Biography
A native of Charlotte, NC, I'm a self-taught photographer and videographer who has worked at my craft for over 35 years. I've participated in numerous solo and invitational exhibitions across the country and internationally. My work is included in many museums and corporate and private collections, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC; the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN and the Bank of America collection. Through the years, while focusing on the development of my own visual messages and photographic techniques, I've often collaborated with other artists to bring awareness to certain groups of people who reside in the shadows, but whose strength and perseverance deserve to be celebrated. One of these projects was an Emmy-nominated video of an AIDS activist’s death entitled Just As I Am, which I worked on with the late Stuart Grasberg, an award-winning producer at WTVI. Another was the book As Long As The Waters Flow: Native Americans In The South and East, a collaboration with noted author Frye Gaillard that documented conditions in many Native American communities and tribes at the end of the last century. entwined, my collaborative book with Pinky/MM Bass was published in 2021.
Artist Statement
I believe, as most artists do, that I'm driven to create, often without a clear understanding of why or what the work is “about” until after the fact. The surprises keep me going. I'm always seeking answers to unasked questions and my artwork is an attempt to engage others in this conversation. In the end, the work is the statement. It must stand or fall on its own.
All that said, across my landscapes and portraits there are common threads that emerge. In every image I create, there is a deeply personal interaction with my subjects. Whether I’m photographing people, places, or objects, dramatic and subtle changes of life are often reflected. From the sublime maturation of the young girls I photographed for When I Was Little… I Thought I Could Fly to the strange yet alluring juxtapositions created in Male Figure/Broken Doll to every new wrinkle found on the face of Pinky/MM Bass in the Infinite Grace series, I believe I’ve captured something altered, for better or for worse.
Selected Reviews
"I can't think of any photographic project that is more dynamic and brilliantly realized than Carolyn DeMeritt's Infinite Grace: An Extended Portrait of Pinky/MM Bass. For more than thirty-five years DeMeritt has been photographing Alabama artist Pinky Bass--creating photographs that are hauntingly and humanly complex. In these photographs, which are clearly a collaboration within an unequivocal friendship, fragile, human, mortal skin is witnessed against pitch-black time, and the all-too-fragile fact of ageing becomes an heroic and sometimes comic act of self-revelation."
- John Rosenthal, writer and photographer on Infinite Grace: An Extended Portrait of Pinky/MM Bass
"A phenomenal show. This small exhibition featured raw and revealing portraits of older women’s bodies. Photographer Pinky Bass’ embroidered photos were especially arresting. The colorful strings added another layer of meaning, as well as depicting different layers of anatomy on her subjects’ bodies — the esophagus, brain and intestines, for example. DeMeritt’s portraits of Bass engaged her aging figure as sculptural, textural and beautiful. The portraits were suspended from the ceiling to create isolated moments for spending moments with each. This was a thoughtful and meditative exhibition that will likely never be replicated."
- ArtsATL, EXHIBITS TO REMEMBER
Pinky Bass and Carolyn DeMeritt at Whitespace
"A precipitous balance between the eye of the sitter and the controlling eye of the photographer charges the work of Carolyn DeMeritt. Portraiture presents important challenges and there is little room for compromise. DeMeritt achieves power in restraint, makes discoveries in people and great photographs of their spiritual and corporal selves."
- Ken Bloom, Director, Tweed Museum of Art, on DeMeritt's portraiture
"The single, small detail captures DeMeritt's eye—a broken, weathered statue of Christ lashed precariously to a fence, a caged bird and it's untethered mate, an outstretched skunk carcass melting into the earth as it decays. Her sharply focused, small-scale images are carefully distilled from a larger, unwieldy field of vision. They assume a symbolic presence, as DeMeritt empties out the greater confusion of the world. She looks intently at things that often go unnoticed, and sees them with a breathless sense of stillness and of portent. She savors details, which for her become microcosms and at times talismans. DeMeritt rarely monumentalizes her subject. Instead, she portrays a world of modesty and fragility."
- Susan Krane, curator, on A Tangle of Complexes: Photographing in Mexico
"Frye Gaillard in words and Carolyn DeMeritt with images have filled a broad gap in our knowledge of tribes in the southern and eastern United States, past and present. Especially absorbing are the accounts of little-known but important peoples whose ancestors escaped removal to the west."
- Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Curriculum Vitae
Selected Awards
2020
George and Linda Foard Roberts Charitable Foundation
2017
Beyond the Frame Artist Grant, Wells Fargo, The Light Factory
1998
National Endowment for the Arts Exhibition Support Grant
Z. Smith Reynolds Exhibition Support Grant
Bank of America Publication and Exhibition Support Grant
1996
North Carolina FilmMakers Award, Charlotte Film/Video Festival
1995
North Carolina FilmMakers Award, Charlotte Film/Video Festival
1993
Visual Artist Fellowship, North Carolina Arts Council
1992
Visual Artist Project Grant, North Carolina Arts Council
North Carolina FilmMakers Award, Charlotte Film/Video Festival
Southeast Media Fellowship, Appalshop, Whitesburg, Kentucky
Best Short Documentary Award, Athens Film/Video, Athens, Ohio
1990
Emerging Artist Grant, Charlotte Arts and Science Council
Selected Collections
Native American Studies Center, University of SC, Lancaster, SC
The Cassilhaus Collection, Durham / Chapel Hill, NC area
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC
Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
Cameron Museum of Art, Wilmington, NC
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
North Carolina Arts Council, Raleigh, NC
Gregg Museum, Raleigh, NC
Davidson College, Davidson, NC
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN
Birmingham Museum of Art / Clarence B. Hanson, Jr. Library, Birmingham, AL
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, VA
Ritz Carlton Hotel, Charlotte, NC
Numerous Corporate and Private Collections
Selected Solo or 2 Person Exhibitions
2024
Visual and Performing Arts Center, Charlotte, NC
2022
Eastern Shore Art Center, Fairhope, AL
Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan, AL
2021
Wilma W. Daniels Gallery, Wilmington, NC
2020 - 2021
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
2019
Hydra+Fotografía, Mexico City, Mexico
Wiregrass Museum, Dothan, AL
Whitespace, Atlanta, GA
2018
Gadsden Museum of Art, Gadsden, AL
Iredell Arts Council, Statesville, NC
2004
Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC
2003
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (exhibit then traveled throughout VA as part of Old Dominion/New Perspectives: The Persistence and Renewal of Southern Culture)
2002
William King Regional Arts Center, Abingdon, VA
Arts in the Edge, Shreveport, LA
2001
Hollins University, Roanoke, VA
2000
Native American Resource Center, UNC Pembroke, Pembroke, NC
NC St. John’s Museum of Art (now Cameron Art Museum), Wilmington, NC
1999
The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC
Native American Resource Center, UNC Pembroke, Pembroke, NC
St. John’s Museum of Art (now Cameron Art Museum), Wilmington, NC
1996
Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
Virginia Intermont College, Bristol, VA
1994
Center of the Earth Gallery, Charlotte, NC
1993
Atlanta Photography Group Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1992
Center of the Earth Gallery, Charlotte, NC
1991
Southern Light Gallery, Amarillo, TX
Selected Invitational and Group Exhibitions
2024
Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC
Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile, AL
Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
2023 - 2024
Mint Museum of Art, Uptown, (New Days, New Works) Charlotte, NC
2023
Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, Ireland
GreenHill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC
2022 - 2024
Mint Museum of Art, Uptown, Permanent Collection Gallery, Charlotte, NC
2022
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
Cassilhaus, Chapel Hill, NC
Eastern Shore Art Center, Fairhope, AL
Gambrell Center, BOA and Loevner Galleries, Queens Univ, Charlotte, NC
2021
Gambrell Center, BOA and Loevner Galleries, Queens Univ, Charlotte, NC
2020
The Galleries, Cabarrus Arts Council, Concord, NC
New Mexico State University Art Museum, Las Cruces, NM
2018
USA Archaeology Museum, Mobile, AL
The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
2017
Gregg Museum, Raleigh, NC
The Galleries, Cabarrus Arts Council, Concord, NC
Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC
621N4TH Art Gallery, Wilmington, NC
2016
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC
Frank Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC
Berry College, Mount Berry, GA
The Galleries, Cabarrus Arts Council, Concord, NC
Hodges Taylor, Charlotte, NC
2015
Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta, GA
2014
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL
Babson Capital, Charlotte, NC
2013
Projective Eye Gallery, UNC Charlotte Center City
2010
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
2009
ASMS Gallery, Mobile, AL
2008
GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, NC
2007
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston Salem, NC
2006
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
Space 301, Mobile, AL
2005
GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, NC
The Upstairs Gallery, Tryon, NC
2004
New Mexico State University Art Gallery, Las Cruces, NM
2000
Fairhope Cultural Center, Fairhope, AL
1999
Lewis Art Gallery at Millsaps College, Jackson, MS
Queens University, Charlotte, NC
1998
Rowe Arts Main Gallery, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC
1997
CU Art Galleries, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
The Mexican Center of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Nexus, Atlanta, GA
The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
1996
Space One Eleven, Birmingham, AL
Society of Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO
Birmingham Art Association, Birmingham, AL
1994
Galeria Bellas Artes, Oaxaca, Mexico
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
1993
Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
Thompson Gallery, Furman University, Greenville, SC
1991
Center for Photography, Washington, DC
Fabrik-Foto-Forum, Hamburg, Germany
1989
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
(Exhibition traveled throughout North Carolina, 1989/90)
1987
Santa Fe Center for Contemporary Photography, Santa Fe, NM
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
1985
United Nations World Conference on Women, Nairobi, Kenya
Selected Special Projects
2021
Virtual Artist Talk: Pinky Bass, Carolyn DeMeritt and Susan Walker, YouTube
2019
Presenting Artist, The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
2016
Presenting Artist, Berry College, Mt. Berry, GA
2015
Undefeated Series inspired The Carolina Ballet Theater’s, Traces
2014
Panelist, Mint Museum of Art, Bearing Witness: The Photo League and Sonia Handelman Meyer
Curated Pinky/MM Bass: Corporeal Veils Unraveled and Douglas Baulos: Bright Filament/Dark Effigy for The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
2013
Presenting Artist, SPE Southeast Regional Conference, Charlotte, NC
2005-06
Curatorial Consultant, Families of Abraham, a photography exhibition and book
2002
Presenting Artist, Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC
2000
Presenting Artist, Viewpoints: Four Artists on Art, Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
1996-98
Produced seventy-two portraits for the book As Long As The Waters Flow: Native Americans in the South and East, by Frye Gaillard and Carolyn DeMeritt (Blair Publishers)
1995
Produced A Change of Face, my photo installation with text and twenty-eight-minute video, Give Me My Flowers, combining my portraits with my audio interviews of women affected by HIV/AIDS; commissioned by YWCA of Central Carolinas and the Nalle Clinic
1993
Co-produced, directed, co-fllmed (with Stuart Grasberg) Just As I Am, a video of an AIDS activist’s death, commissioned by Hospice of Rowan County and nominated for an Emmy Award
1992
Co-curated Bank of America Corporate Center Photography Collection
1991
Produced When I Was Little...I Thought I Could Fly, a video program combining my portraits of young girls with my audio interviews of each girl
1987
Miracle on 19th Street, Jimmy Carter Work Project for Habitat for Humanity
Selected Special Publications
2024
LenScratch Online Photography Platform
2022
Shots, Issue No. 155 : Spring 2022
2021
entwined, published book by Carolyn DeMeritt and Pinky/MM Bass
Ruminate Magazine, MEND / 57
Port City Daily, 8/25/2021, (feature article, Flying While Falling with Margo Williams)
2020
Hand Magazine
NSEW Magazine, one of four featured photographers (South)
South Park Magazine: The Art and Soul of Charlotte
2018
Focal Plane Magazine No.3 Winter: 2018 (featured article by Patrick Saleeby)
2019
wma wiregrass museum of art Summer 2019 publication Cover and Feature
Mobile Bay Magazine September Issue
2017
Show & Tell, Celebrating the Collections of the Gregg Museum of Art & Design (Book)
Wall Art: vol 1, artist photo
2016
Intersecting Stories, Celebrating Culture, Community, and Friendship, Frye Gaillard, Carrie Wagner, Carolyn DeMeritt, Byron Baldwin (Book)
Carolina Art Crush by happeningsclt (Featured Artist Interview)
cusp: photographs of contemporary girlhood (exhibition catalogue)
2005
Eloisa (Cover photograph)
2009
We're Still Here, Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities, Auburn, Univ. (Book)
2000
Oxford American, Spring Issue, Southern Scenes
1999
Oxford American, Fall, Portfolio Section
Oxford American, March-May
Art Papers May/June Issue, (Exhibition Review)
As Long As The Waters Flow (Exhibition Catalogue)
1998
As Long As The Waters Flow: Native Americans in the South and East by Frye Gaillard and Carolyn DeMeritt, John H. Blair, Publishing, (Book)
1997
North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary
Our State Magazine, November (Featured Artist Profile)
Charlotte Magazine, September/October (Featured Artist)
1996
Tangle of Complexes: Photographing in Mexico (exhibition catalog)
If I Were a Carpenter: Twenty Years of Habitat for Humanity, by F. Gaillard, John H. Blair Pub. (Book)
1995
Great Unknowns, We"zer Publishing (Book)
Women’s Voice, July/August Issue (Cover and Featured Artist Profile)
1994
Southern Living Magazine, December (Featured Artist Profile)
93/94 North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowships (Exhibition Catalog)
Oaxaca Times, March (Exhibition Review)
1992
1992 Photographers Market (Featured Artist Profile)
1991
Photonews, Hamburg, Germany (Cover and Feature story)
Shots, Issue #29
1990
Shots, Girls, Girls, Girls Issue, May
Shots, Love Issue, October (Cover)
1989
Nine From North Carolina (Catalog for National Museum for Women in the Arts)
Shots, Toy Camera Issue, January
Photo District News, December
Selected Video Screening
2000
Best of North Carolina Visions, UNC-TV Chapel Hill, NC
1999
Best of North Carolina Visions, UNC-TV Chapel Hill, NC
1997
San Francisco International G/L Film Festival, San Francisco, CA
1996
One World Screen Fest, Vancouver, Canada
North Carolina Visions, UNC-TV Chapel Hill, NC
Charlotte Film and Video Festival, Charlotte, NC (also 1992 & 1995)
1995
American Cultural Festival, Schwerin, Mecklenburg, Germany
International Women’s Summit, Seoul, Korea
Charlotte Film and Video Festival, Charlotte, NC
North Carolina Visions, UNC-TV Public Television, Chapel Hill, NC
1994
Black Maria Film Festival, New York, NY
WTVI-42, Charlotte, NC
Video Shorts, Department of Art and Humanities, U of T, Dallas, TX
Social Outcast Film and Video Festival, Atlanta, GA
1992
Athens Film and Video Festival, Athens, OH
Community Cinema Program, Bravo Network
Charlotte Film and Video Festival, Charlotte, NC