A walk through the Ackland

On a recent visit to the Ackland Art Museum to see the new exhibit"" ""Cultural Politics and Contemporary Art" I was immediately called out as a museum novice by the security guard. You've obviously never been here before" he stated bluntly, eyeing the pen in my hand. No pens in the galleries.""

While I'm actually a pretty regular patron of the Ackland" the new student-curated exhibit integrated a mix of abstract and traditional art that proved to be a very eye-opening experience.

The exhibit was put together by graduate and undergraduate students in an art class on contemporary art and politics led by professor Cary Levine.

As I entered the gallery my senses were assaulted by the menagerie of mediums and genres a bright and noisy mixture that spanned many periods of American history culture and art.

Most notably one corner of the space contained an orb onto which an eye was projected its pupil dilating as different TV clips resonated in the background.

It's a display that throws the conventional stuffy museums of the elementary-school-field-trip brand right out.

While the entire exhibit was multifaceted and thought-provoking" certain pieces were especially memorable.

Andy Warhol's unexpectedly somber photo ""Birmingham Race Riot"" evoked the tension and discomfort that challenges the viewer to face such a dark period in history.

Mabel Dwight's cartoonish ""Life Like"" examined gender through a sketch of a nude woman posing for a room full of gaping men.

As I shuffled from tapestry to painting"" the photographs of Robert Frank proved most captivating. In ""Charleston" South Carolina the wide-eyed and weary (respectively) faces of a white baby and its black caretaker juxtaposes the discrepancies in privilege that were once an integral part of the South.

Frank's Rodeo" New York City"" artfully — no pun intended — depicts the relaxed figure of a cowboy on the sidewalk of a New York City street"" an unexpected and thought-provoking subject that expands the scope of the exhibit's commentary.

The student curators of ""Cultural Politics and Contemporary Art"" compiled an exhibit that struck the right balance of realism and abstraction" accessibility and complexity.

And as I left the gallery I realized that the cultural politics addressed in the exhibit extended far beyond the confines of a small" crowded room inside the Ackland.



Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.