NC painter Beverly McIver wants to make art that makes a difference
When you walk into Beverly McIver’s art studio in Chapel Hill, the smell of oil paint fills the room and the eyes of her portraits follow your every move.
Her studio is a sacred space. Sometimes she finds herself painting till the early-morning hours. Other times she enters when her emotions overwhelm her and she needs to unwind. On a corner lies a bed; behind it, paintings inspired by McIver’s own struggles. In one self portrait her hair wraps around her eyes, her hands covering her face.
On her palette, you may find a cherry pit in paint, what’s left of a favorite snack to fuel on when she’s focused on her work.
To McIver, a 61-year-old Greensboro native and art professor at Duke University, art is a way to reach out and educate younger generations on the political state of the world. Her work has been featured in over 40 exhibitions and is in over 10 collections, including the N.C. Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
“All the rights that my generation and my mother’s generation fought for are slowly being taken away from women by men,” McIver said.
VOTE Black Beauty
At a retirement party at the Museum of Art in Raleigh, McIver found herself in awe of a passerby: a nude woman covered in body paint from head to toe and proudly wearing an Afro — a living art piece.
McIver took her photo, knowing she had to paint her.
After painting the woman several times, McIver made her the centerpiece of a painting for a National Artists For Democracy campaign organized by People For the American Way, “to get out the vote and save democracy.”
Her piece, titled “VOTE Black Beauty,” depicts a red-headed Black figure covered in flowers standing with her arms at her sides. At the top is the word “VOTE,” with the T stylized as a uterus. A banner of the painting is on display at the 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Durham.
“The government shouldn’t be telling us what we can and cannot do with our bodies,” McIver said. “That’s horrific. If I could paint that a thousand times I would because I’m screaming — ‘Young people, pay attention!”
McIver hopes the painting captures people’s attention for its beauty, but also that by taking a deeper look, people will understand what it’s saying about women’s reproductive and voting rights.
Though McIver doesn’t have any of her own children, she takes issue with male lawmakers taking away the right of women to choose what they want to do with their bodies.
“I’m afraid of people like [Mark Robinson] who are making big assumptions about women and blasting on TV that [women] should keep [their] skirts down,” she said. “What a disrespectful and horrible thing to say to any woman.”
Robinson, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina and Republican candidate for governor, has become known for controversial remarks, such as telling women who get abortions it’s their fault for not keeping their “skirts down or pants up” as The N&O previously reported.
Complicated emotions
Linda Dougherty, chief curator and senior curator of Contemporary Art at the N.C. Museum of Art, said McIver examines “racial, gender and social identities through the lens of her own experiences as an African American female artist.”
“The history of her family and her personal experiences allow McIver to contemplate and illustrate the complicated emotions that arise from these situations, such as depression, frustration, tender compassion and innocent joy,” she said in a written statement.
McIver’s works can reveal “as much about the artist as they do about the subjects portrayed therein,” she added.
One of McIver’s pieces, titled “Truly Grateful.” is currently on view at the Museum of Art.
McIver said she understands her fame as an artist is a privilege that many artists hope to enjoy one day, but that is why she dedicates her platform to amplifying political issues she deeply cares about.
“I feel honored that I can be a voice from the South, a meaningful voice that hopefully is making a difference and inspiring others,” McIver said.
