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Beyond the Surface: Collage, Mixed Media and Textile Works from the Collection

June 16, 2022 – February 19, 2023
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, “The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born” Might Not Hold True For Much Longer (detail), 2013. Acrylic and transfers on paper, 64 × 82 7/8 inches (162.6 × 210.5 cm). Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Promised gift of Marjorie and Michael Levine (T’84, P’16, P’19, P’19); L.28.2013.1. © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, “The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born” Might Not Hold True For Much Longer (detail), 2013. Acrylic and transfers on paper, 64 × 82 7/8 inches (162.6 × 210.5 cm). Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Promised gift of Marjorie and Michael Levine (T’84, P’16, P’19, P’19); L.28.2013.1. © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

This exhibition includes approximately 40 works, primarily from the Nasher Museum’s collection, with a focus on collage, mixed media and textile works. Beyond the Surface explores how artists bring together disparate materials and ideas to create artworks that engage with all audiences. Through skill and care, artists juxtapose unexpected elements and concepts in their work to tell many different stories.

Since opening in 2005, the Nasher Museum has been dedicated to building a groundbreaking collection of contemporary art centered on diversity and inclusion. The museum’s emphasis is on artists historically underrepresented, overlooked or excluded from art institutions, with a particular focus on artists of African descent. In this effort, the museum supports global artists of extraordinary vision, whose works spark opportunities for thoughtful engagement.

This exhibition is organized by Lauren Haynes, Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Senior Curator of Contemporary Art.

  • Maria Berrio, Syzygy, 2017. Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor on canvas, 80 × 96 inches (203.2 × 243.8 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum. Gift of Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger. Image courtesy of Praxis Gallery, New York, New York. © Maria Berrio.

    Maria Berrio, Syzygy, 2017. Collage with Japanese paper and watercolor on canvas, 80 × 96 inches (203.2 × 243.8 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum. Gift of Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger. Image courtesy of Praxis Gallery, New York, New York. © Maria Berrio.

  • Jeff Sonhouse explores black masculinity through fantastical portraits of masked, neatly dressed African American men. The mask hides the identity of his subject and undermines traditional portraiture, but reveals the eyes, nose and mouth, features most closely associated with racial stereotypes. Sonhouse’s confrontational figures are a spoof on stereotypes, and also have a spiritual presence, acting as both oracle and trickster. Sonhouse regularly uses combustible materials such as matches and charcoal, which speak to the fragility of representation and demonstrate the artist’s dry wit, suggesting that the entire composition could go, or has gone, up in flames. Piano wire and wood scraps extend well beyond the canvas, blurring the line between painting and sculpture. The swirling piano that breaks apart in the background acts as a metaphor for the parallels between musical and visual composition building. In these ways, Decompositioning functions as commentary on the act of painting itself.

    Jeff Sonhouse, Decompositioning, 2010. Mixed media on canvas, 82 x 76 1/4 inches (208.3 x 193.7 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum. Museum purchase. © Jeff Sonhouse. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Ebony G. Patterson, ...shortly after 8- beyond the bladez, 2014. Mixed media on paper, 92 × 111 inches (233.7 × 281.9 cm)Sheet 1: 92 × 42 inches (233.7 × 106.7 cm)Sheet 2: 92 × 41 inches (233.7 × 104.1 cm)Sheet 3: 92 × 28 inches (233.7 × 71.1 cm). Museum purchase with additional funds provided by Blake Byrne (A.B.’57) and Marjorie (P’16, P’19, P’19) and Michael Levine (B.S.’84, P’16, P’19, P’19).

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  • Christopher Myers, Hecate, 2019. Appliqué fabric, 72 × 48 inches (182.88 × 121.92 cm). Gift of Fort Gansevoort, New York.

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  • This large textile work by Silvia Heyden conveys the frenzy and chaos of a storm by combining converging, intricate patterns with dynamic, multi-colored strips of textiles layered in three dimensions.

    Silvia Heyden, Hurricane (detail), ca. 1979. Silk and linen, 80 3⁄4 × 94 1⁄4 inches (205.1 × 239.4 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum. Gift of Mary D.B.T. Semans and James H. Semans, M.D. © Estate of Silvia Heyden. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Odili Donald Odita, Chasm, 2015. Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 120 inches (152.4 x 304.8 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Kenneth W. Hubbard and Victoria Dauphinot, 2020.9.1. © Odili Donald Odita. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

    Odili Donald Odita, Chasm, 2015. Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 120 inches (152.4 x 304.8 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Kenneth W. Hubbard and Victoria Dauphinot, 2020.9.1. © Odili Donald Odita. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

  • Stacy Lynn Waddell, Awful Conflagration of the Steam Ship Lexington (after Nathaniel Currier), 1840/2011, 2011. Burned and branded paper with watercolor, gold leaf, and acrylic. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase.

  • In this lush, vibrant scene, tall blades of grass and colorful vegetation cover the large surface of the image and create a decadent, fantastical environment. Glitter, fabric, and rhinestones suggest a world of beauty and festivity, while the lavish, curving plants allude to growth and life. A closer look, however, reveals a more somber subject hidden behind the dazzling artifice: along the shiny red path is the unconscious body of a prostrate black male.

    Ebony G. Patterson, ...shortly after 8- beyond the bladez (detail), 2014. Mixed media on paper, 92 × 111 inches (233.7 × 281.9 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum. Museum purchase with additional funds provided by Blake Byrne (T'57) and Marjorie and Michael Levine (T'84, P'15). Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, Illinois. © Ebony G. Patterson.

  • Selected Works

Deborah Grant, In the Land of the Blind the Blue Eye Man is King from the series By the Skin of Our Teeth, 2007. Oil, archival ink, paper, Flashe paint, and enamel on five birch panels; 72 × 180 × 2 inches (182.9 × 457.2 × 5.1 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum. Museum purchase with additional funds provided by JoAnn and Ronald Busuttil. © Deborah Grant. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
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