#artmuseum

1. Choosing Your Focus

Michi Meko, A Necessary Testimony, 2025

The Idea of a vast interconnected world similar to the African diaspora. In the dark blackness of the night sky. 

Oasa DuVerney, A Young Nzinga Echoing Bodhisattva Manjushri, 2023

Reverberation of ancestral power into the modern day 

2. First Impressions

Michi Meko, A Necessary Testimony, 2025

The scale of this piece was so large that when you get a certain distance from it it feels like you are IN the painting. I loved the way Meko was playing with the push and pull of abstraction and realism. from the scribbles in the waves, to the cosmic night sky showing this vast interconnected star system. I knew the concept of this exhibition was about the intersections of blackness and the cosmos. I felt like the network in the sky represented what I heard a speaker talking about. She asked the crowd what the difference was between a black hole, and a void. She explained that a void is destructive; it swallows things up. She explains that blackness is more like a hole, that it carries things around with it and endless possibilities. 

Oasa DuVerney, A Young Nzinga Echoing Bodhisattva Manjushri, 2023

This work is in a set of three, I was particularly drawn to this one because of how DuVerney chose to draw a young modern woman presumably on her front porch in this very powerful-confident pose. Behind her are the silhouettes of an ancient deity. The deity is drawn with thickly applied graphite which really makes her stand out from the background. As you move around, the light reflects off the graphite giving the illusion of reverberations coming from the woman. Because I noted this it made me think the piece was about generational reverberations of power, that maybe the artist is trying to say this is something that is inherently tied to blackness & femininity. 

3. On-Site Documentation

Michi Meko, A Necessary Testimony, 2025

apologies this photo is blurry, luckily still legible.

Oasa DuVerney, A Young Nzinga Echoing Bodhisattva Manjushri, 2023

4. Artwork Analysis

Michi Meko, A Necessary Testimony, 2025

Michi Meko’s A Necessary Testimony depicts a night time beach scene. In the sky a diverse set of mark making techniques are used to build up to create this crazy dimensional (as I've previously referred to it as) network. The waves are drawn with these white scribbles to create the white water effect. They feel a lot less planned out, structured than the sky, which of course is intentional & successful. Despite the abstraction in this piece, it feels so atmospheric. The waves look like they are really coming at you and receding into space. This quality along with the sheer size of this work make it so easy to just feel like you are really looking out into the ocean.

What drew me to this piece was the feeling I had when I lined myself up with it to where the painting was in most of my peripheral visions and just looked out into it as if I was looking out at the real ocean. It’s really indescribable to be surrounded by a painting like that, especially in an abstract style that isn’t trying to hide that it's a painting.   

Oasa DuVerney, A Young Nzinga Echoing Bodhisattva Manjushri, 2023

Oasa DuVerney’s collage drawing A Young Nzinga Echoing Bodhisattva Manjushri is the third drawing in a set of 3. They are all framed and of equal proportions. On the wall behind them is painted white in a semi-circle with downward strokes to gray.

A Young Nzinga Echoing Bodhisattva Manjushri depicts a young urban woman sitting on a staircase wearing Nike sneakers, rolled up baggy jeans, an oversized shirt and a bomber jacket. Pasted behind her are 4 Bodhisattva Manjushri silhouettes. The details in the Bodhisattva Majurshris are made by the direction of the graphite strokes creating shapes and textural details like facial features and clothing. The reflective nature of the graphite gives it this cool illusion of movement when you look at it while changing your perspective. 

I was drawn to this piece because I love the way DuVerney shows how energetic power never goes away. Bodhisattva Manjushri is obviously a very powerful deity and in this drawing she is showing that this kind of power still exists in the descendants of this culture. 

5. Additional Research (anything about the exhibition)

So for my additional research I wanted to better understand Oasa DuVerney’s A Young Nzinga Echoing Bodhisattva Manjushri. I decided to research the term Nzinga & Bodhisattva Manjushri. 

According to a Britannica article the term Nzinga refers to Queen Nzinga, a powerful politician in the 17th century in what is now Angola in sub-Saharan Africa. During the slave-trade she negotiated a peace treaty with the Portuguese in place of her brother, who was rightful ruler at the time. After her brother ruined the good will between them and the Portuguese, Nzinga is rumored to have killed her own brother to secure the throne. Once in power she allied herself with the Imbangalas, a warrior group in Angola, and “For the next 30 years, she personally led troops into battle and waged guerrilla war against the Portuguese, sometimes retreating and sometimes adding to her territory.”

Simply put the term “Bodhisattva” refers to a person who dedicates their life to aiding others with their wisdom and compassion to end their suffering. In Buddhism there are many Bodhisattvas, so Manjushri is the Meditational Deity known for his great wisdom. His name Manjushri means 'noble, gentle one,' and usually depicted with yellow skin holding a flaming sword which “is believed to cut through ignorance and entanglements of conceptual views” and a blue lotus flower which carries great wisdom.  

6. Next Steps

Planning a trip to Charlotte? Make your vacation a cultural experience that is full of arts, history, and even creativity. Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is a heaven for all art lovers as well as art critics due to the large number of masterpieces and the impressive architecture of the place, which was created by the Swiss architect Mario Botta. The museum exhibits an impressive personal art gallery of works, which cover several decades of artistic creativity, including "The Firebird Sculpture" by Niki de Saint Phalle, "Projet pour un monument" by Max Ernst, "Mechanical Motion" by Jean Tinguely, and "Expressive Colour Fields" by Sam Francis. The Bechtler Museum could provide you with a nice experience, which can change your picture of the world around and never make it the same.

For more info, click below