RELEASE DATE: JAN 12, 2021
The Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNC Greensboro presents the exhibition Xaviera Simmons: Falk Visiting Artist (January 23 – May 29, 2021). Images and objects, bodies and geography, the personal and the social: artist Xaviera Simmons binds these themes together in artworks that respond to the gaps and distortions in our understanding of histories—be they artistic, political, or economic. Working extensively from archival sources and thinking deeply about art history, she focuses on documents and artifacts that shed light on “the experiences of White, Indigenous, and Black Americans who descend from slavery, stories shaped in relationship to the overarching theme of White threat and terror.” Honoring the layers and nuances of these narratives, she works within abstraction and metaphor–offering viewers accumulations of visual elements to be considered from multiple perspectives.
Curator of Exhibitions, Dr. Emily Stamey notes that “this is an important show with which to launch 2021, for as much as Simmons’s work challenges us to critically examine the past, it also pushes us to find new ways of looking and seeing, perspectives that will help us move us forward.”
The Falk Visiting artist program is a partnership between the Weatherspoon and UNCG’s School of Art. In conjunction with her exhibition at the Weatherspoon, Simmons will be meeting and working with students and will present a public talk.
This exhibition is organized by Dr. Emily Stamey, Curator of Exhibitions.
Related Program:
Artist Talk: Xaviera Simmons
Thursday, March 11, 7pm, virtual event, registration required
Image: Xaviera Simmons, Currents, 2010. Chromogenic color print, 40 x 50 in. Edition of 3. Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo, Miami. © Xaviera Simmons
About the Weatherspoon Art Museum
Mission
Embracing its public service role, the Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNC Greensboro fosters the ability of art to impact lives and connect multiple communities.
History
The Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNC Greensboro was founded by Gregory Ivy in 1941 and is the earliest of any art facilities within the UNC system. The museum was founded as a resource for the campus, community, and region, and its early leadership developed an emphasis—maintained to this day—on presenting and acquiring modern and contemporary works of art. A 1950 bequest from the renowned collection of Claribel and Etta Cone, including prints and bronzes by Henri Matisse and other works on paper by American and European modernists, helped establish the Weatherspoon’s permanent collection. During Ivy’s tenure, other prescient acquisitions included a 1951 suspended mobile by Alexander Calder, Willem de Kooning’s pivotal 1949-50 Woman, and the first drawings by Eva Hesse and Robert Smithson to enter a museum collection.
In 1989, the museum moved into its present location in The Anne and Benjamin Cone Building designed by the architectural firm Mitchell Giurgola. The museum has six galleries and a sculpture courtyard with over 17,000 square feet of exhibition space. The American Alliance of Museums accredited the Weatherspoon in 1995 and renewed its accreditation in 2005 and 2015.
Collections + Exhibitions
The collection of the Weatherspoon Art Museum is one of the foremost of its kind in the Southeast. It represents all major art movements from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Among the nearly 6,500 objects in the collection are works by such prominent figures as Sanford Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, Nick Cave, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, Louise Nevelson, Gordon Parks, Adrian Piper, Jackson Pollock, Betye Saar, Cindy Sherman, Amy Sillman, David Smith, Jennifer Steinkamp, Joseph Stella, Henry Ossawa Tanner, and Edward Weston. The museum regularly lends to major exhibitions nationally and internationally.
The Weatherspoon is also known for its dynamic exhibition program. Through a lively annual calendar of exhibitions and a multidisciplinary educational program for audiences of all ages, the museum provides an opportunity for visitors to consider artistic, cultural, and social issues of our time—enriching the life of our university, community, and region.
UNC Greensboro
Led by Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr., UNC Greensboro is one of only 59 doctoral institutions recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for higher research activity and community engagement. Founded in 1891 and one of the original three UNC System institutions, UNC Greensboro is one of the most diverse universities in North Carolina with 20,000+ students and 3,000+ faculty and staff members from 90+ nationalities. With 17 Division I athletic teams, 85 undergraduate degrees in over 125 areas of study, and 74 master’s and 32 doctoral programs, UNC Greensboro is consistently recognized nationally among the top universities for academic excellence and value. For additional information, please visit uncg.edu and follow UNCG on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Weatherspoon Art Museum
UNC Greensboro
1005 Spring Garden Street
Greensboro, NC 27412, (336) 334-5770, weatherspoon@uncg.edu
For more information or press images, contact:
Loring Mortensen, (336) 256-1451, lamorten@uncg.edu