Beverly McIver
Durham, NC
Beverly McIver’s recent solo exhibitions include Faces in Phoenix (2001) at the Shemer Art Center in Phoenix, All of Me (1999) at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and Renee & I (1993) at Duke University in North Carolina. She is the recipient of a 2000 Anonymous Was a Woman fellowship, and has also received support from the Contemporary Forum in Phoenix and the Durham Arts Council. She has had residencies at Yaddo, the Djerassi Colony, and the Headlands Center for the Arts. She is a 2001 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. McIver is an artist leader in Creative Capital’s Professional Development Program.
The Liberation of Mammy
Beverly McIver
Artist BioFor The Liberation of Mammy, Beverly McIver traveled to various locations in the southern U.S. to photograph and videotape African American domestic workers. McIver’s mother is a domestic laborer in this region and accompanied the artist when she traveled. McIver then created photographs of herself in blackface emulating her subjects and made a series of paintings from these images. The documentary approach to this project represents a departure from McIver’s usual working method, and is intended to deepen her ongoing portrayals of contemporary African American women.