SOVEREIGN – THE COLLECTION


An equine sculpture by Deborah Butterfield

Internationally acclaimed Atlanta artist Todd Murphy curated Sovereign’s staple art collections, selecting more than 50 sculptures, photographs and mixed-media works for the public spaces. As a result, Murphy also helped bolster Sovereign’s burgeoning legacy as “the intersection of art, architecture and life”—a message that’s already begun to resonate.

The artist touts Buckhead’s current architectural enterprises—with Sovereign leading the way—as the makings of a new visual history; the very landmarks that Atlantans will look to in 200 years as “the best examples of our talent and vision.” That art was selected for just as significant a dialogue—one that rings proudest in the residential lobby and promenade with dynamic sculptures by equine artist Deborah Butterfield and homegrown Athens rocker Michael Stipe, who’s just beginning to make major headway as a visual artist with his first string of Soho shows. A light sculpture by Gregory Ryan, emulating the organic form of a tree root, casts a continually changing light on the lobby’s sleek surfaces while an original work by Murphy himself, created as part of his “Dress” series, references the fabric of Sovereign life.

High on the 28th floor, the Residents’ Club gallery showcases a remarkable retrospective of 20th-century fine art photography—selected with the help of Jackson Fine Art owner and curator Anna Walker Skillman—featuring works by famed French photographer Willy Ronis and American photojournalist Elliott Erwitt, as well as contemporary pieces by locals such as Sally Mann, Massimo Vitali and Joel Meyerowitz.

Perhaps most alluring of all, 22 Murphy originals will span the elevator entries of floors 28 through 50, each depicting a metamorphosing segment of a continuous tree and varied specimens of birds, paying tribute to Atlanta’s deep roots and cultural evolution.