RALEIGH, NC.- The North Carolina Museum of Art announces new works of art installed in the 164-acre Museum Park in spring 2015. The works include a bronze fountain sculpture by artist Tim Hawkinson, located in the Museum's Plaza; an interactive work by Maria Elena González, located throughout the Park; and billboards designed by students at three North Carolina universities, located along the Park trails.
Totem by Tim Hawkinson
Artist Tim Hawkinson transforms ordinary, everyday objects—bicycles, banana peels, buckets, envelopes, toothbrushes, plastic jugs—into idiosyncratic, humorous, and surprising works of art. Totem, a cast bronze fountain, is the permanent version of an earlier sculpture by Hawkinson made of papier-mâché, string, and plastic bottles. Each bronze “jug” has a face, and the mouths act as a water spouts. What initially looks like a solemn and ancient totem suddenly becomes a playful, ironic sculpture when the viewer recognizes the plastic containers and discovers the spitting faces.
You & Me by Maria Elena González
You & Me is an interactive sculpture installation that requires the active involvement of the viewer. Visitors are encouraged to collaborate with one another by standing on bright red paired platforms throughout the Park. When positioned, each participant appears to his or her partner to be on or in a nearby work of art. You & Me maps can be downloaded at ncartmuseum.org/youme, and visitors can share their images and experiences on social media using #NCMAyoume.
Park Pictures: College Student Billboard Projects
The NCMA worked with three North Carolina colleges (the University of North Carolina Asheville, University of Mount Olive, and St. Augustine’s University) on an outreach project related to the exhibition Field Guide: James Prosek’s Un/Natural World. Each college represented one of three major geographic regions of North Carolina: the mountains, the Piedmont, and the coastal plain. The students examined the work of John James Audubon, James Prosek, and Roger Tory Peterson, and then created their own work of art that incorporated the wildlife of their respective region. Their final projects are displayed on the Park Picture billboards in the Museum Park.
• Alan Brinson, Destiny Hamilton, Amber Lane, Dane Magee, Juan Quirino, Brenna Prince, and Jo Turner, Art Department, University of Mount Olive: Vivid Coastal Plain, 2015: Seven students created the University of Mount Olive’s billboard drawing. Initially, nine drawings were created and critiqued. Then the students collaborated and included the best features of their respective works. This image, inspired by the work of James Prosek, was created with oil pastels on watercolor paper. It represents plants and animals indigenous to North Carolina’s coastal plain.
• Porsha Cox, Elizabeth Eradiri, Cianna Fisher, and St. Augustine’s University Visual Arts Department, St. Augustine’s University, Heartland, 2015: The design of Heartland grew out of the idea that the Piedmont is the geographic heart of North Carolina. Rings of images that represent the diverse life forms found in the Piedmont also describe the rings of a tree. The tree stump symbolizes both nature and humans’ impact on nature in this rapidly changing region.
• Fourth grade students at North Buncombe Elementary School taught by Marti Svoboda, eighth grade students at ArtSpace Charter School taught by Ian Canary-King, and Mark Sidelnick, UNC–Asheville Arts Education Program coordinator, Western North Carolina Natural Beauty and Cherokee Heritage, 2015: A collaborative project between North Buncombe Elementary School, ArtSpace Charter School, and UNC–Asheville, the collage depicts state symbols, imagery from Cherokee legends, and Audubon-inspired animals that recall the natural beauty and unique heritage of Western North Carolina.
