New group show promises to pop off

Cold Tony curated a seltzer-themed exhibition.

By Beca Grimm Thursday June 23, 2016 11:59 AM EDT

Although many have tried, no one can conclusively pinpoint the cause of seltzer’s recent surge in popularity in the States. Publixes across the city go from boasting actual La Croix 12-pack box forts only to show bare shelves an hour later. But you know what? That’s totally fine. Why do people holding phones ask others what time it is? Do fish get cramps after a large meal? Is ZAYN being iRoNic? We don’t always get to understand some of life’s most beautiful mysteries, seltzer’s newfound demand included.

“It’s a really weird phenomenon because it’s just water with bubbles, and it’s been around for a long time in Europe and other countries but here it’s like… I guess we’re all trying to get healthy and stuff,” visual artist Cold Tony says.

Instead of further questioning this bubbly boom, Cold Tony votes we celebrate it. In recognition of a fizzy favorite, he organized Saturday’s Effervescence: Sparkling Water Inspired Art show, including works from artists like Sara Santamaria, Mary Stuart Hall, SQuishiepuss, and more.

Tony, like most humans, wasn’t an immediate convert to that seltzer lifestyle. It took a few hard years of living to really learn proper bubbles beverage appreciation. “As a small child I became infatuated over the Mountain Blackberry Clearly Canadians my mother enjoyed yet was not willing to share,” he says. “In my mind they seemed to be a sophisticated forbidden fruit that I needed to mature into.”

On the other hand, Santamaria was an early adopter. “I was about 11 years old when I first lost my seltzer innocence,” she says. “I had been playing Run Forrest Run at the courtyard, and I was desperate for water when I opened the fridge. I put a bottle of fresh water in my mouth — like if I had just crossed the dessert — and drank half of it without breathing. It took a couple of seconds, then the natural flow of things turned upside down. The water in the back of my mouth transformed into foamy waves, and started cascading out of my nose while trying to hold my eyeballs, fearing that they would pop out, too. It wasn’t that fancy stinging sensation accompanied by funny goose bumps ... It was a quite dramatic tsunami. I got super into it.” Sounds it.

sQuishiepuss has a theory on the city’s adoration for the refreshing drink. “Well, we do live in Atlanta,” he says. “I’ve never had to boil a La Croix before.” Valid point, TBH.

Photo credit:

While curating the exhibit, Tony asked the artists to channel not only general seltzer vibes, but also made a note of the La Croix brand specifically. “When I sent an email to each individual artist I definitely was like ‘this is not the La Croix art show,’ but obviously that’s what you can take inspiration from,” he says. “My art already kind of has that kind of bright, pastel ’90s vibe to it, so I thought it just kinda fit with my aesthetic and people could kind of play off of that.”

The mediums included in the show vary just as greatly as folks’ seltzer-virginity-losing stories. “I’m casting porcelain bubbles reusing some molds that I had previously fabricated for another project,” Santamaria says (show contribution above). “The same process that I used in the past is having a very different outcome for this show, which is certainly stretching out the possibilities of the same material. I normally pay a lot of attention to the design and the aesthetics elements of my work towards the abstraction.”

Effervescent opening night will also have seltzer-heavy cocktails on hand, duh.

Effervescence: Sparkling Water Inspired Art. 6 p.m. Sat., June 25. 636 N. Highland Ave. N.E.