“Mitumba Deity II” by Shinique Smith installed in the Astor Salon gallery, The Ringling Museum of Art. | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
GIVING CONTEXT, highlighting connections, and challenging accepted art histories, recent museum exhibitions have presented works by contemporary Black artists in dialogue with historic objects from the institution’s holdings. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, for example, presented “Wangechi Mutu: I Am Speaking, Are You Listening?” (2021) at the Legion of Honor, where works by the Kenyan American artist were displayed among European works dating from antiquity through Impressionism, including Auguste Rodin’s Thinker. The de Young museum, its sister institution, is currently featuring “Leilah Babirye: We Have a History,” presenting ambiguously gendered sculptures adjacent to the Art of Africa collection.
At the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Fla., fabric sculptures by Shinique Smith (b. 1971) are the latest works to engage with early counterparts. Los Angeles-based Smith expresses herself through abstraction. Working across sculpture, calligraphy, and collage, she explores issues of race, gender, and consumption. “Shinique Smith: Parade” features large and small-scale, mixed-media works composed of textiles and discarded clothing in conversation with historic European art from the museum’s permanent collection. The presentation marks the first time Smith’s work has been shown in this manner.
Introducing the exhibition, the Ringling said the show “speaks to the European artistic tradition revealing the universality of human experience explored by artists throughout time while also foregrounding notions of Black femininity and the history of the circus.” CT
“Shinique Smith: Parade” is on view at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Fla., from Dec. 16, 2023-Jan. 5, 2025
FIND MORE about the exhibition
Artist Shinique Smith standing in front of her sculpture Mitumba Deity II (2018-2023) on display in the Astor Salon (Gallery 19), which was relocated from the Astor Mansion in New York City to the museum in 1926. The room is an extremely rare surviving example of intact Gilded Age room decoration. | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
Installation view of “Shinique Smith: Parade,” Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Fla. (Dec. 16, 2023-Jan. 5, 2025). | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
Installation view of “Shinique Smith: Parade,” Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Fla. (Dec. 16, 2023-Jan. 5, 2025). | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
Installation view of “Shinique Smith: Parade,” Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Fla. (Dec. 16, 2023-Jan. 5, 2025). | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
“Blue Unity (Ode to a Black Star)” by Shinique Smith installed in gallery 21 as “a visualized poem performed in the air.” The work was inspired by Alice Ruth Clark Brown (1952–2021), the first African American woman to work as a dancer, elephant rider and aerial acrobat with the Ringling Brothers Circus. | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
A display featuring small sculptures and framed photos of Shinique Smith’s family juxtaposed with works by Old Masters in the background. | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
“Grace Stands Beside” and “Stargazer” by Shinique Smith installed in front of Guercino’s Annunciation in Gallery 8, The Ringling Museum of Art. | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
Installation view of “Shinique Smith: Parade,” Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Fla. (Dec. 16, 2023-Jan. 5, 2025). | Courtesy Ringling Museum of Art
FIND MORE about Shinique Smith on her website and Instagram
BOOKSHELF
“Shinique Smith: Wonder and Rainbows” was published to accompany the artist’s 2015-16 solo exhibition at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tenn.
