Ebony G. Patterson: ...for little whispers...
From October 10, 2018 — April 7, 2019
Ebony G. Patterson (Jamaican, b. 1981) creates dazzling tapestries embellished with found and fabricated materials.
In the BMA’s Berman Textile Gallery, Patterson creates an immersive installation featuring her work …and babies too… (2016-2018)—a memorial to children killed in violent crimes. Elevated to waist-height, the glittering tapestry loaded with symbols of childhood is accompanied by 18 pairs of cast glass shoes, faux butterflies, and papier-mâché balloons in a plush pink environment.
Nearby in the BMA’s American Wing, a sculpture comprised of 150 hand-embellished toy guns opens a dialogue with Joshua Johnson’s painting Charles Herman Stricker Wilmans (c. 1804), examining how toys condition children for adult roles, uneven power relationships, and violent futures.
This exhibition is curated by Cecilia Wichmann, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art.
Ebony G. Patterson's immersive installation in the Berman Textile gallery memorializes children killed in violent crimes, while asking what it means that society treats some bodies as valuable and others as expendable.
Ebony G. Patterson, ...and babies too..., 2016-2018, mixed media jacquard woven tapestry with digitally-embroidered appliques, hand-embellished cast glass shoes, and toys mounted on custom painted wood plinth, 120 x 58 in. (304.8 x 147.3 cm). Made in collaboration with Temple Contemporary at Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia. Courtesy the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago