While in residence at Charlotte’s McColl Center in fall 2020, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, Jillian Mayer became intrigued by our region’s survivalist culture. Preppers or survivalists pursue complete independence from social, political and economic infrastructures, relying on their own learned skills to prepare for any impending disasters — real or imagined. For her exhibit, Mayer constructed her own imagined, site-specific survival site.

The still life, a genre previously synonymous with 16th and 17th century Old Masters, has been imbued with contemporary resonance by London-based American multimedia artist Michael Petry. Petry’s book Nature Morte: Contemporary Artists Reinvigorate the Still Life Tradition inspires the exhibit of the same name, which brings together poignant, provocative re-imaginings of the traditional still life by more than 180 international contemporary artists. Both the book and the exhibition serve as memento mori — a...