Art Picks

Tonight, Ackland Art Museum's "Art After Dark" second Friday event features a tour of "Theme and Variation: Print Sequences from Ornament to Abstraction," highlighting selections from the museum's celebrated print collection. A guided tour of the show led by curator Timothy Riggs, begins at 6:45. The show includes works from the 16th century to contemporary works, and includes Minor White's Zen-inflected portfolio, "Sound of One Hand Clapping," 10 silver gelatin prints of utmost formal delicacy. Giovanni Piranesi is represented by four etchings with dry point from 1750, "The Grotteschi." Fantasies on themes from Roman ruins, foliage garlands, a skull, a dragon and a sphinx entangle arches and toppled columns. "Hommage au Carre," or "Homage to the Square," the definitive series by Joseph Albers, is presented in multiple prints of stacked squares of the same proportions, worked in ever-changing color schemes. The wonder of these prints is the pulsing rhythm and optical illusion of scale change that different colors produce with the same design. Light-colored squares push out into space, while dark ones recede and appear smaller. Contrasting with these are Robert Motherwell's "London Series II" from 1970, a series of five color screenprints that relate meaningfully with the Albers works. In a more illustrative mode, Eugene Grasset's charming calendar for 1896 presents an art nouveau vision of the seasons as women tend the garden with appropriate seasonal tasks, wearing garments symbolically emblazoned with corresponding signs of the zodiac. Display of such serial works isn't undertaken often because of space constraints, and offers the interesting study of how artists develop and move through themes. Also included, works by Henri Matisse, Max Klinger and Chryssa. Through Feb. 24. UNC-Chapel Hill, South Columbia and East Franklin streets, Chapel Hill. (919) 966-5736, www.ackland.org

In conjunction with his current show, "Cummins Wide," on view at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, photographer and filmmaker Bruce Jackson will be on hand at the Durham Arts Council Building for tonight's 7:30 screening of "Death Row," the 1979 film he made with collaborator Diana Christian, concerning inmates at Ellis Prison in Texas. On Saturday, also at 7:30, the CDS programming continues with excerpts from Chicago Public Radio's Third Coast International Audio Festival and the screening of "Waking In Mississippi," Duke graduate Christie Herring's documentary concerning civil rights issues in her hometown of Canton, Mississippi. $5 suggested donation. Durham Arts Council, PSI Theater, 120 Morris St., Durham. http://cds.aas.duke.edu, (919) 660-3663

This weekend, acclaimed artist Beverly McIver offers a workshop and talk of interest to artists and aspiring professionals. On Saturday, she will lead "The Painter's Palette: A Workshop Demonstration," from 9 a.m. to noon in the Color and Design Studio (Room 315, third floor) of the Fine Arts Building at N.C. Central University. After a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m. (light snacks and soft drinks provided), she will deliver a lecture from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., "What It Takes to Be a Professional Artist," also in the Fine Arts Building in the Art History Lecture Room (Room 107). McIver's compelling self-portraits and portraits of her family, executed in fearlessly bravura brushwork, as well as her engaging way of talking about her inseparable life and work, promise an inspiring day. The events are free and open to the public with preregistration required. Call (919) 530-6391 or sign up at the Fine Arts Building, Room 123, the Art Department's Main Office. Or contact Achamyeleh Debela, (919) 530-7046, adebela@nccu.edu