The Mint, Gantt Center and Bechtler art museums unveil diverse season of ambitious plans

About fall, Vincent Van Gogh once said, “As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.”

For the art appreciators among us here in Charlotte, our own museums have worked hard to carefully curate a fall exhibition program that will fill your season with canvas, color and multimodal experiences that will bring beauty and inspiration to the Queen City.

The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture

This year, the Gantt Center has been leaning into its Jubilee Year under the leadership of its new president and CEO Bonita Buford as well as celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding with a slate of special exhibitions.

This fall, the trend toward emphatic celebration of Black creative achievement continues as The Gantt will immerse visitors in a rich tapestry of artistic expression and cultural reflection through three exhibitions.

“Becoming the Sea: Black Rock Senegal x Harvey B. Gantt Center,” curated by Japan-based consultant Dexter Wimberly opened last month and runs through Jan. 20, 2025. The show features work from 12 artists that participated in the Black Rock Senegal residency founded by artist (and Obama portraitist) Kehinde Wiley in its first two years.

Through a collection of contemporary works, the exhibition explores themes of identity, heritage and global interconnectedness through multiple genres, including paintings, photography, sculpture and text.

Works like Katherina Olschbaur’s “Aissatou,” ask the viewer to pause and reflect. When one also considers its title—“aissatou”—an Arabic name that can mean “inconquerable,” “powerful,” “complete” and “rebellious,” the viewer might ascribe additional meaning to the work. 

“Becoming the Sea” offers an immersive experience that reflects on the fluidity and depth of artistic expression across cultures and continents.

The Gantt Center also is showcasing “From the Heart: The John and Vivian Hewitt Collection of African American Art,” a display of over 60 pieces from the Hewitt Collection, through Jan. 20, 2025. This exhibition highlights the impact of John and Vivian Hewitt’s passion for preserving and promoting Black Art. 

Visitors can expect to see an array of works from prominent artists such as Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Elizabeth Catlett. “From the Heart” not only celebrates the artistic achievements of these creators but also underscores the Hewitts’ pivotal role in shaping the narrative of Black Art through their personal collection.

Finally, “American Gurl,” presented in partnership with Womxn X Windows opens on Nov. 2, and examines the complexities of American femininity and identity through the lens of eight intergenerational filmmakers. 

This provocative film exhibition features a selection of works from names like Carrie Mae Weems, Ayanna Dozier and Savanah Leaf, among others. They challenge and redefine traditional notions of gender, culture, and beauty.

Through this spectrum of artistic voices, “American Gurl” invites viewers to engage in a nuanced exploration of what it means to be an American woman in today’s world.

The Mint Museum

This fall, the Mint Museum will unveil a series of exhibitions that highlight diverse artistic expressions and cultural narratives.

On view from Sept. 4 to Oct. 27, “The Communion of White Dresses” takes its inspiration from North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green’s work of the same name. This exhibition, developed during residencies at the McColl Center last fall, offers a study of the symbolic and aesthetic power of white dresses and its intersection with Black female identity.

A continuation of its Constellation CLT series, which spotlights the work of artists in the community, “Adaptations” opened Sept. 6, presenting the work of Vietnamese native and UNC Charlotte alum Kenny Nguyen. Nguyen’s vivid textile sculptures defy generic categorization, marrying traditional painting and fiber art through innovative and original technique. This show runs through March 2, 2025.

The Mint Museum continues its exploration of Southern artistic expression with “Southern/Modern,” opening on Oct. 26 at Mint Museum Uptown. This exhibition, which was first shown in 2023 at the Georgia Museum of Art, is co-curated by the Mint’s Senior Curator of American Art Jonathan Stuhlman and independent scholar Martha Severens. 

The Mint describes it as “the first exhibition to present a comprehensive survey of works by artists working in the American South in the first half of the 20th Century.”

