For Immediate Release
Media contacts:
Alesia DiCosola: (919) 664-6795, [email protected]
Jennifer Warner: (919) 664-6772, [email protected]
2011 SCHEDULE OF SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS
Upcoming Special Exhibitions
30 Americans
March 19–September 4, 2011
East Building, Meymandi Exhibition Gallery
$10 adults; $8 seniors, students and groups; $5 children 7-12
30 Americans presents more than 70 works of art by many of the leading
contemporary African American artists. Organized by the Rubell Family
Collection, an internationally renowned collection of contemporary art, the
exhibition features painting, drawing, photography, video, sculpture, and
mixed-media installations.
30 Americans brings together established and emerging artists whose work
explores issues of race, gender, identity, history, and popular culture. By
featuring seminal figures such as Jean-Michael Basquiat and David Hammons
alongside rising stars such as Nick Cave and Kehinde Wiley, 30 Americans
also highlights artistic legacy and influence, and illustrates how a previous
generation of African American artists has influenced artists working today.
30 Americans is organized by the Rubell Family Collection, Miami. In Raleigh support is provided by the North Carolina
Museum of Art Friends of African and African American Art. 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.
Alter Ego: A Decade of Work by Anthony Goicolea
April 17–July 24, 2011
East Building | Free
Alter Ego features more than 40 works, including photographs,
drawings, videos, and mixed-media installations by Anthony
Goicolea. Over the past decade, the Brooklyn, New York-based
artist has created a significant body of work, and he has proven
his skill in easily crossing from one medium to the next. This
comprehensive exhibition draws upon loans from museums,
galleries, and private collectors, and includes three works by
Goicolea from the NCMA’s permanent collection.
Goicolea’s photographs and videos depict a fantastic world inspired by dreams, myths, fairy tales,
childhood fantasies, and memories. In his early work, which focused on childhood, adolescence, and the
transition to adulthood, Goicolea, often disguised by costumes, wigs, and makeup, played the starring
role. Using digital manipulation to “clone” himself, he played the part of each character. Today, while he
often hires actors to play the parts, Goicolea continues to build the set, design the wardrobe, do the
makeup, take the photographs, and compose the final image (which can take more than a month to
complete).
Organized by North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, and the Telfair Museums, Savannah, in collaboration with 21c
Museum, Louisville. In Raleigh the exhibition is presented by the North Carolina Museum of Art Contemporaries, with
additional support provided by Paul E. Coggins, Dr. W. Kent Davis, Dr. Carlos Garcia-Velez, R. Glen Medders, Michael
Rubel and Kristin Rey, Hedy Fischer and Randy Shull, and Allen G. Thomas Jr. 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.
Mirror Image: Women Portraying Women
May 1–November 27, 2011
East Building | Free
Mirror Image: Women Portraying Women is an exhibition in the new North
Carolina Gallery of the NCMA’s East Building. Featuring works from the
Museum’s collection as well as loans, Mirror Image examines what it means to
be a woman in today’s culture, as seen through the eyes of North Carolina
artists.
Mirror Image presents women, from youth to old age, in painting, video,
photography, and sculpture from the 1970s through the present. Artists from
the NCMA’s collection include Margaret Sartor, Maud Gatewood, elin o’Hara
slavick, and Caroline Vaughan. Local artists include Stacy Lynn Waddell,
Rebecca Fagg, Katie Claiborne, Emily Scott Beck, Linda Foard Roberts, Mary
Shannon Johnstone, Roxana Perez-Mendez, Cristina Córdova, and Susan Harbage Page.
Mirror Image 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.
Rembrandt in America
October 30, 2011–January 22, 2012
East Building, Meymandi Exhibition Gallery
$15 adults; $12 students, seniors, groups; free for children 6 and under
Rembrandt in America will be the first major exhibition to explore in depth the
collecting history of Rembrandt paintings in America. This groundbreaking
exhibition organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Cleveland
Museum of Art, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts brings together the
largest number of autograph Rembrandt paintings ever shown in the United
States.
Consisting of approximately 50 paintings, the exhibition will feature more than
30 autograph paintings by Rembrandt as well as others works thought to be by the master when they
entered American collections but whose attributions can no longer be maintained. The exhibition offers the
public a rare opportunity to follow the evolving opinions of scholars and collectors regarding what
constituted an autograph Rembrandt painting over a period of more than a century.
Rembrandt in America not only investigates the overall issue of collecting Rembrandts in America but also
the collecting history of works in the NCMA’s collection. In the 1950s Museum Director and Rembrandt
expert William Valentiner recommended the acquisition of two paintings then thought to be by Rembrandt.
