“Ray Spillenger: Rediscovery of a Black Mountain Painter” exhibit opens Jan. 22

PRESS RELEASE:

Ray Spillenger: Rediscovery of a Black Mountain Painter
Exhibition: January 22, 2016 – May 21, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, January 22 from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m., FREE Admission
Curated by Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins Jr., Curator of American Art, Emeritus, Harvard Art Museums
Gallery talk by the curator at 6:45 p.m., January 22, 2016

The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center in downtown Asheville presents the new exhibition Ray Spillenger: Rediscovery of a Black Mountain Painter from January 22 – May 21, 2016 with a free opening reception on Friday, January 22 from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. There will be a gallery talk by curator Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. at 6:45 p.m. during the opening reception. A 72-page, full-color catalogue will be available to purchase.

On Saturday, January 23rd at 11:00 a.m. there will be a public discussion to explore Ray Spillenger’s paintings, story, and legacy. Participants will include exhibition curator Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. and the artist’s son Paul Spillenger. The discussion will be moderated by Brian E. Butler, Thomas Howerton Professor of Humanities, UNC Asheville. This special event is FREE for BMCM+AC members + students with ID / $5 for non-members.

Ray Spillenger: Rediscovery of a Black Mountain Painter features early and mid-career work by this gifted painter and former student at Black Mountain College (Summer 1948). Much of the work in the exhibition was created just after Spillenger’s summer at Black Mountain College where he studied with Willem de Kooning and Josef Albers, among others. After leaving Black Mountain College, Spillenger later moved to New York City, where he became a member of “the Club,” Cedar Tavern regular, and friend to Abstract Expressionist luminaries including Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Philip Guston. Despite significant contributions to the formation of the New York School, Spillenger did not find commercial and critical success: he was pushed to the margins of the art market during his lifetime, then into the shadows of art history. Ray Spillenger: Rediscovery of a Black Mountain Painter invites a re-examination of 20th-century American art history through a corpus of work made privately and never shown to the public. A 72-page, full color catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

Additional Programming:

PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Saturday, January 23, 11:00 a.m.
Join us for a fascinating discussion between Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins Jr., curator of RAY SPILLENGER: Rediscovery of a Black Mountain Painter, and Paul Spillenger, the artist’s son. Moderated by Brian E. Butler, UNC Asheville Howerton Distinguished Professor in the Humanities.
Free BMCM+AC members + students w/ID / $5 non-members

PRESENTATION + BOOK LAUNCH
Thursday, March 3, 7:00 p.m.
It’s been over sixty-five years since Jerrold Levy and Richard Negro composed, circulated, and performed Poems by Gerard Legro on the campus of Black Mountain College. Long forgotten in an archival box, the previously unpublished collaboration is now in print for the first time. Dr. Alessandro Porco will discuss the history of Poems by Gerard Legro and read a short selection from the book.
Free Admission

PERFORMANCES – Interlude
Interlude is a month-long series of performances and pop-up art events in our Broadway Arts District neighborhood throughout April. For specific info check our website: www.blackmountaincollege.org.

PERFORMANCES – Faust Foutu
April 15, 16 (at Toy Boat Community Art Space); April 22, 23, 30 + May 1 (at BMCM+AC)
In collaboration with Anam Cara Theatre Company, we present Robert Duncan’s Faust Foutu, an experimental exploration of the artist’s dilemma, drawing upon the Faust legend and set in the milieu of the 1950s avant-garde.
All shows at 8:00 p.m. except for May 1 at 2:00 p.m.
$15 in advance / $18 at the door / $10 for BMCM+AC members + students (BMCM+AC performances only)

POETRY READING
Saturday, May 7, 8:00 pm
Sandburg and the American South
Organized by poet and educator Eric Steineger, and with poets Catherine Carter, Tim Earley, Richard Garcia, Laura Hope-Gill, and David Hopes, this evening of poetry is themed around the writer Carl Sandburg and his principles including humanitarianism, civil rights, nature, the working class, and industrialization.
$5 for BMCM+AC members / $8 for non-members