Black Mountain College and Mexico

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

June 2 – September 9, 2023

Left: Gabriel Orozco, Isadora’s Necklace, 2003. Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, NY. Right: Anni Albers, Knot 2, 1947. Courtesy The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany, CT.

Black Mountain College had important links to Mexico that until now have been little investigated. Two crucibles of 20th-century creativity, BMC galvanized and inspired artists and intellectuals from around the world, while Mexico’s innovations and age-old traditions—in fine and applied arts, architecture, poetry, music, performance, and more—dovetailed with, and indeed drove, global impulses toward modernism and beyond. Among the many key BMC figures whose lives were importantly touched by experiences in Mexico were Anni and Josef Albers, Ruth Asawa, John Cage, Jean Charlot, Buckminster Fuller, Carlos Mérida, Robert Motherwell, Charles Olson, Clara Porset, M. C. Richards, and Aaron Siskind. In turn, engagements with BMC have played a role in shaping contemporary approaches to art making in Mexico; BMC/MX features work by numerous Mexican artists who have in some way responded to this legacy.

The project Black Mountain College and Mexico examines these artistic reciprocities. The exhibition includes original visual works and sound installations by prominent contemporary Mexican artists alongside vintage works by BMC artists and relevant archival materials—all highlighting the ways in which ideas and modalities are translated across materials, space, and time. Related programming, collaboratively conceived with Mexican counterparts and the Latinx community of North Carolina, includes “Bizarre Sabado:” a series of weekend presentations and performative actions taking place over the course of the exhibition.

Black Mountain College and Mexico offers new historical research and a significant effort toward inclusion and understanding of multiple perspectives. In short, the project is an investigation into modes of communication—the arenas in which new ideas and alliances may take form.

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Black Mountain College y México tienen vínculos importantes que han sido poco investigados. Ambos contextos son crisoles de la creatividad del siglo XX. BMC inspiró a artistas e intelectuales de todo el mundo, mientras que las innovaciones y tradiciones de México—en bellas artes y artes aplicadas: arquitectura, poesía, música, interpretación y más, para crear impulsos globales hacia el modernismo y más allá. Entre las muchas figuras clave de BMC cuyas vidas se vieron afectadas de manera importante por las experiencias en México se encuentran Anni y Josef Albers, Ruth Asawa, John Cage, Jean Charlot, Buckminster Fuller, Carlos Mérida, Robert Motherwell, Charles Olson, Clara Porset, M. C. Richards y Aaron Siskind. A su vez, los compromisos con BMC han desempeñado un papel en la configuración de los enfoques contemporáneos de la creación artística en México; BMC/MX presenta el trabajo de numerosos artistas mexicanos que de alguna manera han respondido a este legado.

El proyecto Black Mountain College y México examina estas reciprocidades artísticas. La exposición incluye obras visuales originales e instalaciones de sonido de artistas mexicanos contemporáneos junto con obras antiguas de artistas de BMC y materiales de archivo relevantes, todos destacando las formas en que las ideas y las modalidades se traducen a través de los materiales, el espacio y el tiempo. La programación relacionada, concebida en colaboración con sus homólogos mexicanos y la comunidad latinx de Carolina del Norte, incluye “Bizarre Sábado”: una serie de presentaciones de fin de semana y acciones performativas que se llevan a cabo durante el transcurso de la exposición.

Black Mountain College y México ofrece nueva investigación histórica y un esfuerzo significativo hacia la inclusión y comprensión de múltiples perspectivas. En resumen, el proyecto es una investigación sobre los modos de comunicación, las arenas en las que pueden tomar forma nuevas ideas y alianzas.

Curated by Eric Baden (Project Director), David Miranda, and Diana Stoll

Eric Baden is a photographer and from 1994 to 2022 was professor of photography at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. He is the founding director of photo+, a multidisciplinary arts event held in Asheville, North Carolina.

 Artist and educator David Miranda is curator at the Museo Experimental El Eco (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM), and teaches at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado “La Esmeralda” in Mexico City.

Diana Stoll is an editor, writer and curator who works with institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has served as an editor at Aperture and Artforum magazines, and contributes writings to prominent arts publications.

Related Programs:

Opening Reception for BMC/MX
Friday, June 2, 2023 – 5:30–8pm
@ Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street, Asheville, NC}

David Miranda: Open Studio & Theorem of Apocryphal Manifestos
Tuesday, May 30th – Thursday, June 1, 2023 from 1-4pm @ REVOLVE {821 Riverside Dr. #179}
+ Saturday, June 3rd, 2023 at 8PM @ DIFFERENT WRLD {701 Haywood Rd Suite 101}
Drawing from poems and paintings published in the bilingual quarterly El Corno Emplumado / The Plumed Horn, Mexican artist David Miranda creates a sound sequence that pays homage to the poets who shared their work in a creative exchange between Mexico and the United States.

