Beyond the Binary of Past and Future
Digital Exhibition
The idea of the past and the future subscribes to a linear timeline that many artists actively seek to subvert in their artwork. If the binary of past and future is erased, what new parameters are opened for looking at and considering a work of art? How would that freedom allow artists and viewers to consider multiple realities? What was once futuristic can now be seen as retro and what was once old-fashioned can inspire new experimentation. When imagination is introduced into art, the idea of a multiverse becomes a possibility, where more than one experience can be real and shared. This digital exhibition considers how artists and their artwork conceive of the future and how they recontextualize representations of the past to expand the perspectives shared with audiences.
This digital exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and coordinated by Whitney Richardson, associate curator, with assistance from Kimberly Cramer, curatorial assistant and former curatorial fellow. Interpretation for this project is provided by scholars Evan Mathis, Barry and Allen Huffman, Eva Bares, Jenni Sorkin, Margi Conrads, Arielle Smith, Sarah Kelly, and Nancy Green. Major funding for the Asheville Art Museum’s Object Collections Access Project was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities American Rescue Plan.
