The Birmingham Museum of Art Explores Connections Between the American South and Global South
Third Space brings together work by more than 90 international artists, including Kerry James Marshall, Ebony Patterson, Mark Bradford, José Bedia, and Katrín Sigurdardóttir.
The Birmingham Museum of Art presents Third Space /shifting conversations about contemporary art, a two-year exhibition exploring the connections between the American South and the Global South.
As the first major exhibition of contemporary art from the Museum’s collection, Third Space brings together the work of more than 90 international artists and features over 100 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, and videos, by artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Ebony Patterson, Mark Bradford, José Bedia, and Katrín Sigurdardóttir.
The exhibition borrows Homi Bhaba’s term ‘third space,’ which he defines as a space that “challenges our sense of the historical identity of culture as a homogenizing, unifying force, authenticated by the originary past, kept alive in the national tradition of the People.” With this in mind, the exhibition examines the Global South from the perspective of the American South through a series of ideas that include: migration/diaspora/exile, gaze/agency/representation, spirit/nature/landscape, and traditions/histories/memory.
In addition to works from the permanent collection and international loans, the Museum commissioned Rural Studio to produce a work of art that serves as a gathering space within the exhibition. Founded in Hale County, Alabama, Rural Studio is a design-build program of Auburn University that provides architectural solutions to underserved populations across the country. The structure will later be repurposed for the construction of a house.
Third Space is on view through January 2019 at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama.
