Vol. 15, No. 3 March 2011 - Carolina Arts

Duke University in Durham, NC,Features Works by Petra BarthDuke University in Durham, NC, ispresenting the exhibit, al margen: Photographsof Latin America and the Caribbeanby Petra Barthm, on view throughMay 1, 2011, in two location on the Dukecampus including: the Special CollectionsGallery in Perkins Library on WestCampus and the Frederic Jameson Galleryin the Friedl Building on East Campus.The exhibit, al margen (or “Living onthe Margin”) is the result of seven yearsof work by Petra Barth in South America,Central America and the Caribbean. Itis composed of 70 gelatin silver printsmounted in two campus venues. Fortyprints are on view at the Frederic JamesonGallery and an additional thirty prints areon exhibit in the Special Collections Galleryin Perkins Library.Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 2008Barth’s photography aims “to tellstories about the everyday lives of peopleliving on the margin - their struggles andtheir dreams.”Barth offered the following statement,“I use a spontaneous, intimate approachto photograph the daily life of individuals.I look for quiet, reflective momentswhen people are unaware of the cameraand my presence, and genuine feeling isconveyed. Pieced together, these momentsdescribe, with extraordinary clarity, theliving conditions all across Latin Americaand the Caribbean, from Haiti’s streets tothe suburbs of Nicaragua and El Salvador,and from the favelas of Rio to the victimsof the recent tsunami in Concepcíon,Chile.”Patagonia, Argentina,, April 2010“My photographs reveal moments thatare not often depicted because they happenevery day. My camera simultaneouslycaptures the unusual in the ordinary andthe ordinariness of the unusual. We oftensee images of devastated landscapes andhuman suffering in the wake of disastrousevents, but that is only one part of life.What happens before, after, and in betweenthese times? Despite struggle, thereis also happiness and the ability to moveon and create new narratives every day.”Barth adds, “al margen is a candidphotographic work that attempts to establishdocumentary photography as an artform as well as a method of communication.I would like to raise awareness aboutthe living conditions of those who aremarginalized, but I am also interested inpeople and the beauty of ordinary life.”This exhibition was organized by theArchive of Documentary Arts and theArchive for Human Rights in Duke’s RareBook, Manuscript, and Special CollectionsLibrary. The exhibit is sponsored bythe Center for Latin American and CaribbeanStudies, the Program in Latino/aStudies in the Global South, the Departmentof Cultural Anthropology, InternationalComparative Studies, and the DukeHuman Rights Center.For further information check our NCInstitutional Gallery listings, call 919/660-5968 or visit (www.library.duke.edu/exhibits).The deadline each month to submit articles, photos and ads is the 24th of the monthprior to the next issue. This would be Mar. 24th for the Apr. 2011 issue and Apr. 24 forthe May 2011 issue. After that, it’s too late unless your exhibit runs into the next month.But don’t wait for the last minute - send your info now.Let’s hear from more commercial galleries in the Triad and Triangle areas of NC.UNC-Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill,NC, Offers Works by Amy SheraldUNC-Chapel Hill is presenting the exhibit,Recommended - The Magical Realismof Amy Sherald, featuring a series ofpaintings that blur preconceived notionsof how “blackness” is defined within thecontext of American racial dogma. Theexhibit is on view through Apr. 22, 2011,in the Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery atthe Sonja Haynes Stone Center for BlackCulture and History in Chapel Hill, NC.The exhibition features the artwork ofSherald, a Baltimore-based painter.They Call Me Redbone But I’d Rather BeStrawberry ShortcakeDescribed by exhibition curator,Spelman College professor of art Dr.Arturo Lindsay, as “grounded in a selfreflectiveview of her life experiences asa young, black, Southern woman throughthe lenses of a post-modern intellectual,”Sherald’s introspective works exclude theidea of color as race by removing “color”(skin tones are depicted in grayscale) butstill portraying distinct physical indicatorsof race.The paintings, according to Sherald,“originated as a creation of a fairytale,illustrating an alternate existence inresponse to a dominant narrative of blackhistory.” As the artist’s concepts becamemore coherent, her use of fantasticalimagery evolved into scenes of spectacle,making direct reference to “blackness”and racialization. The result is an arrestingseries of paintings that blur preconceivednotions of how “blackness” is definedwithin the context of American racialdogma.The Rabbit in the HatSherald, a native of Columbus, GA,received her Bachelor of the Arts inpainting from Clark-Atlanta Universityand Master of Fine Arts from MarylandInstitute College of Art. While at Clark-Atlanta, she became an apprentice toArturo Lindsay, then her painting instructorat Spelman College. After her formaleducation, Sherald secured a prestigiousprivate study residency with painter OddNerdrum whom she lived and studied within Larvik, Norway.Sherald’s paintings have been displayedin numerous exhibitions throughoutthe United States and abroad, andshe has been Artist in Residence at TongXion Art Center in Beijing, China; TallerPortobello Artist Colony in Portobello,Panama; Spelman College Art Colony inPortobello, Panama; and Maine Collegeof Art in Portland, ME. She was mostrecently chosen as Jurors Pick of the NewAmerican Paintings Edition 88.This exhibition was made possible bythe generous support of friends of TheRobert and Sallie Brown Gallery andMuseum. The Brown Gallery serves as anexhibition space for the critical examinationof the art and history of the Africandiaspora and of Africa.For further information check our NCInstitutional Gallery listings, contact theStone Center at 919/962-9001 or visit(www.unc.edu/depts/stonecenter).I’m going to be really short and tothe point. This is the end of the articlesabout exhibits. The next 26 pages arefilled with info about other exhibits andexhibit spaces in the Carolinas - commercialand non-profit. Why shouldyou go on?There’s more info there.Carolina Arts, March 2011 - Page 35