Exhibitions feature contemporary sculpture, photographs of children, and video installations
The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) presents three free exhibitions opening in September 2015: Chisel and Forge: Works by Peter Oakley and Elizabeth Brim, featuring playful sculptures by two contemporary North Carolina artists; The Energy of Youth: Depicting Childhood in the NCMA’s Photography Collection, highlighting photographs of children from the NCMA’s permanent collection; and a series of gravity-defying video installations by South African artist Robin Rhode.
Chisel and Forge: Works by Peter Oakley and Elizabeth Brim
September 12, 2015–March 20, 2016
Chisel and Forge presents two North Carolina artists whose sculptures provide a fresh and humorous look at everyday objects.
Peter Oakley skillfully re-creates impermanent items—bars of soap, Styrofoam containers, egg cartons—out of marble, transforming the otherwise ordinary into beautiful and permanent objects.
Elizabeth Brim, a prominent blacksmith, uses metalwork—traditionally considered a “man’s medium”—to make a sly commentary on the gendering of materials. Her forged steel pieces represent soft and stereotypically feminine objects: frilly pillows, high-heeled shoes, tutus, and aprons. Together, these artists jovially chisel away at the assumptions plaguing their chosen materials, forging new thoughts about objects and those who create them.
The Energy of Youth: Depicting Childhood in the NCMA’s Photography Collection
September 26, 2015–April 3, 2016
The Energy of Youth: Depicting Childhood in the NCMA’s Photography Collection highlights some of the most engaging photographs of children and adolescents from the NCMA's permanent collection. This collection of images demonstrates that there is no universal experience of childhood, and instead challenges viewers to consider the unique experience of each child. The exhibition celebrates the sensitivity brought to moments of innocence, reflection, play, and transition.
Artists in this exhibition include Bill Bamberger, Luis Rey Velasco, Sally Mann, David Spear, Barbara Morgan, Margaret Sartor, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Linda Foard Roberts, Erwin Olaf, and Titus Brooks Heagins.
Robin Rhode Video Installations
September 26, 2015−January 31, 2016
Artist Robin Rhode creates fantastic and playful digital animations that often have a darker undercurrent. “As a South African,” Rhode says, “I feel obligated to create my own history by working with certain everyday materials that embody a sociopolitical narrative … This is my motivating force: I have to tell these stories … My voice will be heard. You can take away everything—I’m still going to make art. I’m not dependent on the economy, on the material, on the ideas. I’ve made art with chalk and on concrete walls, and I’m still going to do it.”
In Rhode’s gravity-defying videos—staged in locations that include city streets, his studio, and his family’s backyard—actors interact with chalk and charcoal drawings of everyday objects (chairs, pianos, bicycles, basketballs, skateboards) as if they were real. His dynamic narratives set up a dialogue between high art and popular culture, incorporating references to graffiti, art history, and recent political and social events.
M. C. Escher Retrospective and a Rare Manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci
The NCMA also presents two ticketed exhibitions opening in October 2015: The Worlds of M. C. Escher: Nature, Science, and Imagination and Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester and the Creative Mind. The Worlds of M. C. Escher features approximately 125 drawings, woodcuts, lithographs, and watercolors spanning Escher’s entire career; it is the most comprehensive Escher exhibition ever presented in the United States. The Codex Leicester—the only notebook by Leonardo da Vinci in North America—offers insights into Leonardo’s keen powers of observation, extraordinary intellect, and innovative creative process. Joint tickets to the exhibitions go on sale to Museum members on August 20 and to the general public on September 15.
About the Exhibitions
Chisel and Forge is organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art. Support provided by the George Smedes Poyner Family Foundation. This exhibition is made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions. Research for this exhibition was made possible by Ann and Jim Goodnight/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund for Curatorial and Conservation Research and Travel.
The Energy of Youth is organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art. This exhibition is made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions. Research for this exhibition was made possible by Ann and Jim Goodnight/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund for Curatorial and Conservation Research and Travel.
The Robin Rhode video installations are organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art. This exhibition is made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions. Research for this exhibition was made possible by Ann and Jim Goodnight/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund for Curatorial and Conservation Research and Travel.
- The Main Hall Video Gallery projects are made possible by PNC Bank.
The Worlds of M. C. Escher is organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art.
- Presenting Sponsor: Duke Energy
- Participating Sponsors: Quintiles and Lord Corporation
This exhibition is also made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions. Research for this exhibition was made possible by Ann and Jim Goodnight/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund for Curatorial and Conservation Research and Travel.
The Codex Leicester is on loan from Bill Gates. In Raleigh generous support is provided by the Ron and Jeanette Doggett Fund. This exhibition is also made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions. Research for this exhibition was made possible by Ann and Jim Goodnight/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund for Curatorial and Conservation Research and Travel.
- Presenting Sponsor: Duke Energy
- Participating Sponsors: celinto.net and Quintiles