Ebony Patterson

Ebony Grace Patterson[1] (born 1981, Kingston,

Jamaica) is a Jamaican-born visual artist and educator. Ebony Patterson
She is known for her large and colorful tapestries
created out of various materials such as, glitter,
sequins, fabric, toys, beads, faux flowers, jewelry, and
other embellishments. Her "Gangstas for Life series"
of dancehall portraits, and her garden-inspired
installations.

She has taught at the University of Virginia, Edna

Manley College School of Visual and Performing Arts, Patterson in 2010
and has been an Associate Professor in Painting and Born Ebony Grace Patteron
Mixed Media at the University of Kentucky since 1981 (age 42–43)
2007.[2][3] Her work has been shown in numerous solo Kingston, Jamaica
and group exhibitions in Jamaica, the United States, Education Edna Manley College of Visual and
and abroad. Performing Arts

In 2024, Patterson will co-curate the 6th edition of arts Washington University in St. Louis
triennial Prospect New Orleans, and the first artist to Website http://ebonygpatterson.com/
do so.[4][5]

On October 1, 2024, Patterson was named a MacArthur Fellow.[6]

Early life and education

Patterson was born in 1981, Kingston, Jamaica.[7][8] She studied painting at Edna Manley College of
Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica and graduated in 2004.[9][10] Patterson received an
MFA degree in 2006 in printmaking and drawing from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at
Washington University in St. Louis.[9]

Work
Patterson's early work often revolves around questions of identity and the body, and takes the form of
mixed media paintings, drawings and collages, most of them on paper. Photography, found objects,
installation and performance have recently become increasingly important in her practice. Early work was
primarily concerned with the female body as object. Her Venus Investigations objectified the female
torso, headless and anonymous, and explored the relationship between the ample-bodied "Venus" or
female goddess images of prehistoric times and contemporary female self-images and beauty ideals.
Subsequent works more provocatively focused on the vagina as an object and, by implication, examined
the taboos that surround this body part and its functions within
Jamaican culture. This also led to 3-dimensional constructions
made from intimate female articles such as sanitary napkins and
tampons and more abstracted and surreal hybrid organic forms that
appeared in her large paper collages of 2007. This early body of
work has a sober and at times even majestic visual beauty which
as she puts it, references "beauty through the use of the grotesque
but visceral, confrontational and deconstructed."[11] Patterson's
artwork often addresses social and political issues related to
feminism, violence, gender identity, and sexuality. Her work has
been exhibited at art galleries around the world and has been
critically acclaimed for its powerful messages.

Patterson's 2016 solo show at the Museum of Arts and Design,

Dead Treez, incorporated several appliquéd commercially-woven
Untitled I (2007), from the Hybrid
Jacquard weavings in which Patterson used restaged images of Series, mixed media drawing on
photographs that had been taken of murder victims in Jamaica and paper.
then circulated on social media.[12] The exhibition also included a
collection of mannequins in vibrant Jamaican dance hall wear
(titled Swag Swag Krew), and a series of vitrines with artificial
flora and jewelry belonging to the collection of the Museum of
Arts and Design and in which patterned bodies reclined (titled
...buried again to carry on growing...), again referencing the
victims of violent crime.[13]

Her solo exhibition Ebony G. Patterson...while the dew is still on

the roses...organized by and presented at the Pérez Art Museum
Miami in 2018 gathered a number of artworks including drawings,
tapestries, and sculptures that feature glitter, appliqués, pins,
embellishments, fabric, tassels, brooches, pearls, and beads. On
the occasion, a monograph was publish to celebrate the artist's
production.[14]

In 2018, Patterson was invited to participate in the first edition of

Open Spaces, a series of installations, performances, and talks in
Kansas City, Missouri.[15] Her installation ...called up focused on
one of two public pools in Swope Park. She ran a Kickstarter Untitled II (2007), from the Gangstas
campaign to "reclaim and revitalize"[16] the site dedicated to Dr. for Life Series, mixed media on
Harry M. Gilkey, who used the pool in 1956 to teach hydrotherapy hand-cut paper.
to youth with physical handicaps.[17] Patterson describes the site
in the Kickstarter campaign,[16] noting:

I want to better honor this history by taking down the fence, cleaning the space, and creating
a work here. I also want to ask what it means to memorialize not just a site that was already
memorialized, but also to embellish a site that is already embellished. What does it mean to
give presence and meaning to a space that has been essentially unheard of? How do we
 reclaim what is meant for the collective? These are questions I want to pose not only for the
exhibition but also for the community who once used it and will now use it again, and learn
from what they have to say.

