Asheville Art Museum - North Carolina museum exhibiting 20th century American art

Sherrill Roland
On view through March 20—Asheville-born interdisciplinary artist Sherrill Roland’s socially driven practice draws upon his experience with wrongful incarceration for a crime he did not commit and seeks to open conversations about how we care for our communities and one another with compassion and understanding.
Sherrill Roland: Sugar, Water, Lemon Squeeze >
Too Much Is Just Right
On view through May 29—Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration features more than 70 artworks in an array of media from both the original time frame of the Pattern and Decoration movement, as well as contemporary artworks created between 1985 and the present.
Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration >
Pulp Potential
On view through July 24—the works in this exhibition reveal the breadth of possibilities and unique qualities that exist when artists choose to employ and even create handmade paper. From the colored paper of Sol Lewitt’s Eight Pointed Stars to the work of artists like Paul Wong and Nancy Cohen made in collaboration with the preeminent handmade paper studio Dieu Donné, paper is transformed from support to conceptual center.
Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper >
Minds, Bodies, and Spirits
We are pleased to present the Digital Exhibition Minds, Bodies, and Spirits: Black Mountain College and the Beats of the North Beach Scene 1953–1960 organized by Jordan Wolfe, spring 2022 Curatorial Intern. This exhibition follows select artists from their time at Black Mountain College through their early years in the Beat scene of 1950s San Francisco.
View now! >
Luzene Hill
On view through May 15—an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Luzene Hill advocates for Indigenous sovereignty—linguistically, culturally, and individually. This exhibition combines Hill’s use of mylar safety blankets alongside recent drawings. Capes constructed of mylar burst with energy and rustle with subtle sound, the shining material a signifier of care, awareness, displacement, and presence.
Luzene Hill: Revelate >
Visit Our Online Collection
People world-wide can now explore the Museum’s diverse Collection of 20th- and 21st-century American art online from the comfort of their homes.
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Coming Up

Game Day: Perspective Café
Sunday, Mar 26, 2023

Join Us This Sunday for a Traditional Game Day. Sunday Funday the Old-Fashioned Way! The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang! 

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Pressures by Ed Ruscha
March 14, 2023

A key figure in the California Pop art movement, Ed Ruscha’s art is laced with humor and irony because, as he has said, “Art has

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The Museum’s galleries, the Museum Store, and Perspective Café are open to the public. Pre-purchased online tickets and walk-in tickets are available. Tickets are non-refundable.

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Current Exhibitions

Too Much Is Just Right

February 2, 2023–May 29, 2023
Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration features more than 70 artworks in an array of media from both the original time frame of the Pattern and Decoration movement, as well as contemporary artworks created between 1985 and the present. The artworks in this exhibition demonstrate the vibrant and varied approaches to pattern and decoration in art. Sections will explore the history of pattern and decoration’s use in American art during and after the now formally recognized movement was established. Artworks from the 21st century elucidate contemporary perspectives on the employment of pattern to inform visual vocabularies and investigations of diverse themes in the present day. 

Sherrill Roland

November 18, 2022–March 20, 2023
Asheville-born and Raleigh-Durham-based interdisciplinary artist Sherrill Roland’s socially driven practice draws upon his experience with wrongful incarceration for a crime he did not commit and seeks to open conversations about how we care for our communities and one another with compassion and understanding. Through his work, Roland engages visitors in dialogues around community, social contract, identity, biases, and other deeply human experiences. Comprised of artwork created from 2016 to the present, Sherrill Roland: Sugar, Water, Lemon Squeeze reflects on making something from nothing, lemonade from lemons, the best of a situation.

Luzene Hill

January 27, 2023 – May 15, 2023
An enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Luzene Hill advocates for Indigenous sovereignty—linguistically, culturally, and individually. Revelate builds upon Hill’s investigation of pre-contact cultures. This has led Hill to incorporate the idea of Olin—the Nahuatl word for the natural rhythms of the universe—in Aztec cosmology in her work. Before Europeans arrived in North America, Indigenous societies were predominantly matrilineal. Women were considered sacred, involved in the decision-making process, and thrived within communities holding a worldview based on equilibrium. Olin emphasizes that we are in constant state of motion and discovery. Adopted as an educational framework, particularly in social justice and ethnic studies, Olin guides individuals through a process of reflection, action, reconciliation, and transformation.