Columns

The Carter Collection Revisited, an exhibition that focuses on a special collection of 1970s art originally presented in honor of President Jimmy Carter, will be on display at the Georgia Museum of Art Jan. 20–March 25.

The exhibition coincides with “The Carter Presidency: Lessons for the 21st Century,” a symposium that will use the Carter presidency as a springboard for a forward-looking, critical assessment of how lessons from that administration can be applied to the nation’s current challenges.

In 1977, the museum presented the exhibition Open to New Ideas: New Art for Jimmy Carter, which was planned and organized by then-director William D. Paul, curator Ethel Moore and artists Les Levine and Dennis Oppenheim in collaboration with 30 other artists, as a tribute to President Carter, who had recently been elected to the nation’s highest office.

At the time, Levine said it was the hope and optimism of Carter that resonated with the artists: “The kind of art we make is open to new ideas; we use new materials and new approaches. Throughout the campaign and since his election, President-elect Carter has conveyed to us a similar openness to new ideas. To this we are responding with our hopes and with our more tangible gifts to his native state of Georgia.”

The Carter Collection includes photographs, drawings and multimedia works, many utilizing unconventional materials and processes, by well-known artists including Laurie Anderson, Gordon Matta-Clark, Duane Michals, Lynn Hershman and William Wegman.

Upon the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Carter’s inauguration and the presentation of this significant exhibition, the Georgia Museum of Art is reinstalling a large portion of the Carter Collection along with related objects. The works in this important collection address topics still of interest today, including issues surrounding broad public communication and political personas.

“The Carter Collection Revisited will provide an opportunity to view a significant collection of American art from the 1970s and to learn about an important event in the history of the Georgia Museum of Art,” said Ashley Callahan, curator of the museum’s Henry D. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts. “Whether seeing them again after 30 years or seeing them for the first time, visitors will be challenged and engaged by the diversity and strength of the works in the Carter Collection.”