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

Forces of Nature

July 31, 2024–March, 2025

This exhibition traces the historical, stylistic, and conceptual origins of work that either embraces or refuses the element of chance in ceramics, looking at modern and contemporary work made in Western North Carolina.

Shifting Perceptions

May 17—September 23, 2024

Shifting Perceptions features a selection of photographs from the Museum's Collection and is presented in a trio of sections, each featuring seemingly opposing forces: Natural/Unnatural, Together/Apart, and Inside/Out.

Honoring Nature

March 27–October 21, 2024

Honoring Nature explores the sublime natural landscapes of the Smokey Mountains of Western North Carolina and Tennessee.

Western North Carolina Glass

June 28, 2023–October 7, 2024

Western North Carolina is important in the history of American glass art. Several artists of the Studio Glass Movement came to the region, including its founder Harvey K. Littleton. The Museum is dedicated to collecting American studio glass and within that umbrella, explores the work of Artists connected to Western North Carolina. A variety of techniques and a willingness to push boundaries of the medium can be seen in this selection of works from the Museum's Collection.

Intersections in American Art

Ongoing

One of two inaugural exhibitions is Intersections in American Art, the major reinstallation and reinterpretation of the Museum’s Collection in a much-enlarged gallery space.

Ginny Ruffner

September 13, 2024–January 20, 2025

This exhibition imagines an apocalyptic landscape of withered plant forms that come to life when activated with augmented reality. In collaboration with animator and media artist Grant Kirkpatrick, Ruffner illuminates the delicate balance between nature and the artificial human-built world around us, putting forth an optimistic hope for the future: that technology can be a means to understand and help save the earth from environmental devastation

Moving Stillness: Mount Rainier

September 13, 2024–January 20, 2025

Bill Viola’s Moving Stillness: Mount Rainier on loan from Art Bridges is an immersive experience that explores the ideas of death and regeneration in nature. In a darkened room, sounds from nature envelop the viewer, as a placid pool of water reflects a projected image of Mount Rainier onto a screen. The water is periodically disturbed, causing the image to dissolve and slowly recompose as the pool settles.

Special Installation | Forest Feels

September 13, 2024–January 20, 2025

A response to the exhibition "Reforestation of the Imagination" by Ginny Ruffner, "Forest Feels" invites viewers to participate in two distinct realities of an art museum experience: to observe the work as it is in this moment, and also to change the work by contributing to its evolution. Located in the Wells Fargo Art PLAYce, viewers are invited to interact directly with the work, whether that means rearranging existing components, adding in new ones, or removing what is already there.

Special Installation | The Last Chair of the Forest and the Plastic Bottle

September 13, 2024–January 20, 2025

Immerse yourself in a poignant virtual reality (VR) short film that delves into environmental consciousness and the delicate balance of nature. "The Last Chair of the Forest and the Plastic Bottle" transports viewers to the ancient Pisgah Forest, where the beauty of the last remaining tree is juxtaposed against the haunting presence of a plastic bottle.