The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Metro-Section: E-18

Ben Apfelbaum, 63, curator, folk art expert

> By DERRICK HENRY

New Yorker Ben Apfelbaum, an art curator and consultant with a special expertise in folk and vernacular art, arrived on the Atlanta art scene in 1993 like a whirlwind.

"Ben had an amazing ability to sweep into a brand-new community and uncover artistic talent that those of us who have been here for years haven't noticed," said Barbara Archer of Atlanta, owner of the Barbara Archer Gallery in Inman Park, which specializes in the work of self-taught artists.

"Ben had the most remarkable eye and was the most inclusive of curators," said painter Deanna Sirlin of Atlanta. "He embraced art and artists."

"He loved looking at art and discovering new talent," said Marianne Lambert of Atlanta, curator of the Swan Coach House Gallery at the Atlanta History Center and ArtWalk at Lenox Square. "He never missed an opening at local galleries. He'd go to student shows and to all the shows in alternative spaces."

Mr. Apfelbaum, 63, of Dunwoody died Friday at Piedmont Hospital of complications following knee replacement surgery. The body will be cremated. The memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Spruill Gallery. H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill, is in charge of arrangements.

At the Spruill Center for the Arts in Atlanta, where Mr. Apfelbaum was director of exhibitions for the past five years, he was noted for wide-ranging exhibits, often themed, that involved dozens of artists.

In one show, "Looks Good on Paper," Mr. Apfelbaum squeezed 129 works by 85 metro Atlanta artists into the exhibit. "It seems like a convocation of Atlanta artists talking animatedly to one another," Atlanta Journal-Constitution art critic Catherine Fox wrote in 2001.

A 2004 exhibit, "Reading Between the Lanes: Artists on the Road," paid homage to America's love-hate relationship with the automobile. The artwork encompassed painting, photography, sculpture and video. "Memorable . . . a two thumbs-up rave," wrote Journal-Constitution traffic columnist Joey Ledford.

In 2003's "In-Flight Entertainment," both realistic and abstract wildlife art shared space with "Mark Trail" comic strips, a Georgia wildlife license plate and stuffed birds by taxidermist Burk Edward Thompson.

The curator championed young and emerging artists, not just by helping them get their work shown but also by buying their work himself. Among the important local artists he helped discover were Chris Verene and Kojo Griffin,Ms. Lambert said.

Mr. Apfelbaum certainly had credentials. The Manhattan native earned a master's degree in American folk art studies from New York University. He was a folk art buyer for the Polo-Ralph Lauren Corp. and curator of the East River Gallery at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, showing and selling the work of psychotic patients, with the proceeds going directly to the artists. He was much in demand as a teacher, lecturer, appraiser, judge and consultant.

"Ben was a tremendous information source, a walking encyclopedia," said Rebecca Des Marais of Atlanta, director of the Youth Art Connection of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta.

"He knew every artist around and was an amazing conduit who connected people to each other. He was interested in an artist's spirit, not his training. But Ben was no Pollyanna. He was not shy about giving you his opinions. He could be scathingly critical but was never mean-spirited."

It was impossible to ignore him. "He was tall and had great bushy hair like Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead," Ms. Des Marais said.

Mr. Apfelbaum also reveled in finding new taste sensations at restaurants along Buford Highway and enjoyed delighting his friends with a kitsch gift when they got together for dinner.

"He was larger than life, passionate with tremendous charisma," Ms. Lambert said. "He'd wear crazy Hawaiian shirts with lots of color."

There are no immediate survivors.