Through Nov. 15, the Ackland Art Museum is offering not one but two new exhibitions for visitors to explore: “Care and Concern: Recent Acquisitions of Modern and Contemporary Art” and “Continental Shift: Recent Acquisitions of African Art.”
“They’re both very different exhibitions, but they’re both in conversation with each other,” said Peter Nisbet, the Ackland’s deputy director for curatorial affairs. “If the Ackland stands for anything, it’s the variety of things on view.”
“Care and Concern”
That variety can be seen within each exhibition, particularly in the contemporary art featured in “Care and Concern.” A collaboration between Lauren Turner, associate curator for contemporary art and special projects, and Jo Klevdal, a curatorial fellow in contemporary art, the exhibition features varied works of modern and contemporary art acquired by the Ackland since 2020.
The pieces were created between the 1950s and present day, but Turner and Klevdal used the pieces to craft a theme that spoke to the current moment.
“We all know that was the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it affected so many artists,” Turner said. “Many of them are social beings, and suddenly they’re alone in their studio. … So we settled on this idea of showcasing art that reckons with what the artist and the viewer care for and are concerned about.”
This depiction of the artists’ specific cares and concerns can be seen in all the pieces on display, including the painting “Butternut Squash, Black Walnut and Spelt Cake” by Lien Truong, professor and director of undergraduate studies in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ studio art department. A depiction of food partially obscured by gauzy strips of silk, the piece represents the care and concern Truong had for her mother in California when she was very ill, and Truong would send her food.
Artist and Carolina professor, Lien Truong, crafted this piece entitled “Butternut Squash, Black Walnut and Spelt Cake” as a way of reckoning with the care and concern she felt for her ailing mother. (Josh McCormack/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Next to Truong’s piece and several of the others is a community response. Unique to this exhibition, these statements come from a wide array of individuals — an herbalist, a postpartum nurse and a priest, just to name a few. Turner views these as one of the most important aspects of “Care and Concern.”
“We would try to reach out to members of the community based on their lived experience in a certain area,” Turner said. “It’s a good way to get people thinking not just about their own lives but also about their understanding of community.”
“Continental Shift”
“Continental Shift” showcases a wide variety metalwork, textiles, beadwork and ceramics to emphasize the diversity of Africa’s many cultures. (Josh McCormack/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Understanding community through art is also a shared theme in the second exhibition on display, “Continental Shift.” Showcasing selected works of African art acquired over the past five years, this collection of metalwork, textiles, beadwork and ceramics introduces visitors to the diversity of African art.
“Africa is a huge continent with thousands of different cultures,” said Nisbet, the exhibition’s lead curator. “The visual inventiveness is extremely diverse, so we wanted ‘Continental Shift’ to go beyond the more traditional emphasis on western and central Africa to include works from East Africa, South Africa and North Africa. We also wanted to incorporate a real diversity of materials.”
This diversity resulted in a greater variety of colors, in contrast to the displays of predominantly brown wood carvings and masks in many galleries showing African art. In “Continental Shift,” pieces like the vibrant midcentury Chief’s Wrapper from the Akan culture of Ghana show the stark contrast.
Nisbet is particularly proud at how these particular pieces of beadwork and textiles bring a vibrancy that is often missing from exhibitions of this type. (Josh McCormack/UNC-Chapel Hill)
For Nisbet, this exhibition is yet another example of the Ackland’s commitment to introducing visitors to art from across the globe.
“We are in principle a museum open to great art from all time periods and all cultures,” Nisbet said. “We have been very excited in recent years to be so active with African art.”
