Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver Dec 11, 2011 - Jun 24, 2012
Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver celebrates the last decade of Beverly McIver’s work.
McIver, a native of North Carolina, is renowned for her expression-filled, emotive canvases that commemorate her life and the lives of those closest to her—in particular, her mother, Ethel, who passed away in 2004, and her sister, Renee, who is mentally disabled. The exhibition highlights these two subjects in McIver’s work, focusing solely on her self-portraits and on portraits of Renee and other family members. “All of my portraits are self-portraits,” says the artist. “I use the faces of others who reflect my most inner being.”
McIver is widely acknowledged as a significant presence in contemporary American art, examining racial, gender, and social identities through the lens of her own experiences as an African American female artist. The history of her family, particularly the struggles surrounding her sister’s disability and her mother’s death, allows McIver to contemplate and illustrate the complicated emotions that arise from these situations, such as depression, frustration, tender compassion, and innocent joy. (Source: ncartmuseum.org)
McIver is widely acknowledged as a significant presence in contemporary American art, examining racial, gender, and social identities through the lens of her own experiences as an African American female artist. The history of her family, particularly the struggles surrounding her sister’s disability and her mother’s death, allows McIver to contemplate and illustrate the complicated emotions that arise from these situations, such as depression, frustration, tender compassion, and innocent joy. (Source: ncartmuseum.org)