Coined In The South: 2024 Biennial
For the third time, the Mint Museum mounted its Coined in the South: 2024 Biennial which showcases 49 of the top contemporary artists throughout Southern United States. I am deeply honored to participate in this important and inspiring exhibition and thank the curators, installation team and sponsors who made this show so outstanding.
This show has been likened to the Art Basel north and it’s sponsored by the Young Affiliates of the Mint (YAM) an arm of the Museum which brings art and culture to youth in the greater Charlotte region of North Carolina. The Mint is the first art museum in North Carolina (true fact!). Co-Chairs Patwin Lawrence and Makayla Binter did a spectacular job pulling together all the loose threads for this show.
The states included in this exhibition are North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The three jurors were Dr. Marshall Price, Chief Curator at the Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, North Carolina; Dr. Victoria Ramirez, Executive Director of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and Stephanie J. Woods, Artist and Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico. The jurors chose 49 artists out of 650 applicants which must have been a very difficult process. Then, Jonathan Stuhlman, Ph.D., Senior Curator of American Art at the Mint Museum stepped in and miraculously designed a gorgeous and cohesive exhibition.
Ropa Arco Iris, one of my huipil-inspired pieces, will be on view at the Mint from December 12th through April 27, 2025. This piece is part of a large body of contemporary textile artwork that focuses on environmental issues.
The feathers in this wall-hung artwork are made from fused, recycled plastic which has the weight, texture and appearance of heavy handmade paper. All of the feathers are screen printed with images of endangered birds, the drawings of which are the cornerstone of my art practice. Some of the feathers are overprinted with endangered languages like the Yiddish and Shorthand of my youth, and my parents’ mother tongue. The dimensions of Ropa Arco Iris are 53” x 45” x 2”.
As I researched threatened and endangered birds, I learned that the same factors that were impacting birds, human-induced climate change and habitat fragmentation, were also affecting indigenous languages around the world.
I have harnessed my decorative arts background (I studied textile design at FIT) with my environmental concerns to create a large body of artwork that manages to be both beautiful and disturbing.
If you are in Charlotte, North Carolina, don’t miss this fantastic show. If you want to see more of my feathered artwork, catch my solo exhibition at the Block Gallery in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Let me know when you’re coming and I’ll try and meet you at the gallery!
RESOURCES:
Deborah Kruger Website: https://deborahkruger.com
Deborah Kruger Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborahkrugerstudios/
Mint Museum: https://www.mintmuseum.org/exhibition/coined-in-the-south-2024/
Solo show in Raleigh: https://deborahkruger.com/2turbulence-birds-beauty-language-loss/