March 2011

Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, Features New Exhibition Focused on Story Re-telling

The Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, will present the exhibit, Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear, on view in the Gorelick Galleries, located at the Mint Museum Uptown, from Mar. 3 through July 8, 2012.

The exhibition brings together the work of several internationally acclaimed artists, including Mattia Biagi, Mark Newport, Kako Ueda, Tom Price, and Kate Malone. Known for his work in tar, Italian artist Biagi reinterprets icons of lost innocence, such as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella’s carriage. Newport, an American fiber artist, creates hand-knit acrylic re-creations of heroes’ costumes, which combine their heroic, protective, and ultra-masculine yet vulnerable personas. Ueda, a Japanese paper artist, uses unsettling imagery, such as insects and skeletons, in her detailed cutouts to represent the fine line between beauty and decay. Price, a British furniture designer, is known for his use of polypropylene tubing to create spiky shapes that evoke forms from the natural world. And Malone, a British ceramic artist, is known for her sensual, Neo-Baroque forms and mastery of crystalline glazes.

This thematic exhibition, generously supported by the Mint Museum Auxiliary, also includes selections from the Mint’s permanent collection and loans from private collections. The installation will feature high-tech use of theatrical pieces on flat-screen televisions and cellphone tour commentary provided by the artists.

“This exhibition is a look at contemporary art that explores the world of magical stories, imagination, and fear in works ranging from clay sculpture to cut paper,” said Annie Carlano, the Mint’s Director of Craft + Design. “The sources of inspiration for these artists also interested the Surrealists – the dream world, the occult, fairytales, oral traditions, esoteric religions, and the world of the unconscious. This exhibition is especially timely because of the resonance of fairytales, science fiction and fantasy, and horror stories in current popular culture.”

Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, the President & CEO of the Mint, said the exhibition fits with the museum’s mission of always seeking ways to be relevant to the larger community. “We are pleased to bring yet another exhibition to the public that explores popular themes and also reveals inner truths about human nature,” she said.

As previously announced, the Mint has partnered with NC Dance Theatre, which is exploring its own fairytale theme with performances of “Sleeping Beauty” this March. Ticket buyers to “Sleeping Beauty,” which runs Mar. 8-18, can receive free admission to both locations of The Mint Museum on Saturday, Mar. 10 and Saturday, Mar. 17, while Mint members can receive a 25 percent discount on the purchase of “Sleeping Beauty” tickets. For more information on “Sleeping Beauty,” visit (www.ncdance.org).

Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear was organized by The Mint Museum and made possible through support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary. The Mint Museum is supported by the Arts & Science Council and the North Carolina Arts Council.

The Mint Museum is a non-profit, visual arts institution comprised of two dynamic facilities: the newly opened Mint Museum Uptown and the historic Mint Museum Randolph. As the oldest art museum in North Carolina, The Mint Museum offers its visitors a remarkable opportunity to experience art through two facilities that feature a global collection spanning over 4,500 years of human creativity.

Located in what was the original branch of the United States Mint, the Mint Museum Randolph opened in 1936 in Charlotte’s Eastover neighborhood as the first art museum in North Carolina. Today, intimate galleries invite visitors to engage with the art of the ancient Americas, ceramics and decorative arts, historic costume and fashionable dress, European, African, and Asian art, among other collections. Resources include a reference library with over 15,000 volumes, a theater featuring lectures and performances, and a Museum Shop offering merchandise that complements both the permanent collection and special exhibitions.

The Mint Museum Uptown houses the internationally renowned Mint Museum of Craft + Design, as well as outstanding collections of American, contemporary, and European art. Designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates of Boston, the five-story, 145,000-square-foot facility combines inspiring architecture with groundbreaking exhibitions to provide visitors with unparalleled educational and cultural experiences. Located in the heart of Charlotte’s burgeoning center city, the Mint Museum Uptown is an integral part of the Levine Center for the Arts, a cultural campus that includes the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture, the Knight Theater, and the Duke Energy Center. The Mint Museum Uptown also features a range of visitor amenities, including the 240-seat James B. Duke Auditorium, the Lewis Family Gallery, art studios, a restaurant, and a museum shop.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at 704/337-2000 or visit (www.mintmuseum.org).

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