On view at the Weatherspoon Art Museum through Feb. 13, “Body and Soul, Humanist Visual Languages” invites visitors to approach art through two modes of interpretation: “body” – a work’s physical qualities – and “soul” – the ideas, emotions, and experiences it may evoke.
“Together, these approaches demonstrate how close looking at works of art can enable deeper insight,” says Juliette Bianco, the museum’s Anne and Ben Cone memorial endowed director and associate vice chancellor for museums and creative practice.
The exhibition includes artworks across multiple genres, media, and decades and includes artists such as Allan Rohan Crite, Magdalena Abakanowicz, and Norman Akers.
Lead Museum Preparator Susan Taaffe ’94, who retires this fall, installed “Body and Soul.” She has prepared and installed exhibitions at the Weatherspoon for 30 years and says art can be life changing.
“Artworks, like books and songs and movies, are powerful expressions of the human experience. A great exhibition collapses the time and space between an artist’s expression and the viewer’s observation, resulting in a deepening of connections and understanding.”
Taaffe says the work of a museum’s staff is all about creating powerful experiences for visitors. “Preparator work is specialized and done outside of public view. When it’s done well, people notice the art, not the work that went into its presentation.”
There is a lot for Weatherspoon Art Museum visitors to be excited about in 2027, says Bianco. The Cole Levin Center for Art and Human Understanding is scheduled to open this coming spring.
Top left: Magdalena Abakanowicz, “DYBY,” 1993. Wood, burlap, and resin, 63 x 82 5/8 x 25 5/8 in. Weatherspoon Art Museum. Purchase with funds from the Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation in honor of Leah Louise Tannenbaum; 2000.28.a-f © Magdalena Abakanowicz, reproduced with permission of the artist
Top middle: Norman Akers, “Inverted Home,” 2022. Monoprint and chine collé
on paper, 10 1/16 x 7 5/8 in. Weatherspoon Art Museum. Purchase with funds from the Warren Brandt Acquisition Endowment for the Dillard Collection; 2024.12.3 © Norman Akers, photograph courtesy of the artist
Top right: Allan Rohan Crite, “Winter Scene from My Window,” 1933. Oil on canvas board, 16 x 12 in. Weatherspoon Art Museum. Purchase with funds from the Laura Weill Cone Acquisition Endowment: 2025.6 © Estate of Allan Rohan Crite