By Alexis Blaudeau
Is it possible an area positioned two and a half miles east of downtown Atlanta houses an little-known artistic movement comparable to the Post-Impressionist movement of France? Or are all the eccentric individuals simply intoxicated bums who attempt to appear artistic? The area in question: Little Five Points, an urban strip mall that houses an arrangement of café-style restaurants, clothing shops and tattoo parlors. Parlors that house an abundance of people who can easily be classified as strange.
During my visit to Little Five Points, I could not help but notice the repeated stereotypes. Groups, however different, all embodied similar characteristics: exposed tattoos and piercings, dark clothes and sometimes the smell of poor personal hygiene. And all of them seemed to have an abundance of disposable time.
Famous Post-Impressionists exhibited qualities similar to those of today’s Five Points slummer. Artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec all lived in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, where the Moulin Rouge and many popular Bohemian cafés were located. The cafés served absinthe, a high-proof alcoholic beverage rumored to contain psychoactive ingredients. Now largely banned, this beverage, along with opium and other illicit drugs, were not uncommon among artists during that period.
Many artists struggled to produce money for their art and their addictions. In fact, during their lives, most famous Post-Impressionists were deemed outcasts and bums.
However, I could never picture Van Gogh stepping out of a taxi and yelling to his friend, “I’ll never take ecstasy again!”
Little Five Points is a different story.