ATLANTA, GA.- In conjunction with “Wifredo Lam: Imagining New Worlds,” the High Museum of Art presents two solo exhibitions by leading contemporary American artists José Parlá and Fahamu Pecou. In their concurrent exhibitions, on view Feb. 14 through May 24, 2015, Brooklyn-based Parlá and Atlanta-based Pecou respond to the work of Lam, providing contemporary perspectives on his life and career.

The artists examine Lam’s artistic legacy through works that explore their own personal reflections on the artist’s involvement with the Surrealist and Négritude movements, his fusion of African-inspired imagery with that of the natural world, and the influence of the Santeria religion on Lam’s artistic approach.

“These exhibitions will provide visitors with a more nuanced understanding of Lam’s enduring impact by presenting two truly unique perspectives on the work of one of the most defining artists of the 20th century,” said Michael Rooks, Wieland Family curator of modern and contemporary art. “It will be fascinating for our audiences to experience the full arc of Lam’s oeuvre in relation to the evolving careers of José and Fahamu, who share so much in common personally yet have very distinct styles.”

Presented in galleries adjacent to the Lam retrospective, the exhibitions feature mostly new work by the artists and include paintings and sculpture, murals, and sound elements. Parlá and Pecou also collaborated on an installation in a third space. Conceived as an “altar to the imagination,” the installation examines the boundlessness of imagination, a theme explored across all three presentations, and further investigates the influence of Santeria on Lam’s work as well as the religion’s impact on the artistic practice and personal lives of Parlá and Pecou.

Parlá (born 1973) has received critical acclaim for his works, which encompass painting, sculpture and installation, often in dialogue with the rich tradition of muralism and the more recent history of street art. Composed from layers of paint, gestural drawing and found objects, Parlá’s large-scale abstract paintings evoke impressions of the landscape as well as decaying walls along city streets, suggesting density in both urban and natural environments. His layers of calligraphic strokes intimate memories and histories that have been lost or obscured but could erupt from the surface and confront the viewer. This is Parlá’s first museum exhibition, and it follows the November premiere of his monumental commission for One World Trade Center in New York City.