Toledo Museum Presents Aminah Robinson Exhibit
Aminah Robinson: Voices That Taught Me How to Sing
Dates:
Nov. 19, 2010–Feb. 27, 2011
Venue:
Gallery 4, Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion®, Toledo, Ohio USA
Admission:
Free
Content: Ohio artist Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (born 1940) combines traditional art materials with found and everyday objects to create enchanting two- and three-dimensional works of art. Her Ragmud Collection, recently acquired by the Toledo Museum of Art, is a set of 10 books that contain sculptural pieces, drawings, poems, stories, books-within-books, extended pullouts and cases. Not seen publicly before, each book is a visual feast covering a
different theme. Assembled over decades, the body of work covers the artist's entire career. A video enables visitors to watch the artist page through the books, listen to her stories, and the sounds created as buttons, shells and other elements embedded in the book pages move.
Highlights: All the books incorporate storytelling of some kind, whether referencing the
historical past, her family history or her explorations of her ancestry. Recurring themes in her work are memories of growing up in Poindexter Village, a Columbus, Ohio neighborhood, and her experiences traveling through the African Diaspora.
Robinson incorporates everyday objects, such as men's ties, in creative ways. She repeatedly uses buttons for everything from the eyes of people to borders for the pages. "Making do" with readymade materials provides a strong link to Robinson's ancestors, who were brought from Africa with nothing but their culture and traditions.
Significance: This exhibition introduces an entire body of Robinson's work not before seen
publicly. The 10 books in the series are each thematic and unique. Together they form a comprehensive overview of the artist's work throughout her career.
Curator: Amy Gilman, Toledo Museum of Art associate curator of modern and contemporary art
Publication: A companion book, The Ragmud Collection: Books by Aminah Robinson, features scholarly essays and reproductions in a format designed to evoke the experience of "reading" one of Robinson's books.
Press Release Contact Name: Teri Sharp
Press Release Contact Email: [email protected]
Organization Name: Toledo Museum of Art