Cynthia Homire: Vision Quest opens at BMCM+AC, Jan. 24

Press release

Cynthia Homire: Vision Quest
Exhibition: Jan. 24 – May 17, 2014
Opening Reception: Friday, Jan. 24 from 5:30 – 7:30pm, FREE Admission

The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center in downtown Asheville presents the new exhibition Cynthia Homire: Vision Quest from January 24 – May 17, 2014 with a free opening reception on Friday, January 24 from 5:30 – 7:30pm. The artist will be present at the opening, and a new publication of her poems and drawings will be available to purchase.

Cynthia Homire: Vision Quest will focus on the work of poet, potter and visual artist Cynthia Homire, a Black Mountain College alumna, now in her early 80s, who has worked in a variety of media over the course of her prolific career. Homire was a student at Black Mountain College from 1950-1954, where she studied with Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and M. C. Richards, among many others. Homire describes this seminal experience with her typical humor and grace.

Yes, I have rubbed shoulders with the pantheon, a few bellies, too. Washed the floor Merce Cunningham danced on, then went leaping through his class. Jitterbugged with Rauschenberg… Shared steak with William Carlos Williams… Breakfast with Brautigan. All these things happen if you are there for them.

In addition to finding inspiration and room for experimentation at BMC, Cynthia also found her life partner there, fellow student and painter Jorge Fick (the last student to graduate from BMC). Homire and Fick opened the Fickery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe in 1972, where they made and sold stoneware for over ten years. In 1990, Homire was diagnosed with macular degeneration, inspiring a shift in her work from pottery to poetry. In 2008, she illustrated and self-published a collection of her poems, entitled Insights & Outbursts. Now in her eighties, Homire is beginning to paint, even though her vision is impaired.

The exhibition at BMCM+AC will honor Homire’s lifelong commitment to making art and share her imaginative, experimental spirit with visitors to the museum. The show will be installed at BMCM+AC from January 24-May 17, 2014, and will feature a selection of drawings, paintings, pottery and writings by Homire, spanning from her time at Black Mountain College to her present life in Taos, NM. We will produce a 48-page publication for the show, featuring reproductions of some of her drawings and a selection of Homire’s poetry.

Support for this project has been generously provided by the following: The Beattie Foundation; the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support from: Emoke B’racz, Porge Buck, The Captain’s Bookshelf, Memphis Holland, Nancy Holmes, Larry Hopkins, Ron & Linda Larsen and Virginia McKinley.