Adam Justice, Director of Galleries: adam.justice@uncc.edu
current exhibition
May All Your Fences Have a Gate
August 14-October 13
Reception and Artist Talk: October 5, 6-8 PM
Lavett Ballard is a New Jersey-based artist, art historian, curator, and author. She holds a dual BA in Studio Art and Art History with a minor in Museum Studies from Rutgers University, and an MFA in Studio Art from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has been commissioned twice as a cover artist for Time Magazine: the first for a special 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage edition released March 2020; a second in February 2023 for a cover and internal art feature inspired by the writing of Pulitzer Prize winning author Isabelle Wilkerson’s book CASTE: Origins of our Discontent.
Ballard views her works as re-imagined visual narratives of people from African descent. Her chosen imagery reflects social issues primarily focused on the roles of Black women within a historical context. Her current body of work uses collaged photos adorned with paint, oil pastels, and metallic foils. These photos are deconstructed and layered onto reclaimed wooden fences, referring to fences’ use to keep people in and out and symbolic of how racial and gender identities can do the same socially.
Ballard is jointly represented by Long-Sharp Gallery (Indianapolis/New York) and Galerie Myrtis (Baltimore).
Ballard will be present at the closing reception on October 5 and will speak about her work. The exhibition, May All Your Fences Have a Gate, is on view August 14-October 13.
(Image: We Shall Not be Moved, 2018, mixed media collage on reclaimed wood)
About the CoA+A Gallery System: The mission of the College of Arts + Architecture gallery system is to create lively forums in which the curious encounter the work of global, regional, and local artists through diverse media and dynamic exchanges that are nourished by the intellectual and creative life of the university. Our programming will echo crossovers of the visual arts, architecture, music, theatre, and dance inherent to the College of Arts + Architecture at UNC Charlotte. We seek to provide a haven for experimentation, to invigorate the environments we occupy, and to amplify the means to engage art and design in our community.
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