Charles McGill: Front Line, Back Nine

The first major museum exhibition of artist Charles McGill explores his fascination with the subject and objects of golf and provides a thought provoking means for us to examine race and social differences in our community. 

Included are golf bags adorned with collages of imagery of black history and popular culture from the artist’s Baggage series; golf bags dissected and manipulated into soft sculpture constructions in his Skinned series, in which rain hoods designed to keep clubs dry recall KKK hoods and zippers and straps summon up ideas of bondage and servitude; as well as works created for McGill’s performance projects including his golf pro “alter ego” Arthur Negro, ironic line of sporting equipment Club Negro, and pop-up Former Black Militant Golf and Country Club. 

The Boca Raton Museum of Art is surrounded by no less than 76 golf courses within a 10-mile radius, most of which form the centerpieces of gated, mostly white and upper-income communities. Meanwhile, in walking distance to the Museum, is Boca Raton’s first community—the historically African American neighborhood of Pearl City. Through artist residency activities, McGill (an experienced educator and exceptional speaker) will bring together Boca Raton’s black and white residents for artist-at-work demonstrations, collaborative community art-making workshops, and performances inspired by a game that is central to our community’s identity.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website