In paintings, sculptures, and drawings,
Beverly Buchanan explores the image of the shack--the makeshift shelter commonly
perched in the fields and along the back roadsides of the South. In Buchanan's hands, the mundane
structure becomes an economic and cultural metaphor, recognizing the power of the shack and the
vitality of the people who live in them. Her artistic rendering of the shacks are animated with
individual sense of character as if possessed by the lingering presence of the inhabitants they
once sheltered. For Buchanan, these objects represent enduring permanence: they are "memorials"
to people and places. Her work has been widely exhibited throughout the United States and is held
in numerous private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney
Museum of American Art in New York City. Ms. Buchanan has received many awards, including a Guggenheim
Fellowship and several National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, Program in American Culture, School of Art and Design, Atlantic Studies Initiative, Center for the Education of Women's Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund, and Women's Studies