Fort Gansevoort features twelve new large-scale works by Dawn Williams Boyd

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


Fort Gansevoort features twelve new large-scale works by Dawn Williams Boyd
Dawn Williams Boyd, Covid Scream, 2022, Assorted fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, and mixed media, 59 × 59 inches.



NEW YORK, NY.- Fort Gansevoort is presenting The Tip of the Iceberg, its first solo exhibition with Dawn Williams Boyd at the gallery’s space in New York City. Featuring twelve new large-scale works, this presentation coincides with the last leg of the artist’s traveling museum exhibition Dawn Williams Boyd: Woe, on view at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.

Based in Atlanta, Boyd is widely celebrated for her “cloth paintings” that establish a powerful, unblinking sociopolitical narrative with textiles. Using fabric as her pigment, she layers and stitches together personal recollections, history, and contemporary political references into striking compositions that challenge and provoke. Sometimes allegorical, often focusing on racial and social justice, Boyd’s scenes are populated by life-sized figures and rendered with elaborate textures and ornate patterns that evoke the rich legacies of quilting and collage that critic Sasha Bonét has described as the “historical practice of Black imagination” – but here with a difference: Boyd establishes a unique visual language of her own within the wider traditions of sewing, by employing unexpected materials such as beads, sequins, cowry shells, laces, silk ribbons, and found objects. She delivers a figurative truth fashioned from a canny transformation of ordinary fibers, introducing the viewer to her own contemporary interpretation of visual storytelling.

The title of the exhibition, The Tip of the Iceberg, was inspired by Boyd’s observations of catastrophic headlines that have increasingly dominated the news cycle over the past few years. As the artist explains, “…others, more learned than I—scientists, historians, social commentators were already discussing these matters and being mostly ignored. And yet, here we are, in 2022, on the very precipice of changes to the way we define ourselves—the tip of the iceberg that we know hides disaster if we don’t make a course change immediately.” Boyd’s artworks reflect the urgency of our politically polarized world and implores radical corrections to the way humans treat each other and the planet.




In the cloth painting The Death of Democracy, 2022, Boyd depicts Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un carrying a casket—a visual metaphor for the near demise of democracy for which these figureheads are culpable. To extend her metaphor, Boyd inserts an allegorical character into the left side of this scene, its fiery eyes and bloody claws the personification of evil. The smug facial expressions of the actors here belie the mournful atmosphere of the funerary procession, which takes place against the backdrop of an upside-down American Flag. Boyd summarizes: “Our democracy has obviously been at risk since the 2016 election. Many think the climax of the movement to overthrow our government happened on January 6, 2021, but if we peek behind the curtains of the Republican Party's slow takeover of local school boards, state legislatures, electoral officials and then add in the Supreme Court's recent landmark decisions regarding guns, privacy, women's rights, etc., plus the U.S. governments ignoring the urgent need for climate change reform it is easy to see that we are on the verge of cataclysm.” The artist’s aptitude for naturalistic portraiture makes the figures in this work immediately recognizable, asserting their palpable presence as their eyes confront those of the viewer.

In Leaving Alabama, 2022, a diverse group of women share a road trip, rejoicing as they cross the Alabama state line. Although the context of this scene may not be immediately clear, the number written on the license plate, 410US113, references the office citation of the historic 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court case. Boyd had the idea to create this piece in 2019 as Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, signed a bill outlawing abortion at nearly any stage of pregnancy. Since this amendment passed to the state’s constitution, twenty-five additional states have instituted laws that violate a woman’s right to privacy and physical autonomy and criminalize any person attempting to assist a woman seeking and receiving an abortion. When Roe vs. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022, Boyd avers, “we stepped backwards in time 50 years in the stroke of a pen.” Boyd’s masterful work—combining clever visual signifiers and wry humor with scathing social commentary—responds with particular poignancy.

