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If you walk through the galleries at Mint Museum Randolph, the art is largely organized by region, type, or era. There are galleries for European art, African art, art of the Ancient Americas, Native American art, and decorative arts. However, within some of these galleries, there are works displayed that are "out of place" or "out of time." Interventions seek to question the past against the present by placing contemporary artworks alongside works from other eras. Below, you can read about some of the pieces that are challenging traditional, linear museum narratives in hopes of finding a more dynamic history.
Interventions: Art of the Ancient Americas Collection
The galleries for Art of the Ancient Americas contain works from 2800 BCE to 1500 CE. The term 'ancient Americas' refers to many locations, including Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador), Central America (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama), and Andean South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile). Works like effigies, pottery, incense burners, textiles, and other objects can be viewed as art to be appreciated aesthetically as well as insights into daily life in the ancient world.
"Milad creates layered two-dimensional works that are primarily paintings but that also often incorporate collage elements such as found and stenciled fabrics, notions, and pieces of paper. A daughter of immigrants—her father is Egyptian, and her mother is from the Gulf of Fonseca, a small region that is now part of Honduras—Milad’s work mines archaeological traditions of reading and trading cultural artifacts both by outsiders and those whose heritage is imbued within the artifacts. Historically, Milad has focused on her father’s Egyptian heritage; this is the first time she is investigating her mother’s." Jennifer Sudul Edwards, Mint Museum's Chief Curator & Curator of Contemporary Art
Spanish Colonial Art has a long legacy of violence, erasure, and exploitation that must be addressed. When Christopher Columbus mistakenly found the Americas in 1492, the Spanish empire quickly began a search for gold and a mission to convert native people to Christianity. The Viceroyalty of New Spain, created in 1532, took over much land in modern-day Mexico, Central America, the Southwest of the United States, the Caribbean, and Venezuela. Later, Spain created other Viceroyalties across South America. By doing so, Aztec civilization, the Inca Empire, and many other indigenous groups were forced to change or were completely eradicated.
Many objects in the Spanish Colonial Art gallery are examples of the riches Spaniards gained in the Americas. However, it is important to acknowledge the suffering and violence inflicted upon people at the time. Spaniards brought disease, forced conversions to Christianity, implemented forced labor, and created a caste system where they would always remain at the top. These histories do not only exist as remnants of the past, as the effects can still be seen in Hispanic culture today. The interventions in this space will bring new stories, ideas, and conversations to the narrative of Spanish colonization.
Chrysalis at the Altar of Change (2022) by Naudline Pierre: On Display from 2022-Present
Chrysalis at the Altar of Change (2022) is a large-scale piece that cannot be missed when passing through the gallery. The figures in the painting are mythological and present an imagined spiritual reality. The artist grew up in a Seventh-Day Adventist home and her Haitian father was a minister. Having spent her childhood in this setting, Pierre's art combines her own narrative with religious themes and traditional art history. The word 'chrysalis' in the title of this work implies a transition for the seraphs in the scene while 'altar' makes clear that it is a ritualistic one.
This intervention in the Spanish Colonial gallery leads to questions about the Spanish missionaries who forced Christianity upon people in North, Central, and South America, as opposed to Indigenous beliefs. In regard to Pierre's history, Catholicism was made the official religion of Haiti from 1697 to 1985, which led to the prevalence of Voodoo (Voudou). This religion is a diasporic one that has elements of Roman Catholicism and West and Central African spiritualities. Chrysalis at the Altar of Change does not aim to directly comment on this history, but in this space, it undoubtedly makes us wonder how Spanish colonialism still impacts our world today.
Interventions: Portals to the Past: British Ceramics 1675 – 1825
This exhibition presents over 200 examples of British ceramics. Visitors can learn about these pieces' functions, styles, manufacturing techniques, and makers. Each region or manufacturer had a unique style and method of creating ceramics, which can be seen in the wide variety of works on display. Included in the exhibition are traditional styles like blue and white Delftware, vessels made to look like vegetables or fruits, commemorative teacups, allegorical figures, decorative figurines of animals, and many more. You can view an online version of this exhibition here.
This exhibition already invites the viewer to analyze our relationship to the past by means of its title. However, in bringing contemporary pieces to this gallery, we can find new ways of looking at a medium's influence on our present-day society.
A Stage for Dessert (2022) by Chris Antemann: On Display from 2022-Present
Antemann's work proves that the art of ceramics is still relevant, but its function has changed. Her art focuses on how ceramics exist in the domestic lives of those who own them and what meanings are ascribed to them. Her style is based on that of 18th century ceramics because she believes that recreating traditions allows us to find new interpretations in the present.
