Miriam Preston Block Art Gallery | Raleigh, North Carolina
April — May, 2009
Photographs by Clifton Dowell and multi-media presentations about North Carolina’s people and dialects produced by the North Carolina Language and Life Project (NCLLP) of North Carolina State University.
The art exhibition “Southern Vernacular,” sponsored by the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, will be on display April 2 through May 18 in the Miriam Preston Block Art Gallery at the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex, located at 222 W. Hargett St.
“Southern Vernacular” features photographs by Clifton Dowell and multi-media presentations about North Carolina’s people and dialects produced by the North Carolina Language and Life Project (NCLLP) of North Carolina State University. This is the second exhibition in the 2009 25th Anniversary Municipal Building Exhibition Series.
An opening-day reception for “Southern Vernacular” will be held Thursday, April 2 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Block Gallery. The reception will honor the 2009 Piedmont Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, whose poetry will be featured in the second floor gallery cases.
In “Southern Vernacular,” Clifton Dowell presents photographs from two series: “Short Track, Photographs from the Asphalt Oval” and “Depot District: A Commercial Neighborhood in Raleigh, NC.” Together, they present a telescopic view of Southern ‘vernacular’ — those people and places that feel essentially and inherently Southern, framed by the particulars of unique locations.
Mr. Dowell’s photographs, which capture the changing Southern landscape, include not only the young race car driver at the Wake County motor speedway, but also a hip downtown tattoo parlor, a gleaming new nightclub, and an old auto parts store.