Fear For My Life, 2022, shows a young boy lying in a pool of his own blood, a toy water gun at his feet and a scattered sea of police badges around his limp body. The classical torsion of Boyd’s figure echoes the art historical and religious trope of the Pietà, the iconic expression of grief. The artist’s use of aerial perspective here exaggerates the boy’s terrible helplessness. Boyd explains that “the subject represents all the innocent mother’s sons who have been murdered by those who are sworn to protect and serve.” Her chosen title suggests dual meaning: it describes both the fear and vulnerability of Black children under attack in America, and the defense often used by law enforcement to justify irrational acts of violence against unarmed individuals. In this work, Boyd incorporates real police department patches sourced online and from a local Georgia antique market. By including badges from across the U.S., Boyd highlights the pervasiveness of police brutality that continues to perpetuate racism and ravage communities across America.

While Boyd does not shy away from difficult subject matter, The Tip of the Iceberg demonstrates through her masterful handling of both topic and technique that her art ultimately enlightens, harnessing its own beauty and power to invoke change.

Dawn Williams Boyd’s work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY; Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL; Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, AL; Columbus Museum in Columbus, GA; Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY; and the Richardson Family Art Museum at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. Her art has been exhibited at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC; Southwest Art Center in Atlanta, GA; Hammonds House Museum in Atlanta, GA; Bulloch Hall in Roswell, GA; the Lamar Dodd School of Art’s Dodd Galleries, at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA; Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA; Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta, GA; Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, PA; and the Everson Museum in Syracuse, NY.










Today's News

September 22, 2022

Virtual Cotsen Textile Traces Global Roundtable will explore the rich traditions of lacemaking

Tyler Mitchell: From glossy magazines to a mega gallery

Senga Nengudi wins the 2023 Nasher Prize for Sculpture

Robert Fripp lightens up

Sydney museum sends visitors into an oil tank (and an artist's imagination)

Presentation at Xavier Hufkens showcases all five decades of Giorgio Griffa's career

Almine Rech announces opening of new U.S. flagship: Tribeca, New York City

The Cleveland Museum of Art announces new acquisitions

Hauser & Wirth New York opens an exhibition of Jenny Holzer's most recent works

Aperture Foundation lands a new headquarters

Belgian artist Sophie Kuijken opens an exhibition at Galerie Nathalie Obadia

Fort Gansevoort features twelve new large-scale works by Dawn Williams Boyd

Olivia Plender opens her second exhibition at Maureen Paley

Opening today: James Fuentes presents Keegan Monaghan: Indicator

The 'alien goldfish' finds a home

Success for "Provenance Revealed: Galerie Steinitz" - doubles the pre-sale estimate

DIA to collect works focused on automotive, industrial, and decorative design

A welcome gust of weird, and adventures in shadow puppetry

'Beetlejuice' to close on Broadway

New exhibition celebrates mumok's 60th anniversary

Significant works by Thomas Struth and Hilla & Bernd Becher headline Heritage's October Photography Auction

Alchemy Gallery opens a solo show featuring the vibrant, fantastical works of Christina Allan

SculptureCenter presents the first U.S. exhibition of artist Henrike Naumann

Latin Artists' New Media Work About Migration Awarded In The UK

Tips To Make Food More Delicious and Save Money

How Disney+ has Impacted the Streaming World over the Time

Ready to Invest in a Luxury RV? Here Are 4 Things You Need to Know

Virtual Reality artists nominated for Lumen Prize

How do discount vouchers function, and what are they?

Taking Your Procreate Skills To The Next Level

How to Treat Melasma.

Does Careprost Eyelash Serum Perfect for Eyelash Growth?

How AI and Blockchain Influenced R&D in Indian Pharma

Features of Honeywell Thermostat - Installation Process

Differentiate between U Part Wig Human Hair, Glueless Human Hair, and Undetectable Lace Wigs - Luvme Hair

The Pros and Cons of Gambling

Seeking to Work in the USA or Settling Down There? Then Check Out NAFTA Professional List Periodically




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful