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May Issue 2008
The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston,
SC, Offers Exhibition on Slavery
The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC, will offer the exhibition, Landscape of Slavery: The Plantation in American Art, a groundbreaking exhibit presenting a comprehensive, interdisciplinary examination of plantation images in the American South, on view from May 9 through Aug. 3, 2008.
Todd D. Smith, Director of Special Projects for the Gibbes explains the inspiration for the exhibition, "The mission of the Gibbes is to tell the story of the visual culture of the South and the plantation has been (and still continues to be) a defining characteristic of the history and present state of the region. The museum's collection includes several important works related to the subject, and we were inspired to lead an effort to unravel the realities and fictions that surround the subject matter."
Curated by Angela D. Mack, the museum's Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs, the exhibition features over 100 paintings, works on paper, photographs, mixed media and installation works. Through the eyes of a range of artists such as Eastman Johnson, Winslow Homer, William Aiken Walker, Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, John Biggers, Edwin Harleston, Carrie Mae Weems and Kara Walker, Landscape of Slavery examines depictions of plantations, plantation views and related slave imagery in the context of the history of landscape painting in America. "More than a history of the visual imagery related to the plantation, the show invites one to consider the impact that this imagery has had on race relations for three centuries," says Mack.
A genre predominantly tied to the Southern region of the United States, the plantation view has traditionally received marginal attention in the study of American landscape art. Previous work on the plantation subject has emphasized the debt the genre owes to 18th century British aesthetic theories and styles. In recent years, however, art historians have worked to identify general shifts in plantation iconography that reflect specific historical events. Meanwhile, plantation views have attracted the attention of social historians who have identified the genre as a rich source for exploring issues of wealth, power, race, memory and nostalgia. Landscape of Slavery seeks to bring these current discussions on the topic together for the public's consideration.
For further information check our SC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the Museum at 843/722-2706 or visit (www.gibbesmuesum.org).
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