

Find out what's happening in Midtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's purposely supposed to confuse your perspective," said Thompson, a Poncey-Highland resident who works as a graphic designer for APA Color Graphics.

During last year's Art on the BeltLine, the 29-year-old helped install "Wickerpus" under the Freedom Parkway bridge with an artist collective called Dodekapus. This year, Thompson is working solo (except for the occasional help he has gleaned from Gist). 

"I think it corresponds a lot with the individual," Gist said of Thompson's sculpture. "He's unlike other people I've met. His art expresses that directly."

Thompson said the sculpture is inspired by the work of German artist Clemens Behr

"It's more non-representational," Thompson said. "There's a certain feeling I'm after ... amazed and creeped out."

Art on the BeltLine will be displayed or performed from September to November. The schedule soon will be released.

Check out these other two projects constructed in Midtown. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Midtown