From the collection of

ARTISTS INCLUDED:

Lucinda Bunnen  |  Keith Calhoun  |  Rosalind Fox Solomon  |  Jill Frank  |  Carlos Gustavo  |  Betty Press  |  Jared Ragland  |  Mark Steinmetz

Growing up in the Deep South often feels like growing up in a different time or country. The unique landscape, history and ways of being stand apart from the monolith of mainstream culture. Viewed from the outside as backwards and lacking; stereotypes of southerness are inert, and fail to include the South’s true complexity, enduring charm, and diversity. The reality of the South is lived, active and chosen every day. There’s a colloquialism here that “pretty is as pretty does”, or in other words, pleasant behavior always outweighs pleasant looks.  

In this exhibition, featuring work from eight photographers collected by The Do Good Fund of Columbus, GA, each artist captures what we do—a farmer fashioning a scarecrow for his garden, parading dancers, or a brass band performing for a church service. These images convey the ways we live, with intricate layers of identity and belonging woven into the fabric of Southern life. These are decisive moments. Intimate portraits and landscapes alike embody the spirit of the South as lived and living.  

As Pretty Does celebrates ways of being, the familiar and unexpected alike. Through the lenses of these photographers, history and modernity intersect, and the ordinary becomes extraordinary.  While not always traditionally beautiful, the allure, honesty, and unpredictability found in these everyday moments resonates like jazz through humid Southern air.

This exhibition was curated by Micah Mermilliod for Alabama Contemporary in the fall of 2024 in partnership with The Do Good Fund, and is on view at the University of Alabama Gallery in Tuscaloosa. The Do Good Fund is a collection of contemporary, post World War II photographs capturing the rich culture in the Southeastern United States. Since 2012 this public based Georgia charity has collected works from Guggenheim Fellows and emerging regional artists alike, and stands as one of the most complete artistic views of modern Southern living.  

Generous funding for this exhibition and related programming is provided by: