Our inaugural Contemporary Art Auction on Friday, March 13th will feature over 100 artworks by 20th and 21st century artists from several major North Carolina collections, including those of Dr. Larry Wheeler and Donald Doskey, Allen Thomas Jr., and Dr. Carlos Garcia-Velez and Dr. W. Kent Davis. This Contemporary Art Auction will create a locus of exchange for the robust contemporary art-collecting scene in the Southeastern United States.

The lead-up to this sale is the perfect time to explore some of the stellar contemporary art collections and special exhibits at the world-class art museums in the Southeast.

Below is a round-up of where to go to between now and the Contemporary Art Auction to immerse yourself in the best and latest in the Southeast's contemporary art scene.

The Contemporary Art Auction
Live Auction
Friday, March 13th
6:30pm (EDT)

The North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh



Scott Avett, Fatherhood, 2013, oil on canvas, 106 x 65 in., Courtesy of the artist, © 2019 Scott Avett; Photograph: Lydia Bittner-Baird
Scott Avett: I N V I S I B L E
October 12, 2019 – February 2, 2020

An exhibition of the heretofore secret visual artistic talents of modern-day Renaissance man Scott Avett, of the popular band The Avett Brothers.
William Paul Thomas, Nellie Mae's Son, 2017, oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in., Courtesy of the artist, © 2019 William Paul Thomas
Front Burner: Highlights in Contemporary North Carolina Painting
March 7, 2020 – July 26, 2020

A look at the ways in which 25 current North Carolina artists are re-interpreting the age-old art of painting and adapting the medium to their contemporary ends.
Christopher Holt with Haywood Street Beatitudes in progress, 2019, Courtesy of the artist, © 2019 Christopher Holt; Photograph: John Warner
Christopher Holt: Contemporary Frescoes/Faith and Community
March 7, 2020 – July 26, 2020

An exhibition of the large-scale drawings, intimate portraits, and studies done by artist Christopher Holt in preparation for his Haywood Street Beatitudes fresco, which he completed in Asheville in September of 2019.

The High Museum, Atlanta

Photo by Mike Jensen
Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech
Through March 8, 2020

A genre-bending journey through the artistic and commercial work of architect-turned-fashion and product-designer Virgil Abloh. Works include Abloh's recent designs for Louis Vuitton's menswear, videos of his fashion shows, as well as examples of his furniture and graphic design.
Photo by CatMax Photography, LLC
Contemporary Art in the Permanent Collection
Ongoing

Among the 15,000 works in the High's permanent collection is a substantial selection of contemporary art, featuring works by artists such as Ellsworth Kelly, Kara Walker, Sol Le Witt and many, many more.

The Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University

Odili Donald Odita, Shadow and Light (For Julian Francis Abele), 2015. Acrylic latex paint on wall, dimensions variable. Collection of the Nasher
The Odili Donald Odita Murals
Through May 27, 2020

To celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2015, the Nasher commissioned two wall murals by Philadelphia artist Odili Donald Odita, inspired by the architecture of the university and the community of Durham.
Installation view of Ebony G. Patterson . . . while the dew is still on the roses . . . , Pérez Art Museum Miami, November 2018 – May 2019. © Ebony G. Patterson. All work courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago. Photo by Oriol Tarridas.
Ebony G. Patterson.....while the dew is still on the roses......
February 27, 2020 - July 12, 2020

The most significant exhibition of this Jamaican artist's work to date, to be presented in a specially-designed environment, this show "investigates forms of embellishment as they relate to youth culture within disenfranchised communities."

Ackland Art Museum, UNC Chapel Hill

Yayoi Kusama, Japanese, born 1929, Untitled (detail), 1967, oil on masonite, 16 x 18 in. Collection of James Keith Brown ‘84 and Eric Diefenbach. ©YAYOI KUSAMA
Yayoi Kusama: Open the Shape Called Love
Through June 28, 2020

An intimate look at some of the earlier works by the famed Japanese artist, well-known for her large-scale installations. This exhibition includes works on paper, sculpture, and multi-media works, as well as a selection of the artist's "dot paintings" and "net paintings."

Marcus Kiser and Jason Woodberry, American, Project LHAXX (detail), 2019, paint, neon, television monitor, augmented reality video. Photo by Alex Maness Photography.
ART& Intergalactic Soul, “Project LHAXX”
Through June 28, 2020

A multi-media experience by the Afrofuturistic collaborative Intergalactic Soul, inspired by the life of Henrietta Lacks, the African-American woman whose cells were replicated for medical research without her knowledge or consent.

The Mint Museum, Charlotte

Studio Drift. Fragile Future 3.5, 2019, installation at the Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina. Courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at The Mint
Through April 26, 2020

Five works by the groundbreaking Dutch team Studio Drift that have been altered specifically for the Mint, and including one piece that is premiering at the museum. All the works use light sculpture to explicate the relationship between nature, technology and mankind.

Coined in the South, exhibition at the Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Coined in the South
Through February 16, 2020

The fourth annual art show of The Young Affiliates at the Mint Museum, Coined in the South showcases the talent of some of the newest contributors to the contemporary art scene working in the Southeastern United States.