Ebony G. Patterson’s “Dead Treez” examines dancehall and bling culture and the changing ideals of masculinity and gender in Jamaica (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Museum of Arts & Design
2 Columbus Circle at 58th St. & Eighth Ave.
Socially Constructed: Thursday, March 17, free with pay-what-you-wish admission, 6:30
Dancehall Queen: Friday, March 18, $10, 7:00
Shine: Thursday, March 24, free with pay-what-you-wish admission, 7:00
Exhibit continues through April 3
212-299-7777
madmuseum.org
dead treez slideshow
Upon first seeing the Ebony G. Patterson’s “Dead Treez” at the Museum of Arts & Design, you get sucked in by the artist’s use of distinct colors, shiny accouterments, and sense of humor. But look deeper and you’ll find a lot more to consider in her first solo New York museum show. Patterson, who lives and works in Kingston, Jamaica, and Lexington, Kentucky, explores shifts in male gender identity and power that have become prevalent in dancehall culture, which has embraced a kind of metrosexuality that includes skin bleaching. Utilizing methods generally associated with women, Patterson has created five floor tapestries, wallpaper, and a tableau of male mannequins that could have been pulled from a window on Fifth Ave. Heavily adorned with floral patterns and bling, the tapestries actually depict murder victims, while the mannequins are surrounded by toys, bricks, liquor bottles, and other objects that send mixed messages. Meanwhile, in the Tiffany Jewelry Gallery, Patterson’s “. . . buried again to carry on growing . . .” comprises large glass cases filled with dazzling flowers that are all actually poisonous, while hidden in the vitrines are dead bodies and pieces of jewelry that evoke violence, combining beauty and turmoil in intriguing ways.
On March 17 at 6:30, MAD is hosting a special hands-on workshop concentrating on the social aspects of making tapestries and textile works, long considered women’s work, while also evolving into a way to share important stories; the event takes place in a sixth-floor classroom and is free with pay-what-you-wish admission. On March 18 at 7:00 ($10), MAD will screen Rick Elgood and Don Letts’s Jamaican classic Dancehall Queen in conjunction with the exhibit. And on March 24 at 7:00 (free with pay-what-you-wish admission), Northwestern University art history professor Krista Thompson will discuss her 2015 book, Shine: The Visual Economy of Light in African Diasporic Aesthetic Practice, putting it in context with Patterson’s exhibition, which continues through April 3. “Krista Thompson’s work was very important to me; she was researching the use of light in diasporic cultures, and as I began to think about my work more critically, I started to see glitter for what it is: It is light, it is illumination,” Patterson explains.