^[1]Mooresville Artist Guild ^[2] has put out a call for entries to its 2013 Photography Show, which will run July 9-26 at the Historic Depot Gallery in downtown Mooresville. This year’s judge will be by Byron Baldwin, a college and high school photography teacher for 35 years and a founding member of The Light Factory in Charlotte.

Entries will be accepted at the Depot July 6-7, and the opening reception is July 12 from 6-8 pm. Categories are black and white, color and mixed media (photography combined with another medium).  A complete prospectus and entry form can be found on the Mooresville Artist Guild website at http://www.magart.org/ ^[2].  Questions? Call Rachel Goldstein at 704-534-0503 or email Rachel.lgoldstein9@gmail.com ^[3]

Baldwin’s work is included in the collections of the High Museum, Bank of America, the Library of Congress, and more. Some of his work and history may be seen at http://byronbaldwinphotography.com/. ^[4]

MINT OPENS EXHIBIT OF AMERICAN ART FRIDAY

CHARLOTTE – An exhibition with richly-painted depictions of daily life created during the transformative years prior to the American Civil War will open at Mint Museum Randolph June 29, accompanied by special community events, including a Friday reception and opening.

The exhibition, “New Eyes on America: The Genius of Richard Caton Woodville,” ^[5] will premiere locally at a First Look Friday at 6:30pm on Friday, June 28, which is free to Mint members and $15 for non-members and features gallery tours, complimentary hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, and more.

On Saturday, June 29, the community is invited to a FREE Community Wellness Day, sponsored by Novant Health with additional support from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Wellness-themed activities including dancing, lawn games, children’s hand-washing demonstrations, and healthy picnicking will take place from 11am-3pm on the lawn in front of Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road, and museum admission is free to both Mint locations for the day. More information about all special events is available at mintmuseum.org/happenings ^[6].

During a tragically short career, the Baltimore-born and European-trained Richard Caton Woodville (1825–55) engaged with issues that dominated American society, including war, intergenerational communication, and new technologies such as the telegraph and penny press. Woodville was born of a prominent Baltimore family and trained in Düsseldorf, Germany. He conducted much of his professional career in Germany, France, and Great Britain. This is the first monographic Woodville exhibition since 1967. It premiered at The Walters Art Museum, which organized the exhibition, earlier this year.

The exhibition includes 15 of Woodville’s 16 known paintings, several of which have never been on view, as well as prints, illustrated books, and other related works of art to place his career in historical context. Woodville left behind no written archives; however, his work was highly acclaimed and widely disseminated through premium prints sent to thousands of subscribers to the American Art-Union, a national art membership organization. His beautifully painted, highly detailed canvases examining popular subjects played an important role in the extraordinary increase in visual imagery available to a broad American audience during his lifetime.

“This is the first special exhibition of paintings at Mint Museum Randolph since 2010,” said Jonathan Stuhlman, the museum’s Curator of American Art. “It is an honor to be able to share these iconic paintings with our visitors and for the Mint to have been chosen as the only venue in the country for this engaging show after the organizing institution.”

The scenes Woodville depicts are subtle yet revealing of human foibles, rendered on a small scale but addressing the larger events unfolding outside the scenes of daily life, including the politics of manifest destiny, the power shift from the Revolutionary to the Jacksonian generation, and the issues of slavery, war, and class difference. Although prevalent at this time, Woodville avoids the stereotyping and caricature of African American figures who are often observers to the central narratives. The installation also features a unique interactive “parlor” area, in which visitors can participate in activities popular during Woodville’s era, including making shadow puppets, playing with puzzle cubes and other handheld games, and looking at stereoscopic views.

The exhibition was organized by The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, with generous grant support from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

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Photo by Matthew Brandt, from the series “Lakes and Reservoirs, Klamath Lake, OR 2,” 2009, Chromogenic print soaked in Klamath Lake water. (CAM Raleigh)

PHOTO EXHIBIT AT CAM IN RALEIGH

CAM Raleigh presents “Currents – Photographs from the collection of Allen Thomas Jr.” ^[8] opening this Friday, June 28, from 6-8 p.m. Currents is curated by Nils Ericson and features nine photographers: Michele Abeles, Matthew Baum, Matthew Brandt, Debbie Grossman, Carolyn Janssen, Maciek Jasik, Sarah Anne Johnson, Chris McCaw and Arne Svenson.

Here’s a description from CAM:

There is very little straight photography here. The closest examples, images by Arne Svenson2 and Matthew Baum, are so imbued with atmosphere, so emotionally charged by their historical context and/or subject matter3, and so painterly in execution and exhibition, their straightforward photographic nature hardly seems to apply. Their manipulation lies in tone, purpose, and meaning.

The other artworks, whether digital or analog, have taken that gap and interpreted it in a more physical way. The subject matter is largely landscape, including the body as such, and the artists attack its representation via color, space, focus, and authenticity.

CAM is at 409 W. Martin St., Raleigh. More information at http://camraleigh.org/visit/ ^[9]