“Little of artistic merit was made south of Baltimore,” a curator for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art once wrote in 1949. Despite that quote being from over a half-century ago, and despite the growth of scholarship on Southern art, more art museums in the South, and more exhibitions and publications on Southern artists, this sentiment carries weight — a certain lack of appreciation for Southern arts is evident in the narrative of American art history. But the Dixon Gallery & Gardens’ latest exhibition “Southern/Modern: 1913-1955” seeks to counteract that.
As Julie Pierotti, the Dixon’s Martha R. Robinson curator, says, “This exhibition and the publication that goes along with it are making a really big statement. They are refuting the last 100 years of American art history that has largely helped the mindset that nothing worth looking at has been made in the South, and this exhibition says, actually, yes, there are some really consequential artists that either came from here or came through the South or looked to the South for their subject matter and for their inspiration.”
Organized by The Mint Museum, in Charlotte, North Carolina, the exhibit was 10 years in the making, Pierotti says. “It was narrowed down to 105 objects, but an important thing to know is that there are many Souths and there are many modernisms, from the Atlantic coast to states bordering the Mississippi River, as far west as Arkansas and Louisiana.”
For the show, the pieces are arranged into themes, from art reflecting religion and rituals, to pieces observing Southern landscapes, to works responding to current events and social issues. The exhibit doesn’t shy away from South’s dark side of racism and violence, Pierotti says, but it also includes moments of celebration and community.
“It’s a little bit of everything in the show,” she adds. “There’s a lot to take in. It’s a big story. There’s a lot to learn in the exhibition.”
The show even includes a few local names like Carroll Cloar, Burton Callicott, and Ted Faiers. “So our own history in the Mid-South plays into the larger story of the exhibition, which is really great,” Pierotti says.
That story continues into the present with the Dixon’s complementary exhibit “2023 Wilson Fellowship,” which features work produced out of a partnership between the Arkansas town of Wilson and the Dixon. Wilson, Pierotti explains, has been looking to enhance its arts scene, and so the collaboration brought about a fellowship, through which artists stay in Wilson for 60 days and take inspiration from the town for their art.
The first cohort — Danny Broadway, Claire Hardy, Thad Lee, and John Ruskey — have the fruits of their fellowship on display now at the Dixon. “The works of art that came out of it are just awesome,” Pierotti says. “They really capture the soul of Wilson.”
“Southern/Modern: 1913-1955” and “2023 Wilson Fellowship: Danny Broadway, Claire Hardy, Thad Lee, and John Ruskey,” Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park Avenue, On display through September 29.