Beverly McIver: Eyes Wide Shut: New Paintings from the American Academy in Rome

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Craven Allen Gallery

BLINDING LIGHT: WHATEVER MIGHT RISE I by Beverly McIver oil on canvas 38 x 48 from the exhibition EYES WIDE SHUT Craven Allen Gallery

Last year, the Greensboro-born Duke art professor Beverly McIver was awarded the prestigious Rome Prize and set off to spend a year painting in Rome. Transplanting to Italy is a dream shared by many people, particularly those of us in thrall to Call Me by Your Name, but for McIver, the experience held particular meaning as a time to artistically reimagine herself outside of her roles as teacher, a caregiver, and “an artist living under the weight of the history of the American South.” Eyes Wide Shut features the new paintings she made at the American Academy of Rome. McIver’s oil portraiture often involves some form of mask—sunglasses, closed eyes—a continuation of a longstanding study of costuming and self-portrayal through the lenses of race, gender, and social identity. After this opening reception at Craven Allen Gallery, the exhibit is on view through January 26. —Sarah Edwards