Phillips Collection: Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage

 Old friends and the little focus show aside, the big game in town was a large show focused on collage.  Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage is an exhibition curated by the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.  It is an amazing collection of works by artists that are rarely ever shown in museums and certainly not to this extent.  I was actually kind of pleased that I knew a couple of the artists (Mark Bradford and Wangechi Mutu).  But perhaps even better were all the new artists the exhibit introduced me to!  And now I get to share a few with you.  I've chosen the works of 12 of the many artists and hope that they are representative.  There are a few photos of the exhibit with works that I do not identify.  I've included them to give you a little perspective on what the galleries looked like.  Also, because the craft of collage is often so detailed and the details matter, I have included some close-ups of a few of the works.  Enjoy!

"Modern:Ancient:Brown," 2021

McArthur Binion, 1946 - 

I've included the placard to give you a sense of the dimensions of this work.  It may seem minimalist.  I thought of the Gee's Bend quilters.  But a closer look revealed a much richer construction.

DETAIL: "Modern:Ancient:Brown"

"No It Ain't, Yes It Is," 2023

Brittney Boyd Bullock, 1987 - 

"C'mon Shorty," 2002

Mark Bradford, 1961 - 

"Family Freedom," 2021

Rod McGaha, 1961 - 

"Airborne Double," 2022

Derek Fordjour, 1974 -

The richness of the artist's technique was fascinating.

DETAIL: "Airborne Double"

"The Supernova Suite," 2023

Genevieve Gaignard, 1981 - 

"...pink...red...striped...carnations...," 2021 - 2022

Ebony G. Patterson, 1981 - 

To reuse one of my favorite metaphors, this work was like a pop-up book on LSD!  It was a sensory explosion full of intricate and interesting details.  The more I explored it, the more enigmatic the title became.

DETAIL: "...pink...red...striped...carnations..."

"Red Haze," 2021

Devan Shimoyama, 1989 - 

DETAIL: "Red Haze"

"#BetterGardensandJungles" series, 2017 -2021

Lester Julian Merriweather, 1978 - 

DETAIL #1 "#BetterGardensandJungles"

DETAIL #2 "#BetterGardensandJungles"

"The Healing: Untitled 1, 2, and 3," 2022

M. Florine Demosthene, dates unknown

DETAIL "The Healing: Untitled 3"

[L to R] "Shedding," "Irreducible convergence," "Away from prying eyes," and "Emergence I," 2020

Joiri Minaya, 1990 - 

"Emergence I," 2020

Joiri Minaya, 1990 - 

"Shaded by Trees," 2020

David Shrobe, 1974 - 

In the end, I was deeply touched by how many of the works involving figurative subjects presented those images in degrees of anonymity.  They seemed to call out and then form a chorus in my head saying, "You do NOT know me.  I am more than you think.  And I am not going to reveal myself casually."