MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Jan. 2, 2025) — Piedmont Arts will host an opening reception in honor of its new exhibits from 5:30-7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 24, at the museum.
Words Matter: Contemporary Native American Works on Paper underscores the richness and diversity of the contemporary Indigenous experience told through the medium of printmaking. The works are linked by the belief that words have immeasurable power, particularly when reckoning with how written language has been weaponized against Indigenous people throughout the history of the Americas.
The exhibit introduces several contemporary Native American artists, including Rick Bartow (Wiyot), Demian Diné Yazhi (Diné/Navajo), Marie Watt (Seneca), Larry McNeil (Tlingit), and others. All artists represented in the exhibition have chosen to incorporate text into their images, using the language of the colonizers of their land to tell their own stories. In this way, words play a powerful role in reclaiming a lost history and adding to the incomplete American narrative. In doing so, they also offer messages of hope, humor and resilience.
Accompanying the exhibit is a display of work by Indigenous comic book artists, writers and illustrators titled “Untold History.” These exhibits were organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Bjørn Sterri: Family Photographs, 2001-2015 is comprised of 14 framed photographs by the Norwegian artist. From 2001 to 2023, Sterri photographed his wife Alejandra and their sons Jens Linus and Pablo to create an achingly beautiful chronicle of connection, change and growth. Drawn from the first fifteen years of this work, the exhibit conveys the emotional complexity of the passage from childhood to adulthood, the challenges and joys of partnership and parenthood, and the tension between individual identity and family structure. This exhibit was organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Creating Memories Through Glass and Art featuring stained and fused glass works by Steve Eanes will be on display in the Lynwood Artists Gallery.
The opening reception is free and open to the public. Complimentary wine and light refreshments will be served. Music by Joanie McPeak. A gallery talk will be held at 6:15 p.m. RSVP required by Jan. 21 to 276.632.3221 or at PiedmontArts.org.
Exhibits will be on display Jan. 25-March 15. Exhibit admission is always free.
Exhibits and reception sponsored by Olivia and Pres Garrett, Ben Gravely, Shana and Japhet LeGrant, Lynwood Artists, and Barbara and Guy Stanley.
For more information on exhibits and events, visit PiedmontArts.org.
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