‘ICONoclasts’ explained: How to read Marryam Moma’s lush public artwork

Marryam Moma’s public art project, ICONoclasts, is full of rich detail alluding to the lives of her subjects. Here’s the key to reading the images.

Marryam Moma’s “ICONoclasts,” a work of public art gracing the windows of Herndon Plaza in the city’s historic Sweet Auburn district, portrays six of Atlanta’s most influential Black figures. The figures are photographer Sue Ross; community activist Mtamanika Youngblood, director of neighborhood transformation at Annie E. Casey Foundation; “mayor” of Sweet Auburn John Wesley Dobbs; Doris Derby, who photographed quieter moments of the Civil Rights Movement in rural Mississippi; educator and historian Ricci de Forest, founder of Madam C.J. Walker Museum in Sweet Auburn; and poet Alice Lovelace, executive director of East Point’s ArtsXchange.

Moma’s collage portaits are richly layered with symbols and historical references pertaining to the lives of her subjects. Here, in Moma’s words are what some of the symbols mean and why they matter.

ICONoclasts is a collaboration of the Historic District Development Corporation and Dashboard and will be on view until December 31. Antonio Darden executed the project’s fabrication and typography.