Beverly Mc Iver at secca

william j. carpenter, Executive Director, SECCA

Since December of last year, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) has proudly exhibited Beverly McIver: Full Circle, a retrospective collection of paintings by one of North Carolina’s most talented and influential artists. The exhibition includes more than 50 works spanning a quarter century and is accompanied by pieces from McIver’s mentors and students. Hung in the intimate spaces of our Potter Gallery, the works showcase the evolution of McIver’s oeuvre and her strategies for facing vulnerability and cultivating joy.

These are deeply personal paintings, intimate and affecting, textured and layered. McIver’s style is at once bold and nuanced, bringing emotional complexity to the people and relationships she portrays. Bright color palettes and loose brushwork create depth and movement in the works, so close-up portraits capture the ways mental terrains map onto faces, while broader scenes present the motions that bind our relationships. The exhibition demonstrates over and over that personalized depictions of love, grief, depression, and joy help us remember the universality of these emotions and expand our empathy.

Beverly McIver: Full Circle is a wonderful opportunity to see the artist’s works stand in close conversational proximity to one another, which provides greater access to the motifs and themes that follow through her art. The exhibition is on display at SECCA in Winston-Salem through March 26. Admission to SECCA is always free, and we offer extended evening hours on Thursdays.