Curators’ Talk with Eric Baden, David Miranda, and Diana Stoll, with special guests, visiting artists Lake Verea (Francisca Rivero-Lake Cortina and Carla Verea Hernández)
Saturday, June 3, 2023 – 11am
@ Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street, Asheville, NC}

Bizarre Sábado
During the course of the exhibition, BMCM+AC will host a series of experiential art events. These “Bizarre Sábado” happenings are inspired by Mexico City’s Bazaar Sábado, the innovative gathering place and crafts market first organized in 1960 by BMC alum Cynthia Sargent and her husband Wendell Riggs. The Bazaar Sábado continues to this day.

Bizarre Sábado 1
Theorem of Apocryphal Manifestos, performative action by David Miranda
Saturday, June 3, 2023 – 8pm
@ Different Wrld {701 Haywood Road, Suite 101, Asheville, NC}

Bizarre Sábado 2
Chat with Curator Eric Baden / Charla con curador Eric Baden / ¡Hola! Asheville Festival
Saturday, June 10, 2023 – 2–5pm
@ Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street, Asheville, NC}

Bizarre Sábado 3: Saturday, June 17, 2023 – 1–5pm
@ Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center Library {120 College Street, Asheville, NC}
Explore Kaleidicoconcepts with Kaylee Dunn and Katrina Ohstrom

Bizarre Sábado 4: Saturday, July 1, 2023 – 1–5pm
@ Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center Library {120 College Street, Asheville, NC}
Experiments in collage and sound with Jess Speer and Lex Turnbull

Bizarre Sábado 5: Saturday, July 15, 2023 – 1–5pm
Workshops + installations with School of the Alternative 
@ Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street, Asheville, NC}

The Ties That Bind: a Shared Belief in Community
School of the Alternative is a radical-art-school-meets-artist-residency, building and sustaining an experimental community of non-hierarchical learning each May in Black Mountain, North Carolina. SotA weaves alternative pedagogy together with communal living and making. The strong ties and relationships built over a single session, and over the last 6 years of building this organization, can be seen in the installation: the scene is papered with posters and ephemera from community members who traveled to Black Mountain from across the globe. SotA will also offer a small taste of their session through pop-up classes that anyone can join in on. Last, SotA is offering a listening station, with the hope of de-mystifying this kind of work, for which they asked their own + outside facilitators to speak to the work of creating alternative art spaces and residencies today.

1:45-2:45 CLASS
Bob and Weave: An improv exploration grounded in 13 Changes by Pauline Oliveros

3:00-4:00 CLASS
Fabric bonds: DIY screenprinting to make your textiles your own. BYO item to print on! (a tote, a shirt, a piece of fabric, etc). We will have paper on hand as well!

Ongoing: LISTENING STATION
The Back Side of the Tapestry:
Conversation project around running and creating radical art communities

Ongoing: INSTALLATION
Cats Cradle: Interactive installation of SotA ephemera

Bizarre Sábado 6: Saturday, July 29, 2023 – 1–5pm
Interactive installations with Different Wrld
@ Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street, Asheville, NC}
Wearable art pieces and paper dolls made with materials extricated from the waste of a modern consumer.
With Juliana Chimoa, Garnet Fisher, Maxwell Sauls, and Honey Simone.

Intermediate Spanish Tour and Conversation / Recorrido y conversación
Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 5:30 – 6:30pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street}
Free to Attend

Hosted in partnership with the Pack Memorial Library Spanish Language Conversation Practice Group, join us for a short guided tour and open conversation about the exhibition Black Mountain College and Mexico.

Bizarre Sábado 7
Noche Negra: Algunas Fotógrafas en México / Some Women Photographers in Mexico
A Presentation by BMC/MX Project Director Eric Baden
Thursday, August 17, 2023 – 8pm
@ Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street, Asheville, NC}
An evening presentation of works by twenty women photographers closely associated with Mexico. Spanning a century to include the present day, the works of these photographers resonate with contemporary issues in the arts and speak to broader cultural, societal, and political concerns. Linkages to Black Mountain College will be highlighted.

Bizarre Sábado 8
Zine Release Celebration and Presentation of selected works from the Abraham Cruzvillegas Call for Art
Saturday, September 2, 2023 – 1–8pm
@ Lamplight AVL {821 Haywood Rd. Asheville, NC}
As part of the BMC/MX project, students and artists have been invited to engage creatively with visual prompts offered by Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas. Images of the resulting artworks will be compiled into a zine (available at BMCM+AC in September 2023), and selected works will be on display at Lamplight AVL on September 2.  

Special thanks to: