North Carolina native Scott Avett—best known as part of the folk-rock band The Avett Brothers—is debuting an exhibit of his art this month at the North Carolina Museum of Art. The show, I N V I S I B L E, opens October 12 and is a culmination of his work from 2001 until today.
The art will display in two galleries in the museum’s East Wing: In one, a collection of large-scale oil paintings that depict both Avett and his family members; in the other, an exhibit tied to Avett’s music, with portraits of himself and of the band, prints that became concert posters as well as a sound installation. The sound component, which Avett has coined an ‘audio sketchbook,’ includes iPhone recordings from his time in the recording studio. There will also be sketchbooks and journals from The Avett Brothers’ writing and recording over their years of producing music.
Visual art is not a new medium to Avett—in 1999, he graduated from East Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in art. Chief Curator of Contemporary Art Linda Dougherty says the museum always celebrates the work of North Carolinians, and seeing someone who is creative across disciplines like Avett is especially intriguing. Dougherty says this exhibit ties everything together: “Scott used to visit the museum as an art student, he loved perusing the European paintings for inspiration. The music part of his life is the public, but the visual artist side of his life has been kind of a secret until now. The exhibition is really an intersection between music and visual art.” —Catherine Currin