North Carolina Museum of Art

IN FOCUS: CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE ALLEN G. THOMAS JR. COLLECTION
April 3–July 17, 2005

In Focus presents more than 50 photographs by many of the best known and inventive American and international photographers working today. The works in the exhibition—in their diversity, visual impact, and with few exceptions large and colorful format—comprise a remarkable survey of contemporary photography. With In Focus the Museum presents for the first time a photography exhibition taken from a single, private collection. The exhibition is drawn from the collection of Allen G. Thomas, Jr. of Wilson, N.C. Photography is one of today’s most vital and imaginative art forms. Long removed from the days when the medium’s artistic integrity was questioned and photographs were considered more a science than an art, contemporary photographers constantly experiment with both innovative and traditional subject matter to further define the medium. In addition, many photo artists are eager to employ new technical advancements that seemingly bend the very definition of a photograph. Such imagery also creates a strong visual impact on viewers. Enhanced by their large scale, these works compete for wall space with paintings and are linked to the video arts.

Limited only by their imaginations, photo artists constantly blur the boundaries between the real and the artificial, the posed and the constructed. Unlike more overtly fictive photographs, in which technical trickery and/or blatantly staged elements distort reality, the majority of the works selected for this exhibition are an offshoot of a more traditional, captured approach to the medium. Translated to a large scale, aided by color enhancement, and often accompanied by a strong psychological component, their impact serves to make the ordinary seem extraordinary. In this exhibition viewers will encounter a number of photographic techniques, as well as styles ranging from realism and minimalism to expressionism. Equally diverse is the imagery, which has been organized in three subject categories: Place, Identity, and the Natural World.

With few exceptions, all of the works selected for the exhibition are large-scale, color photographs created during the past decade. Although more than 50 photographs by an international array of artists are presented, the selection represents only part of Thomas’s growing collection. Like all great collectors, he shows a passion for the art and has an abiding desire to learn more about the artists and their works.

Collector's Statement

Collecting art was never an intentional act. I asked my Aunt Diana years ago when she knew it was time to stop buying art. Her response was that people stop when they run out of wall space. From the beginning that never seemed to matter to me. What I like most about collecting art is the act of buying someone’s passion and being able to take a piece of it home. Meeting an artist or having a studio tour invites you to see the art through their eyes. It’s a personal, often revealing, experience. It may stem from the fact that I have absolutely no artistic abilities. I’ve tried it all: ceramics, leather, painting, screen printing, intaglio printing, and wood. I was terrible at all of them, but I was good at buying the better works from the other students who actually had some talent. In short, I was better at buying art than making it.

I started collecting contemporary photography about ten years ago, when I stumbled into a gallery in New Orleans called A Gallery for Fine Photography on Royal Street. I was immediately struck by the “reality” of photography. I was very interested, at first, in the captured moment. Now I find myself drawn to the more narrative works; staged and manipulated images fascinate me. Instead of recording history, with digital photography you can make it. The works of Anthony Goicolea, Simen Johan, and Loretta Lux are perfect examples of how artists make the unreal real.

The melding process between artist and collector is one of the great benefits of collecting. One of my favorite experiences was commissioning a handprint by the South African–born artist Gary Schneider. Although all I supplied was the hand, the process was one of my great life experiences. When I see the print now, it takes me back there, and the image takes on a life of its own.

Kate Breakey
Andrew Bush

Maria Martinez Cañas
Rineke Dijkstra
George Duncan
Adam Fuss
Anthony Goicolea
Bill Henson
Todd Hido
David Hillard
Bill Jacobson
Simen Johan
Tim Lehmacher
Carrie Levy
Loretta Lux
Sally Mann
Ryan McGinley
Andrew Moore
Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz
Vik Muniz

Jack Pierson
Orit Raff
Gary Schneider
Andres Serrano
Paul Shambroom
Alec Soth
Doug and Mike Starn
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Susan Unterberg
Terri Weifenbach

Related Events

Thursday, April 7, 3 p.m., free
Lauren Harry Ryan, Associate curator

Family Discovery Day: From Polaroids to Pixels
Saturday, May 14, 10 a.m.—3 p.m.,
Education wing, auditorium and classroom
Free programs celebrating photography that include drop-in workshops, demonstrations, displays, and a special photographic presentation by students from Southeast Raleigh High School.

Lecture
Friday, May 20, 7 p.m. Museum Auditorium, free
Museum Director Larry Wheeler will moderate a panel discussion with North Carolina collectors of photography and glass.

Exhibition Tours
Saturday April 16, 2 p.m.
Saturdays, April 23, May 28 and June 25 at 11 am, Free

Art in the Afternoon
Wednesday, May 11, 2 p.m.
Exhibition tour and refreshments

Guided Tours
Guided tours for student and adult groups of 10 or more are offered and must be scheduled at least three weeks in advance. Maximum group size is limited to 60. Tours are scheduled on the hour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday. School groups are also admitted free for self-guided visits to exhibitions; reservations for self-guided school group visits must be made at least 10 days in advance. To schedule a visit, call (919) 839-6262, ext. 2144.

Museum Hours
The North Carolina Museum of Art is open Tuesday–Thursday and Saturday from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. , Friday 9 a.m.–9 p.m. on Fridays and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Museum is closed to the public on Mondays.

NCMA DIGITAL PHOTO CONTEST

Winners are included in an online exhibition on the North Carolina Museum of Art’s website!
Click here to visit the online exhibition.

Prizes include Museum memberships for first, second and third places. All entrants included in the on-line exhibition, which opens September 30 and continues through December 31, 2005, will receive Museum exhibition tickets.

The deadline for submission was June 30, 2005. Winners will receive notification by August 31, 2005. and will be featured in an exhibition on the Museum’s Web site in the fall.

Other Information

Blue Ridge, the Museum Restaurant
Offers an innovative menu of contemporary American cuisine. The restaurant is open Tuesday–Friday, 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m.; Friday nights from 5:30 p.m.–10 p.m. (Last seating is 8:30 p.m.); Saturday brunch, 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m.; and Sunday brunch, 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

Membership
Become a part of one of the Southeast's most dynamic visual arts museums. Join and receive free tickets to all exhibitions, discounts at the Museum Store and Blue Ridge, the Museum Restaurant, and much more! For membership information call (919) 839-6262, ext. 2121.

How to Get to the Museum
From I-40, take the Wade Avenue exit to the Blue Ridge Road exit. Follow north for a half-mile. The Museum is on the right.

Gallery C presents an exhibition of original silver gelatin prints from North Carolina artist Bayard Wootten (1975-1959), one of the American South’s most significant early female photographers. On view through May 3, 2005. Visit http://www.galleryc.net/wootten.html for details.

Exploris presents Latin Jazz: La Combinación Perfecta, a bilingual exhibit from the Smithsonian. Discover the rhythms that pulsed through three continents to create an important musical expression of the world. Information: (919) 834-4040 or www.exploris.org.

For information on other art happenings visit www.raleignow.com, your all-in-one anytime resource on everything cultural in the Triangle.

Photographs from the Collection of Allen G. Thomas, Jr., from top to bottom: Rineke Dijkstra. Hilton Head, S.C., USA, June 27, 1992. 1992. Chromogenic print. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; Andrew Moore. Rule the Planet. 2002. Chromogenic print. Courtesy of the artist; Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz. Travelers LXII, 2003. 2003. Chromogenic print. Courtesy of the artist and P.P.O.W. Gallrey, New York; Sally Mann. Untitled, from the Mother Land: Virginia series. 1992. Gelatin slver enlargement print, toned with tea. Courtesy of Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York.