From Earth to Sky: Ancient Art of the Americas

May 11, 2024 - August 25, 2024

No written record was left by indigenous peoples living in west Mexico 2,000 years ago, but the clay objects in this exhibition offer clues about how they viewed themselves and their environment. Ceramic sculptures depict men and women in various roles and activities, spanning ages from infancy to old age. Ancestors and rulers are shown to legitimize and memorialize important families. Daily life, whether ceremonial or informal, is suggested with figures who are eating, drinking, playing music and ballgames. Familial and societal bonds are represented through mother-and-child, man-and woman, and warrior figures. Facial gestures, bodily postures, and bodily ornament all suggest unique or group identities.

Spiritual beliefs are reflected in the predominance of shaman figures, symbolic objects, and, most importantly, the fact that these ceramics were buried with the deceased. Like other ancient cultures, these peoples held a strong belief in the afterlife. They buried not only objects conveying social status, but also items to use in the afterlife like clay vessels, shells, and clothing. In west Mexico during this period, burials for honored dead or beloved ancestors took the form of a vertical shaft leading down to a horizontal chamber, which was often underneath the home. Possibly burial chambers were reentered to pay homage to the dead with annual gifts of food and drink, a precursor for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) annual celebration.

From the Exhibition

• Jalisco Mexico. Kneeling Woman, ca. 200 BCE - 200 CE, Ceramic. 15 x 10 x 7 in. Gift of The Ted Weiner Family 2022.80

• Jalisco Mexico. Warrior, ca. 200 BCE - 200 CE. Ceramic, 9 x 6 x 6 1/2 in. Gift of The Ted Weiner Family 2022.13

• Nayarit Mexico, Ancestor Pair, ca. 200 BCE - 200 CE. Ceramic, each: 16 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 4 in. Gift of The Ted Weiner Family 2022.64

Joyce J. Scott: Messages

July 20, 2024 - December 1, 2024

For over 40,000 years artists across the world have used glass beads to create elaborate jewelry and sculpture; however, Baltimore-based artist Joyce J. Scott uses beads to communicate her activism and sense of social justice. She relates her work as an artist to her family's craft traditions and to her African American heritage. Drawing viewers in through vibrant color, humor, and satire she presents difficult themes such as racial inequity, violence against women, and politics, pushing the boundaries of the medium not only through her technique but through her narratives and messages. 

While many of these issues are prevalent in the United States, Scott emphasizes that her artwork refers to cultures around the globe, stating that, “if we are going to work things out, we have to work together.” While the world has changed in many ways since Scott began working with beads, the artwork in this exhibition reminds us that there is still a long way to go. Themes that she explored in the 1970s and 80s are still found in artwork from the last decade. Even though she often addresses stereotypes in an uncompromising way, her hope is that one of these intricate artworks will leave a mark on the viewer and encourage them to fight against systemic issues to make the world a more joyous place. 

This exhibition is organized by Mobilia Gallery.

From the Exhibition

• Joyce J. Scott, American, born 1948. He Said What?, 2022. Glass beads, thread, velcro, leather, peyote stitch 24 x 15 x 1/8 in. Collection of Edward Smith

  Photo credit: Michael Koryta

• Joyce J. Scott, American, born 1948. Chinese Panthers, 1979. Glass beads, thread, sued, loom and peyote stitch 20 x 8 3/4 x 1/8 in. Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum New York, New York.

  Photo credit: Matt Flynn, Smithsonian Institution

  
  

• Joyce J. Scott, American, born 1948. Moss, n.d. Glass beads, found ceramic teapot, peyote stitch 11 1/8 x 8 x 6 1/4 in. Kamm Teapot Foundation, Statesville, NC. 

  Photo credit: Kamm Teapot Collection