You may have seen the slim young man with the towering turban. He’s been around Raleigh for years–born and raised there. You may have noticed his calm demeanor, his gliding way of walking, his unexpectedly penetrating gaze. But you may not have realized that this was the artist whose “Eye Gumbo” has appeared regularly in […]
Kate Dobbs Ariail
Bio: Kate Dobbs Ariail writes about the arts.
Posted inArt
Breaking out of the Box
I‘m hardly a Luddite, but there is something about exhibitions of film and video art that makes me want to run amok and break things. The current exhibition, Illuminations, at the Ackland Art Museum, while not as provoking as some, does make me want to take away the video cameras and the computer animation software […]
Posted inArt
Source imagery
Andrea Gomez is fearless. No, that’s not quite right. She has many fears, which she examines pitilessly, then steps over in her pursuit of knowledge and understanding through painting. The paintings’ startling perspectives and Fauvelike brilliance of color might make her seem bolder than she is, and the ambitious nature of her undertaking might seem […]
Posted inArt
O Pioneers
For years, there’s been talk about revitalizing downtown Durham, and numerous large, publicly supported projects have been undertaken for that purpose: the renovation of the Durham Arts Council (DAC) building and the Carolina Theatre; the building of the hotel-civic center complex; the re-opening of the Armory to public use; and the construction of the ballpark. […]
Posted inArt
Local light
One of the weaknesses in the Triangle visual arts scene has long been the paucity of curated exhibitions of locally produced art in the top tier of museums and galleries. A fair number of artist-organized individual and themed shows and one-person shows at commercial galleries exist, but there aren’t that many exhibitions put together by […]
Posted inArt
Women and girls
The relations between mother and daughter form one of humanity’s great subjects–one that is remarkably little treated in the visual arts, although it often inspires literature. The mother and child theme in serious visual art more frequently looks at the boy child, and leaves the women with girls to the hands of the sentimentalists and […]
Posted inArt
The Twilight of Tobacco
Durham County tobacco farmers Ronald and Patricia Russell believe they are the last generation that will farm the family land with tobacco, or with any crop at all. In the back area off the main Durham Art Guild gallery, an intriguing small exhibition is named for their plight: Last Generation pairs 27 photographs by Cathyrn […]
Posted inGuides
Old Buildings, New Uses
Durham is not a particularly old town, but it has a certain type of history built into its very physical structure, as well as underlying many of its institutions. That is the history of the tobacco industry. Whatever we may feel about tobacco today, there is no denying that it has made Durham what it […]
Posted inArt
Telling fortunes at Artspace
Artspace has its ups and downs like anyplace else, but you’ve got to give the artists and administrators there a big A for consistent effort. One of the things this democratically run organization does is to organize exhibitions proposed by member artists and accepted by a relevant committee. Sometimes these flop, but often the ideas […]
Posted inNews
Beyond all that
Lucky Strike, don’t strike back. … This phrase from a childhood game floated into my consciousness during the Durham City Council meeting on April 3, as I listened to the undiluted praises for Capitol Broadcasting Corp.’s plans for redevelopment of the former American Tobacco campus. When it came to the vote on a resolution of […]