Charles White: A LITTLE HIGHER
March 18, 2023 - July 30, 2023
Coe Gallery
Best remembered for meticulously rendered paintings and drawings of his fellow African Americans, Charles White [1918–1979] committed himself to creating “images of dignity,” which elevated and ennobled his subjects without shying away from the realities of systemic racism and oppression. White’s work bears witness to his lived experience as a Black man who experienced racialized poverty, discrimination, denigration, and violence in America. It also reflects his deep admiration for Social Realists, American Regionalists, and the Mexican Muralists as well as his steadfast belief in a better tomorrow. This same spirit of gracious activism resonated in his devotion to teaching: White touched the lives of an entire generation of students at Otis College of Art and Design, including Kerry James Marshall and David Hammons.
White‘s body of work is marked by consummate skills of observation and powerful social critique tempered by a genuine love for humanity. This exhibition weaves together the complex threads of White’s compelling life and work, providing a thorough overview of his oeuvre, including the twelve paintings commissioned by the Johnson Publishing Company to illustrate Lerone Bennett, Jr.’s The Shaping of Black America (1975); a suite that has not been publicly exhibited in our region before.
My whole purpose in art is to make a positive statement about mankind, all mankind, an affirmation of humanity...This doesn’t mean that I am a man without angers—I’ve had my work in museums where I wasn’t allowed to see it—but what I pour into my work is the challenge of how beautiful life can be.
Charles White, 1964
Exhibition support provided by: City of Hickory; Sandra Pait Clay & George Clay III; Dixon Endowment Fund for Lifelong Learning; Spark the Arts; United Arts Council of Catawba County with funding from the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts; Linda & John Greenwell; Lynn & Leroy Lail; Kenneth K. Millholland & Suzanne G. Millholland Endowment Fund — a component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation; Resource Partners, LLC; Carolina Anesthesia Associates, PA; and annual sponsors Shurtape Techologies and Alex Lee.
Works by Warhol
February 6, 2021 - June 6, 2021
Coe Gallery
“Works by Warhol” brings 36 iconic masterworks by one of America’s most prominent artists to Hickory Museum of Art. Featuring a broad cross-section of examples from Warhol’s storied career, the galleries will be activated by the appearance of pop culture staples such as “Mick Jagger,” “Santa Claus,” and “Mickey Mouse.” The show will also explore Warhol’s responses to major moments in U.S. history, including the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong’s moon landing, and the perception of Native Americans in the aftermath of the bicentennial of the United States. The exhibition will include the entire series of “Myths”. This body of work was completed in 1981 and showcases Warhol’s lifetime fascination with Hollywood imagery. Afflicted as a youth by a sickness termed St. Vitus’ Dance, the artist spent countless hours absorbing television, movies, and graphic novels. “Myths” marks a return to his formative encounters with figures such as Howdy Doody, the Wicked Witch of the West, Superman, and more. However, the series can also be interpreted through the lenses of consumerism and gender stereotypes.
Exhibition artwork comes from the collection of Wesley and Missy Cochran. Exhibition organized by Wesley and Missy Cochran.
Exhibition support provided by: Imagine One Hospitality, LLC; Corning Incorporated Foundation; United Arts Council of Catawba County with funding from the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts; Kenneth K. Millholland and Suzanne G. Millholland Endowment Fund — a component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation; David Millholland; Lynn and Leroy Lail; and annual sponsor Alex Lee.
Juan Logan: CREATING & COLLECTING
January 18, 2020 - May 19, 2020*
Coe Gallery
Working out of his studio in Belmont, North Carolina, artist Juan Logan continues to expand the reach of his art’s unyielding call for social responsibility. A retired University of North Carolina Professor, Logan’s installations, sculptures, prints, and paintings are included in the collections of Whitney Museum of American Art, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and many more. This exhibition is the first to present his own work in dialogue with selections from his personal art collection which features some of the most important artists from the 1970s to the present, including Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Elizabeth Catlett, Mark Bradford, and Robert Rauschenberg.
*HMA closed during this exhibition’s show run due to the Covid Pandemic.
Exhibition support provided by: Corning Foundation; United Arts Council of Catawba County with funding from the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts; The Unifour Foundation, Inc. Endowment a component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation; City of Hickory Community Relations Council; and annual sponsor Alex Lee.