This meeting of past and present is clear in Antemann's A Stage for Dessert. Numerous figures stand around at a dessert banquet in lively, lighthearted positions. However, Antemann is joking with the viewer to comment on the flirtatious, playful, or even risqué nature of the figures. What could once signify a deep meaning to a 19th century owner, such as an allegory or a representation of a season, has been adapted into a less serious object.
Unearthing Jade by Irisol González: On Display from October 2021-October 2022
Irisol González was raised in Costa Rica until age ten and then relocated to the United States. Having faced a change in geography and cultural traditions, González has researched and implemented aspects of Hispanic identity in her art. One of the most notable aspects of her art is a focus on jade, a material mined in Costa Rica as early as 500 BCE. Jade often refers to agriculture, fertility, and femininity, but it is contrasted by the idea of machismo (masculine pride) in Latin American culture. González's work aims to create a world without the harmful ideology of machismo because it leads to sexism and gender-based violence.
Most notable to this exhibition is the massive painting called Lavarse Los Manos (2020), which depicts twelve women washing their hands in a scene lush with flowers and a jade-colored surface. This work is meant to celebrate important women in González's life. The act of washing their hands is a normal and regular act, but it is also a symbolic representation of consistent care for self and others. The women depicted are powerful because they stand up for one another and serve as strong figures in González's life.
To González, objects reveal the history of their contexts and eventually become relics of certain periods. To her, using jade as a contemporary symbol maintains the original history of Costa Rica, but alters its current significance. As an immigrant woman, she finds it necessary to recontextualize traditions or symbols in order to not lose them. All the objects in the Ancient Americas gallery similarly provide insight into the past, but that doesn't mean they can't invite new themes in the present moment.
Finding the 21st century Itzamna: Julio Gonzalez and Maya Tradition: On Display from August 2020-August 2021
The artworks presented offer a new perspective on Maya culture and traditions. Julio Gonzalez was born in Atlanta to a mother of Honduran Maya descent and a father of Mexican Aztec descent, but his work focuses on the Maya side of his ancestry. In creating the pieces of this exhibition, Gonzalez looked to the ceramics in the gallery and codices in the library to find inspiration.
Archeologists estimate Maya civilization began around 600 BCE in modern-day Guatemala and expanded throughout Central America. Maya settlements were advanced in agriculture, astronomy (including the creation of the Maya calendar), pyramid construction, mathematics, and so on. The civilization peaked around 600 AD, but most cities were abandoned by 900 AD.
However, Maya culture still thrives in its descendants and can be an important part of contemporary identity. The Maya works in the galleries may suggest these traditions are of the past, people like Gonzalez still refer to Mayan objects for meaning. Additionally, the languages, customs, and rituals are still in use today. Maya culture looks different today, which is why Gonzalez's pieces reinterpret works for the 21st century. He makes graffiti instead of steles or friezes, knit hats instead of headdresses, and contemporary variations on hieroglyphs.
Guiding Winds by Rosalía Torres-Weiner: On Display from October 2022-October 2023
The intervention in this gallery is a series of works by Mexican artist Rosalía Torres-Weiner, who was born in Mexico City, but later emigrated to the United States. Her artistic practice began with mural work, but she now does traditional painting, theater performance, arts education, and augmented reality. Using the term 'Artivism,' Torres-Weiner hopes to bring change to the Latinx community by creating awareness through art. The video and articles below tell the story behind Torres-Weiner's impact in Charlotte.
All of Torres-Weiner's work is rich in iconographical references that require close looking to understand. For example, two of the most common symbols in her work are hummingbirds and butterflies, which are understood as the presence of ancestors.
Torres-Weiner has stated that she does not intend to be a storyteller, but rather that she hopes to document history and bring attention to injustices in the world. One of the most important topics in her work is the politics of deportation and the lives of undocumented children in the United States. Javier (2022), Moises (2021), and Zuleyma (2022), three of the paintings on display in this exhibition, give a voice to the dreamers. Using an augmented reality app, visitors can listen to the subjects of those paintings tell their stories. Like all of Torres-Weiner's work, these paintings are full of complex symbols, such as an American flag, a clock, targets, and smoke. You can view paintings of the Dreamers here.
Not only does Torres-Weiner's art consider the challenges of modern society, but her works are also tied back to Mexican heritage. For example, there is a canoe in the gallery that refers to Xochimilio, or floating gardens, of Mexico City. In the canoe are Torres-Weiner's grandfather's flute, photographs of her family, candles, small tables, flowers, and other pieces significant to her. Torres-Weiner believes that being with her spiritually charged pieces and the ancient artworks in the gallery can guide the viewers if they are willing to listen.
The imagery present in many of her works forces us to question how the past is a never-ending influence on the present day and how these ancestral traditions can carry meaning into Latinx culture of the 21st century. Torres-Weiner's work not only connects to her immediate familial and cultural history but also the ancient roots that have been powerful for centuries. Her work and the pieces of the Ancient Americas gallery look different but have meaningful similarities.
