Visual Art

The anchor work of The Work of Their Hands: American Quiltmaking is a tulip quilt made 170 years ago by an now unknown, enslaved woman in North Carolina. Through her masterful stitchwork and time-honored design, this unknown artist sewed a story of strength and perseverance.   Spinning forward from this quilt and its practice, The Work of Their Hands:  American Quiltmaking explores the continuing legacy of quilt-making and the evolution of textile art, starting with traditional quilts made for bed coverings to contemporary fabric artworks by artists including Brittney Boyd Bullock, Celeste Butler, Robin Cowley, Michael Cummings, Gee’s Bend quilters, Michael James, Precious Lovell, Katie Pasquini Masopust, Carolyn Mazloomi, Mary Pal, Hattie Schmidt, Beverly Smith, The Advocacy Project, and others.

To Take Shape and Meaning: Form and Design in Contemporary American Indian Art features works by 75 Indigenous artists from over 50 tribes throughout the United States and Canada, including eight from North Carolina. The exhibition, composed exclusively of 3-D artworks, includes baskets made of blown glass, cars transformed into works of art, and cutting

SECCA (North Carolina Museum of Art, Winston-Salem) is proud to present Flutter, an exhibition of photography by Los Angeles-based artist David Gilbert, on view in SECCA's Main Gallery. Flutter marks the artist's first institutional solo exhibition, providing the unique opportunity to experience twelve years of Gilbert's work in one setting. David Gilbert (American, b. 1982) creates photographs that flirt with impermanence. The artist constructs playful sculptures, backdrops, and scenes from found materials, photographing them in distinctive views and dramatic natural light. The resulting pictures capture spontaneous moments, paired with lightheartedness and sensitivity. An opening reception with the artist and curator will be held Thursday, April 18 from 6–8pm.

Thomas Sayre:  Four Walls features new and never exhibited works by artist Thomas Sayre. Each of the four large-scale pieces in the installation questions the belief systems and symbols that underpin the ideals of church, nation and creation. Made of materials that include tar, smoke, fabric gowns, gunshots, welding material, earth and fire, these works invite visitors to draw close and experience the messiness of making, and by analogy, to bear witness to the ways that life invades, entangles, and tarnishes us. Opening Night with American Artist Thomas Sayre Friday, April 26, 6-9 PM Thomas Sayre Artist Talk Saturday, April 27, 11 AM

‘Forever Transient’ visually investigates the meaning behind transience, impermanence, continuous change and the desire to preserve and prolong the temporary moment. Inspired by Dutch still life paintings and vanitas, each artist exemplifies a different creative approach and skill set to artistically render the fragility of time. Time does not sand still. It marches forward and looks back retrospectively at the past. Therefore, the experience of time is never linear, but cyclical. ‘Forever Transient’ exhibits 8 nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. Through varying processes, each artist composes their work to include vibrant references, and in some cases direct interactions, with nature and humanity. Andrew Leventis’ hyper realistic refrigerator still life paintings, echo the elements of Dutch still life techniques, but with a contemporary and refreshing update of a classic art form. Brent Dedas’ “honeybee drawings” incorporate the assistance of live honeybees landing and crawling on his drawings, which Dedas then turns into cyanotype prints. Colby Caldwell, brings his flatbed scanner along on his nature walks, instead of a camera, and scans natural flora found on the forest floor. James Henkel arranges fragments of glass from destroyed vessels to create organic shapes, therefore showing transience through destruction, change and reformation. Susan Jedrzejewski also explores […]

Robert Turner (1913-2005) arrived at Black Mountain College in 1949 to establish the first studio pottery program at the College. He worked with student architect Paul Williams to design the Potshop and stayed until 1951 as a teacher and potter.  The exhibition will include work by some of Turner’s students and colleagues at BMC, Alfred University, and Penland as well as work by contemporary ceramic artists whose work fits within the context of the show. Artists include: Meredith Brickell, Cynthia Bringle, Marjorie Dial, Cynthia Homire, Bill C. Jones, Bobby Kaddis, Karen Karnes, Eric Knoche, Jeannine Marchand, Neil Noland, Daniel Rhodes, M.C. Richards, Gay Smith, Tom Spleth, Adele Suska, Lydia C. Thompson, Xavier Toubes, Jerilyn Virden, Peter Voulkos, David Weinrib, Megan Wolfe, and Kensuke Yamáda.

Alberni uses her new exhibition ‘Fragments’ to illustrate the narrative of fragmented lives and irreversible damage both visually and physically. In contrast to the hopeless narrative of destruction, Alberni seeks to use her artwork to create a positive, hopeful spirit for the future. Alberni assembles objects and layers in her work in a brightly colored, harmonious fashion, which invites the viewer in for a deeper contemplation of each composition.

Central Piedmont’s Dove Gallery will host a new exhibition by esteemed Vietnamese artist, Kenny Nguyen. Born in Vietnam, and with a background in fashion design, Nguyen exhibits his work across the US and internationally.

As a Vietnamese immigrant now living and working as an artist in the United States, much of Nguyen’s work explores ideas related to cultural identity, displacement, reconciling with the past and the artistic fusion of Vietnamese and American cultures.

Nguyen uses silk, in tribute to his Vietnamese culture, deconstructs it into strips, and then dips it in paint. Thousands of these strips creates sculptural works of art that Nguyen calls “deconstructed paintings.” The action of deconstruction and reconstruction, and transformation of the fine silk into a sculptural painting echoes Nguyen’s journey forging his own identity while continuously incorporating all of the unique elements that make Nguyen who he is today.