Since their acquisition the paintings have been reattributed to other artists. This exhibition will be the first
to examine these paintings within the larger context of connoisseurship and collecting Rembrandts during
the 20th century.
Organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Support is provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. In Raleigh the exhibition is presented by Progress Energy,
and the supporting sponsor is Quintiles. Additional support is provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 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.
Currently On View
Bob Trotman: Inverted Utopias
Through March 27, 2011
East Building | Free
Inverted Utopias, the inaugural exhibition in the Museum’s new North Carolina
Gallery, presents more than 20 works of art by figurative sculptor Bob Trotman. A
native of North Carolina, Trotman began his career as a furniture maker, gradually
moving away from functional objects to create sculpture with a human presence.
Trotman’s carved and painted wood sculptures depict anonymous characters that
appear to be in states of flux or change. Clothed in 1950s-style dresses and
business suits, his “model citizens” convey an air of nostalgia, but their startling
poses—upside down, poised on the brink of leaping, or sinking into the floor—and
cracked façades undermine this idealized image of American life. Simultaneously
humorous and disquieting, Trotman’s figures contain enigmatic narratives
beneath their carved surfaces.
The exhibition includes loans from the artist, private collections, and museums, as well as a work from the
NCMA’s permanent collection.
Inverted Utopias is organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art. Support is provided by the Windgate Charitable
Foundation. This exhibition is also made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources and
the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.
John James Audubon’s The Birds of America
Ongoing
East Building | Free
For the first time, a treasure of art publishing that has belonged to the State of
North Carolina since 1848 is on display in its entirety. In recent decades,
except for a small number of prints separated from the volumes, the Museum’s
copy of John James Audubon’s The Birds of America has been too fragile for
viewing. The recently restored four-volume set is on view in a new gallery
devoted to the famous 19th-century artist and naturalist.
The Birds of America comprises 435 life-size, hand-colored prints produced by engraving and aquatint.
The ensemble represents a life’s work that required Audubon to search for perfect specimens and
undocumented species of birds in the rough backwoods of a young nation. Audubon was the first artist to
vividly portray birds in their natural habitats, creating illustrations that were in a different league from
those produced by earlier bird artists, who depicted seemingly lifeless, out-of-context specimens.
Only about 200 complete sets of The Birds of America exist today. The spectacular 40-inch-tall volumes
are on display in new cases fitted with hydraulic lifts that allow the pages to be turned regularly.
Support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. This exhibition is also made possible, in part, by the North Carolina
Department of Cultural Resources and the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.
Image Captions
Kehinde Wiley, Equestrian Portrait of the Count Duke Olivares, 2005, oil on canvas, 108 x 108 in., Rubell
Family Collection, Miami, © 2010 Kehinde Wiley
Anthony Goicolea, Still Life with Pig, 2005, North Carolina Museum of Art, Gift of Allen G. Thomas Jr., ©
2005 Anthony Goicolea
elin o'Hara slavick, Matilde Llambi, Venice Biennale Gallery Attendant cleaning Fred Wilson's installation,
Italy, 2003, North Carolina Museum of Art, Purchased with funds from the William R. Roberson Jr. and
Frances M. Roberson Endowed Fund for North Carolina Art, © 2010 elin o'Hara slavick
Rembrandt van Rijn, Lucretia, 1666, oil on canvas, 43 3/8 x 36 3/8 in., Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The
William Hood Dunwoody Fund
Bob Trotman, Cake Lady, 2002, wood and tempera, H. 37 x W. 19 x D. 26 in., Collection of Rick and Dana
Martin Davis, © 2002 Bob Trotman
John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, from The Birds of America, 1827–1838, North Carolina Museum of
Art, Transfer from the North Carolina State Library
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The North Carolina Museum of Art’s permanent collection spans more than 5,000 years, from ancient Egypt to the
present, making the institution one of the premier art museums in the Southeast. The Museum’s collection provides
educational, aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural experiences for the citizens of North Carolina and beyond. The 164acre Museum Park showcases the connection between art and nature through site-specific works of environmental art.
The Museum offers changing national touring exhibitions, classes, lectures, family activities, films, and concerts.
The Museum recently opened its new gallery building, home to the permanent collection. The North Carolina Museum
of Art, Lawrence J. Wheeler, director, is located at 2110 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh. It is the art museum of the State
of North Carolina, Beverly Eaves Perdue, governor, and an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources, Linda A.
Carlisle, secretary. Admission to the Museum’s permanent collection and Museum Park is free. Museum hours are
Tuesday–Thursday and Saturday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Closed Monday. For more
information about the Museum, visit www.ncartmuseum.org