Artwork dictates theme for ‘Carolina Collects’

In the 1970s, Carol Cole Levin made a list of artists who inspired her.

From that list, she began her contemporary art collection.

Levin — the wife of 1948 UNC alumnus Seymour Levin — loaned three contemporary pieces to the Ackland Art Museum for its latest exhibition, “Carolina Collects.”

Though Seymour Levin is the alumnus of the pair, Carol Levin is the primary collector.

“I am an artist and a collector, and I am serious about both,” she said.

Before she began painting, Levin owned a computer software business. She sold the business in the 1980s to pursue art full time.

She said the artwork in her collections inspires her every day, especially when creating artwork of her own.

And even though many of the pieces she collects — including Marcel Duchamp’s 1947 piece “Please Touch,” Lynda Benglis’ 1993 piece “Tu-Lip Grotto” and Sam Durant’s 2006 piece “Female Indian (Nude),” which are on loan to the Ackland — are renowned pieces that could sell for high prices, Levin said she doesn’t pay attention to market value.

“As an artist, I see work differently than a collector or an art historian — I have an understanding of the process,” she said. “I have respect for artists who are willing to take risks and be vulnerable.”

Levin said the people she meets during the collecting process make her hobby worthwhile.

“They have a passion for something that is more than just a material piece,” she said.

Emily Bowles, communications director for the museum, said curator Peter Nisbet, tried to keep a diverse representation of artists and collectors in the exhibition.

But Nisbet realized that the majority of the alumni loaner collections consisted of modern and contemporary art, Bowles said.
Lauren Turner, curatorial assistant at the Ackland, said the overwhelming availability of more modern pieces helped hone in on a definite theme for “Carolina Collects.”

“The exhibit would be strongest and create more of a cohesive narrative if we focused on contemporary art,” she said.

The exhibition consists of 90 works of contemporary art spanning from 1875 to 2011, all donated from the collections of University alumni.

Bowles said the majority of the exhibition’s pieces have been unavailable to a larger audience because they’ve primarily been in collectors’ homes.

“It’s art that people live with,” she said. “It’s on a livable scale.”

Several collectors will come to campus to give lectures about art collecting before the exhibition closes in December.

Levin said she is thrilled to be part of an exhibition that focuses on contemporary art.

“It’s great,” she said, “that everyone in Chapel Hill gets a chance to see art that reflects who we are now.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.