What’s up this week in Charlotte’s visual arts?
As you can imagine, many museums are closed or have reduced hours over the holidays. And there definitely aren’t any opening events until after all of the New Year’s celebrations. But that’s OK – holiday breaks are the perfect time to catch up on all of the exhibitions you have missed while juggling work parties and holiday shopping.
What to see (before it closes)
▪ One exhibition we plan to take another look at is “Simple Passion, Complex Vision: The Darryl Atwell Collection” (at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture), which includes works by many prominent artists. Among them: Bethany Collins, who will be part of the new slate of resident artists at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation beginning in early January. The Gantt Center is only closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
▪ If you haven’t seen the latest exhibition at LaCa Projects, it’s worth a visit. The exhibition is part of “In Focus/Enfoque,” a multi-venue collaboration focused on contemporary Mexican photography that runs through the spring. In addition to LaCa Projects, other participants have included The Light Factory, The Mint, The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, The McColl Center for Art + Innovation, SOCO Gallery and the New Gallery of Modern Art. At LaCa, you’ll find works from Karina Juárez, Alejandra Laviada and Humberto Ríos that speak to various issues around identity and personal loss; it’s on view through Jan. 6. We also recommend visiting some of the remaining “In Focus/Enfoque” exhibitions on view, including “Paul Strand in Mexico” (at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art until Jan. 7) and “Alejandro Cartagena: Home” (at SOCO Gallery until Jan. 19).
▪ Our last recommendation is to sign up for HappeningsCLT’s tax workshop for artists and creatives, to be held from 10 a.m.-noon on Jan. 6 at Hodges Taylor Art Consultancy. The $15 registration fee will help cover some of the costs associated with bringing artist and tax expert extraordinaire Hannah Cole to Charlotte. Refreshments will be provided. Register here and email happeningsclt@gmail.com with questions.
Each week, Grace Cote and Lia Newman offer Observer readers a to-do list on immersing yourself in visual arts around town. Newman is director/curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College, Cote is senior coordinator at Jerald Melberg Gallery, and they collaborate on the blog HappeningsCLT (happeningsCLT.com).
For a seasonlong visual arts calendar, go to: www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article172583126.html.
This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 8:00 AM with the headline "What’s up this week in Charlotte’s visual arts?."