" Common Ground " 150 Years of Art at NC Museum of Art

Monday, 22 May 2006 10:08

Raleigh, NC - The North Carolina Museum of Art exhibits Common Ground: Discovering Community in 150 Years of Art, Selections from the Collection of Julia J. Norrell. The exhibition was organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Common Ground celebrates the universal human experiences of struggle, transcendence and redemption and explores the role of memory and activism in finding common ground among diverse communities.  The exhibition showcases such notable artists as Jacob Lawrence, Walker Evans, Sally Mann, Gordon Parks, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Lewis Hine, Margaret Bourke-White, Carrie Mae Weems and Ben Shahn, among others, and includes photography, painting, sculpture and works on paper.

“Common Ground reaches around the world and across three centuries to show the most essential connections between people.  It crosses boundaries that are often imposed by race, gender, age, class, religion and politics to reveal what we hold in common,” said Linda Dougherty, curator of contemporary art at the N.C. Museum of Art.  “I think visitors to the exhibition will be surprised, delighted and moved by works of art that can communicate important issues and universal experiences in ways that words cannot.”

Common Ground features more than 100 works by 100 artists. The exhibition is organized by themes: Past and Present, A Sense of Place, Community, Hope and Belief, and Memory and Tribute.

Past and Present addresses historical events and political struggles in the United States and abroad, as well as how photography pictures the passage of time.  This section features pieces by James VanDerZee, Deborah Luster, Walker Evans and Roman Vishniac, among others.

A Sense of Place explores land, nature and people’s relationships to the environment and highlights major works by Ben Shahn, Renée Stout, Beverly Buchanan and Gordon Parks.

The Community section delves into the realm of places, people, kinship and race and incorporates a diverse selection of works by Dorothea Lange, Lewis Hine, Jim Goldberg, Margaret Bourke-White, and others.

Hope and Belief focuses on the universal concepts of belief, faith and loss and concentrates on works by Brassai, Addison Scurlock, Richard Misrach and Edward Grazda.

Memory and Tribute is devoted to works about family, dreams, memoirs and personal narratives and includes pieces by William Eggleston, Eudora Welty and David Driskell.

Common Ground will be at the N.C. Museum of Art until July 16, 2006. For more information about the exhibition or the Museum, visit www.ncartmuseum.org , organized and circulated by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.