In Dialogue: Artist, Mentor, Friend: Ronald Lockett and Thornton Dial Sr.

During their lifetimes, Thornton Dial Sr. (1928 – 2016) and Ronald Lockett (1965 – 1998) were artistic contemporaries who produced rich bodies of work that transformed discarded materials into objects of wonder and complexity. Their deep friendship was forged through both bonds of family, friendship and visual expression. This comparison of works by them from the permanent collection places the two artists in conversation with one another, highlighting their creativity and their mutual exchange of knowledge and experience.

“In Dialogue” is a series of installations in which the Georgia Museum of Art’s curators create focused, innovative conversations around a single work of art from the permanent collection. The series brings these familiar works to life by placing them in dialogue with works of art by influential peers, related sketches and studies or even objects from later periods.