Baltimore
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture
With an aesthetic rooted in the everyday, “Material Girls” featured work by eight emerging and established black women artists who translate the metaphoric properties of their media into fierce sculptures, immersive installations, and intricate assemblages. The exhibition, curated by the museum’s collections and exhibitions director Michelle Joan Wilkinson, reflected a legacy of creativity and hand-crafting, resonating with permanent displays of African American material culture. The artists repurpose as sculptural media what they glean from salvage yards and recycling bins and mine from the wares at craft and thrift shops. Not only beads, tissue paper, glass, feathers, and stones, but also pocket combs, shredded tires, plastic bags, solar panels, and steel cables make their way into these conceptual projects. …see the entire review in the print version of November’s Sculpture magazine.
