March 2011

North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, Features Works by American Artists

The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, will present the exhibit, 30 Americans, on view in the Museum’s Meymandi Exhibition Gallery, from Mar. 19 through Sept. 4, 2011.

30 Americans highlights the work of 31 contemporary African American artists in an exhibition organized by and drawn from the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, FL. The exhibit consists of 70 works of art and includes painting, drawing, photography, video, sculpture, and mixed-media installations.

The exhibition features both established and emerging artists and illustrates how a previous generation of African American artists has influenced the current generation. The exhibition focuses on artists who explore similar themes and subject matter in their work, primarily issues of race, gender, identity, history, and popular culture.

Artists featured in the exhibition include: Nina Chanel Abney, John Bankston, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mark Bradford, Iona Rozeal Brown, Nick Cave, Robert Colescott, Noah Davis, Leonardo Drew, Renée Green, David Hammons, Barkley L. Hendricks, Rashid Johnson, Glenn Ligon, Kalup Linzy, Kerry James Marshall, Rodney McMillian, Wangechi Mutu, William Pope.L, Gary Simmons, Xaviera Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Shinique Smith, Jeff Sonhouse, Henry Taylor, Hank Willis Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Kehinde Wiley, and Purvis Young.

The Rubell Family Collection is an internationally renowned collection of contemporary art that was established by Don and Mera Rubell in 1964. Jason and Jennifer Rubell now assist their parents in building the collection with works that range in date from the 1960s to the present.

The Rubell family describes the collection and the impetus for this exhibition as follows: “Since we started collecting in the 1960s, we have always collected African American artists as a part of our broader mission to collect the most interesting art of our time. Approximately three years ago, we found there was a critical mass of emerging African American artists, and began the process of understanding what seemed to be a new movement. When we asked these artists about their influences, we heard some of the same names over and over: Robert Colescott, Renée Green, David Hammons, Barkley Hendricks, Kerry James Marshall, Gary Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker, and Carrie Mae Weems.”

“As the show evolved, we decided to call it 30 Americans. ‘Americans,’ rather than ‘African Americans’ or ‘Black Americans,’ because nationality is a statement of fact, while racial identity is a question each artist answers in his or her own way, or not at all. And the number 30 because we acknowledge, even as it is happening, that this show does not include everyone who could be in it. The truth is, because we do collect right up to the last minute before a show, there are actually 31 artists in 30 Americans.”

The exhibition is part of the NCMA’s ongoing commitment to present work by internationally recognized contemporary artists and to highlight the variety and historical depth of art and artists from diverse backgrounds.
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 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.

The North Carolina Museum of Art houses an excellent permanent collection. Since the initial acquisition in 1947 of 139 works of European and American art, purchased with a $1 million appropriation of state funds, the collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art has grown to include major holdings in European painting from the Renaissance to the 19th century (enhanced in 1960 by an extraordinary gift from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation of 75 works dating primarily from the Italian Renaissance and baroque periods), Egyptian funerary art, sculpture and vase painting from ancient Greece and Rome, American art of the 18th through 20th centuries, and international contemporary art. Other strengths include African, ancient American, pre-Columbian, and Oceanic art, and Jewish ceremonial objects.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at 919/839-6262 or visit (http://ncartmuseum.org).

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