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NATE PARKER'S

The Birth of A Nation


SOUTHERN ACCENT: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art 

Xaviera Simmons, Session Three: Player from the project Thundersnow Road, North Carolina, 2010. Chromogenic print, edition 1/3; 40.125 x 50 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Museum purchase; 2010.6.2. Image courtesy of the artist and David Castillo Gallery, Miami Beach, Florida. © Xaviera Simmons.

 

William Eggleston, Jackson, Mississippi, c. 1969. Dye transfer print; 13.563 x 21.063 inches Private collection. Image courtesy of the Eggleston Artistic Trust, Memphis, Tennessee, and Cheim & Read Gallery, New York, New York. © Eggleston Artistic Trust.

William Faulkner once suggested that the South is not so much a “geographical place” as an “emotional idea.” Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art, on view through Jan. 8, 2017 at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, looks at the South as an open-ended question to be explored and expanded. The 2016 'must-see' exhibition, features 60 artists and 125 works, and encompasses a broad spectrum of media and approaches, demonstrating that southernness is more of a shared sensibility than a consistent culture. The exhibition includes work dating back to the 1950s, but primarily focuses on art produced within the past 30 years. There is also a curated music library, since no region in the United States has contributed more to American music than the South. This music chronology that speaks to southern life provides an invaluable counterpoint to the artwork in the exhibition.

Southern Accent is an extensive exploration of southern identity through contemporary art,” said Trevor Schoonmaker, Chief Curator and Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art, and co-curator of the exhibition. “The exhibition has been four years in the making, but the timing of Southern Accent is especially meaningful now – in the wake of Charleston, Orlando, Baton Rouge and countless other tragedies, and given the tense social and racial climate during this presidential election year. We’re an art museum, so exhibitions are our platform for starting conversations. I hope Southern Accent can create a space to reimagine the South in new ways and reframe the way we think about the South in contemporary art. At its best, art can help give shape to cultural and social change, promote needed discourse and even help build community.”

 

FALL 2016 ARTIST TALKS

 

Gallery Performance: Richmond-based artist Sonya Clark presents her work Unraveling

 

Annual Rothschild Lecture: Artist Hank Willis Thomas.

 

SONYA CLARK OCT 20 MORE EVENTS Hank Willis Thomas NOV 3

 

Romare Bearden, Watching the Good Trains Go By, 1964. Collage on paper; 13.75 x 16.875 inches Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio. Museum purchase, Derby Fund, from the Philip J. and Suzanne Schiller Collection of American Social Commentary Art 1930–1970; 2005.012.008. © Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA, New York, New York

Jeff Whetstone, Self-Portrait with Catfish from the portfolio New Wilderness, 2003. Gelatin silver print, edition 1/5; 28 x 35 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Julie Saul Gallery, New York, New York. © Jeff Whetstone.

Michael Galinsky, The Day the KKK Came to Town, 1987 (produced 2015). Video (black and white, sound); 4:12 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and RUMUR, Brooklyn, New York. Sound by Jeff Robins and Brandon Uttley. © Mike Galinsky.

 

Hank Willis Thomas, Black Righteous Space (Southern Edition), 2012/2016. DVD (playlist and video installation), microphone, and Mac Mini; run time continuous. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, New York. © Hank Willis Thomas

 

Fahamu Pecou, Hope . . . Maybe, if, or Prob’ly, 2013. Acrylic, spray paint, and oil stick on canvas; 58 x 58 inches Collection of E. Markwalder. Image courtesy of the artist and Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas. © Fahamu Pecou. Photo by Branton Ellerbee

Ebony G. Patterson, Strange Fruitz, 2013. Mixed media on paper; 97 x 84 inches. Collection of Lois and Chris Madison. Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, Illinois. © Ebony G. Patterson.

 

Birney Imes, The Playboy Club, Louise, 1983. Chromogenic print; 30 x 40 inches Courtesy of the artist and Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia. © Birney Imes.

CURATORS

Trevor Schoonmaker is Chief Curator and Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum, where he has curated such traveling exhibitions asWangechi Mutu: A Fantastic JourneyThe Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, and Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool. He is the Artistic Director of the fourth iteration of the Prospect New Orleans Triennial (Prospect.4), opening in November 2017.


Miranda Lash is Curator of Contemporary Art at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. She previously served as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and is the curator of Mel Chin: RematchDario Robleto: The Prelives of the BluesSydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, and Skylar Fein: Youth Manifesto.

CATALOGUE


Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art is published by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and distributed by Duke University Press. This beautifully designed 276-page catalogue offers a robust expansion of investigations raised by works in the exhibition, with texts from perspectives, ranging from scholarship to poetry, song lyrics and personal reflections. Available for purchase at the Nasher Museum Store.

 

Also at NASHER ODILI DONALD ODITA MURALS + KARA WALKER

 

 

 

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