Mint Museum’s ‘Coined in the South’ showcases innovative work by 45 Southern artists

What does it take to get your art into a juried exhibition at the Mint Museum?

That question isn’t as easy to answer as it may seem, but the 64 works on display in the Mint Museum Uptown’s “Coined in the South” exhibition were whittled down from 2,000 submissions. That means the 45 artists had a slim chance of getting a work accepted.

This juried exhibition is the fourth put on by Young Affiliates of the Mint and word is out about it. This year, the museum took more ownership allowing the exhibition to take place in a prominent space and, for the first time, there were also prizes. Awards totaled $16,000.

The title, “Coined in the South,” has two meanings. It refers to the museum’s history as a mint. (The museum’s Randolph Road building was once the original branch of the United States Mint.) The title also defines the scope of the show: All the artists have a geographical connection to the South.

The jurors who chose the pieces for this year’s event were Adam Justice, Director of Galleries at UNC Charlotte, Jonell Logan, an independent curator based in Charlotte, and Marilyn Zapf, Assistant Director and Curator at the Center for Craft in Asheville. Working together, they chose works by artists ranging in age from 23 to 82 who use every media imaginable.

Innovative works

The Young Affiliates say the exhibition’s purpose is “to bridge the gap between the museum, the gallery and the studio and to showcase fresh and innovative works.”

Innovation is prevalent. While two-dimensional works carry the bulk of the show, there is an abundance of unconventional material on view. Upon first walking in, visitors will see works that include a lock of hair, a chain, a saw, and a blanket, to name a few.

One example: Katie St. Clair’s “Wayside: Charlotte.” This piece began as five colored ice spheres hanging from the ceiling above a primed white canvas. Each orb encapsulated debris that St. Clair collected from around the city. Throughout the day of the opening, the colored water slowly dripped onto the canvas, creating an abstract watercolor. As the ice melted it released and dropped the debris.

“Wayside: Charlotte” is part of a series in which St. Clair collects, freezes, and melts debris from one location in an attempt to tell the story of a place. The canvas, which is the leftover remnant, is not the point; it is merely a byproduct of a performance she sets in motion.

St. Clair said she can try to control what the canvas will look like, but success with this has varied. “Sometimes the ideas come through how you expect,” she said, “and sometimes they do something you didn’t expect at all.”

Johannes Barfield

While St. Clair won the $5,000 Young Affiliates of the Mint Choice Award, the $10,000 Best in Show Award went to Johannes Barfield of Winston-Salem. His “The Green House on Cornell Blvd.” celebrates his family and “touches on elements of his personal history and growing up as an African-American in the South,” said Jonathan Stuhlman, Senior Curator of American, Modern & Contemporary Art at the Mint.

Barfield’s work is a blanket printed with a profile image of his cousin Nakesha, with a long length of yellow cloth cascading down from her neck. To sully the cloth, he used red clay from Winston-Salem and liquid polymer asphalt.

“I have a vivid childhood memory about her and playing outside and getting our clean clothes covered in red North Carolina clay and getting into so much trouble,” Barfield said.

The $1,000 People’s Choice Award will be announced later. Visitors to the exhibition can submit votes on a device in the gallery through Dec. 31.

The artist’s voice

Museums and galleries have different practices when it comes to wall labels posted next to art. The labels at this exhibition include a lot of information. Stuhlman said that decision was intentional.

“We really wanted to give the artists voices and find ways for viewers to connect with them,” Stuhlman said.

Labels have an image of the artist and list where they are from, a social media handle, and a description of the work in the artist’s own words.

These artist statements vary, each landing somewhere between explanatory and poignant. All are worth reading.

One of the most brief stands out. Regarding his photograph “Father of Man,” Ken West wrote: “Fatherhood is a symptom of time. That time takes on a significance of its own when it’s cut short.”

Local artists

Artist Susan Brenner explained her work with equal parts brevity and openness. Her work, “The State of Things,” is from an ongoing series. It’s an abstract mix of color and lines whose form comes from digitally manipulated photographs of scrap metal heaps.

To Brenner, the works stand as a symbol of over-consumption and chaos. It “represents my uneasiness in response to the rapid change, constantly unfolding tragedies, and seeming chaos of the world,” she wrote.

Asked about the juried exhibition, Brenner said: “I’m glad the Mint is engaging with the local and regional art community and is willing to show what we have to offer here.”

‘Coined in the South’

What: Young Affiliates of the Mint host their fourth annual juried art show featuring 64 works from artists from across the South.

Where: Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St.

When: Now through Feb. 16. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Details: Mintmuseum.org

This story is part of an Observer underwriting project with the Thrive Campaign for the Arts, supporting arts journalism in Charlotte.

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This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 6:00 AM.