“Southern/Modern” features more than 100 paintings and paper-based pieces, and highlights the evolution of modern art within the Southern United States, focusing on artists who have pushed the boundaries of traditional Southern art practices. It runs through Feb. 2, 2025.

By juxtaposing modernist techniques with Southern themes and aesthetics, “Southern/Modern” presents a compelling narrative of how regional influences have shaped contemporary art movements.

“The vision for ‘Southern/Modern’ to include works by artists working in the South in the early 20th century, including works by women and artists of color, opens the door for honest conversation about Southern culture during this period,” said Todd Herman, the Mint’s president and CEO.

“This exhibition is a continuation of the Mint’s commitment to give space to artists with diverse backgrounds, stories and talent that have been overshadowed in the past.”

The exhibition runs through Feb. 2, 2025.

Finally, “Women of Land and Smoke: Photographs by Graciela Iturbide and Maya Goded” opens Nov. 23. 

This exhibition features the evocative photographic works of Iturbide and Goded. They are acclaimed Mexican artists who capture the essence of women’s lives and experiences in their respective cultural contexts with a focus on indigenous communities stretching from Los Angeles to Chile. 

Through striking images, the show offers an extended exploration of identity, gender and environment, highlighting the personal and political dimensions of women’s lives.

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

This season, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art celebrates the “year of the woman” with an aesthetic program that highlights the work of women artists.

This November marks 15 years since French-American sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle’s iconic Firebird sculpture was installed outside the Bechtler. The sculpture’s significance to the museum’s identity, with its female-centric mythological tale on which it is based, led museum staff to thematically connect the dots.

The coming year (also the 15th year of the museum itself) will prominently feature the work of women artists, including solo shows of Clare Rojas and Virginia Jaramillo, the latter of which is coming in the spring.

The Bechtler’s first fall exhibit, “Chance Encounters: Surrealism Then and Now,” opened Aug. 31 and runs to March 2, 2025. It features works from the Bechtler’s permanent collection alongside pieces that were acquired for the installation in conversation with each other.

By juxtaposing pieces across different mediums and styles, “Chance Encounters” highlights the dynamic and often unpredictable nature of artistic creation.

Curator Katia Zavistovski said the show is special in how it endeavors to expand the definition of Surrealism as a Eurocentric movement to one that was, more accurately, a global phenomenon.

“That’s something that I really wanted to highlight in this exhibition and is why the works in the show represent artists from 10 different countries across four continents. There are works by artists from Europe, the US, Mexico, Indonesia, Kenya,” Zavistovski said.

“It feels really both exciting and much more historically accurate than a lot of past shows of Surrealism that really focus on Europe as the center,” she added. “I’m really pleased to be able to put these works into dialogue and to have a diverse representation of artists in the show.”

“Clare Rojas: Past the Present,” opens Sept. 21 and reintroduces Charlotte to the imaginative world of San Francisco-based artist Rojas.

Though Rojas’ work is represented locally through SOCO Gallery, it has been nearly two decades since her work has been exhibited in the South. Known for her vibrant and eclectic mix of painting, printmaking and sculpture, Rojas infuses her work with whimsical narratives and bold, geometric forms with Surrealist echoes.

This exhibition showcases her visual language that intertwines elements of abstraction with storytelling, creating a playful yet profound commentary on themes of identity, nature and urban life. Zavistovski enjoys working with living artists and is quick to note that this show has been organized in close collaboration with Rojas.

“When you’re able to hear directly from the artist, their thoughts behind a particular work or their ideas in terms of what works, that’s just always such a special thing,” she said. “It’s been a real pleasure working with her to put this show together and to build the checklist.

“And when you’re able to find an artist like Rojas whose work makes connections between past and present, that opens up new ways of thinking about the permanent collection and new ways of thinking about art from the past.”

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This story was originally published September 9, 2024 at 5:50 AM with the headline "The Mint, Gantt Center and Bechtler art museums unveil diverse season of ambitious plans."