Patterson further elaborated after the work was complete, noting, "I am very interested in how regular
people claim space and that's what street side memorials do. So when a tragedy happens, they mark the
space by adding things that we would associate with a memorial in the same way that we're seeing here
so there are flowers, there are toys, there are candles."[18] The work was received positively by those who
frequently visit Swope Park.[19][18]

Patterson has held the first immersive artistic residency[20] at the New York Botanical Garden, resulting
in the 2023 exhibition "…things come to thrive…in the shedding…in the molting…".[21]

Gangstas for Life series (2008 – ongoing)

One of Patterson's most recognized body of work is a series entitled "Gangstas for Life," which explores
conceptions of masculinity within Dancehall culture.[10] In this series, the artist specifically explores skin
bleaching as a means of marking and transformation, not as an act of racial self-loathing.[22] Additionally
the series "seeks to examine the dichotomy between Jamaican stereotypical ideologies of homosexual
practices and its parallels within dancehall culture."[23] Red floral and fish motifs throughout the series
serve to represent homosexuality within a predominantly homophobic culture.[22] Patterson's images
imaginatively recreate portraits of young black males who bleach their skin, pluck their eyebrows and
wear 'bling' jewelry to enhance their gangsta status. Patterson finds beauty in their psychic violence
glamorizing them with glittered halos and luscious lipstick.[24] The artist explores perceptions of beauty
as grotesque within the series, and her portrayal of the subjects' cracked, bleeding and oozing skin.

Public art collections

Patterson's work is held in a number of public art institutions, this is a select list including:

Pérez Art Museum, Miami, Florida[25]

Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas[26]
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama[27]
Eastern Illinois University, Tarble Arts Center, Charleston, Illinois[28]
Edna Manley College of the Visual Arts, Kingston, Jamaica
Nasher Museum, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina[29]
National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
Wifredo Lam Center for Contemporary Art, Havana, Cuba
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas[30]
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art, Pont-Aven, France
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
 Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City, New York

References
1. "Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art" (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollecti
on/exhibitions/662). Brooklyn Museum. 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
2. "UK Artist/Professor Ebony G. Patterson Wins Coveted United States Artists Fellowship" (htt
ps://uknow.uky.edu/arts-culture/uk-artistprofessor-ebony-g-patterson-wins-coveted-united-st
ates-artists-fellowship). UKNow. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
3. Blackford, Linda (2018). "You May Not Know This UK Professor, But The International Art
World Does" (https://www.kentucky.com/entertainment/visual-arts/article198113354.html).
Kentucky.com.
4. "Artist Ebony G. Patterson will co-curate next edition of New Orleans's Prospect triennial" (ht
tps://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/08/31/ebony-g-patterson-co-curator-prospect-new-orl
eans-6-miranda-lash). The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 31 August
2022. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
5. Greenberger, Alex (31 August 2022). "Ebony G. Patterson Becomes the First Artist to
Organize Prospect New Orleans Triennial" (https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ebony-
g-pattesron-prospect-new-orleans-1234637778/). ARTnews.com. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
6. "MacArthur Fellows - MacArthur Foundation" (https://www.macfound.org/programs/awards/f
ellows/). www.macfound.org. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
7. "Ebony G. Patterson" (https://web.archive.org/web/20191212220406/https://artbma.org/exhi
bitions/patterson). Baltimore Museum of Art. Archived from the original (https://artbma.org/ex
hibitions/patterson) on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
8. "Ebony G. Patterson . . . while the dew is still on the roses . . " (https://www.pamm.org/exhibi
tions/ebony-g-patterson-while-dew-still-roses). pamm.org. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
9. "Boston University Art Galleries presents Ebony G. Patterson: Dead Treez" (https://www.bu.
edu/cfa/boston-university-art-galleries-presents-ebony-g-patterson-dead-treez/). College of
Fine Arts, Boston University. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
10. Laughlin, Nicholas (1 September 2012). "Ebony G. Patterson: All the right moves" (https://w
ww.caribbean-beat.com/issue-117/ebony-g-patterson-all-right-moves). Caribbean Beat
Magazine, Issue 117. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
11. Poupeye, Veerle. "Ebony G. Patterson". National Gallery of Jamaica.
12. "Ebony G. Patterson Reveals Deep Truths – artnet News" (https://news.artnet.com/market/e
bony-patterson-tapestries-326392). artnet News. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 3 February
2018.
13. "LIFE AND DEATH IN A POISONOUS GARDEN EBONY G. PATTERSON Dead Treez" (http
s://brooklynrail.org/2016/02/artseen/life-and-death-in-a-poisonous-garden-ebony-g-patterso
n-dead-treez). The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
14. "Ebony G. Patterson: ...while the dew is still on the roses... • Pérez Art Museum Miami" (http
s://www.pamm.org/en/exhibition/ebony-g-patterson-while-the-dew-is-still-on-the-roses/).
Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
15. "The Exhibition" (https://openspaceskc.com/exhibition/). Open Spaces. Retrieved 3 March
2019.
16. "Called Up: A New Artwork for Kansas City" (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/calledup/c
alled-up-a-new-artwork-for-kansas-city). Kickstarter. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
17. "Mixed Uses: Open Spaces Kansas City" (https://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-feat
ures/news/mixed-uses-open-spaces-kansas-city/). Art in America. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
18. Denesha, Julie. "For Open Spaces, An Artist Turns A Forgotten Pool into A 'Vision of Color
And Thought' " (https://www.kcur.org/post/open-spaces-artist-turns-forgotten-pool-vision-colo
r-and-thought). kcur.org. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
19. "Take a drone flight over an "Open Spaces" art installation at Swope Park" (https://www.kan
sascity.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article217724535.html). kansascity. Retrieved
3 March 2019.
20. "Ebony G. Patterson in Conversation with Thelma Golden » New York Botanical Garden" (ht
tps://www.nybg.org/event/ebony-g-patterson/ebony-g-patterson-in-conversation-with-thelma
-golden/). New York Botanical Garden. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
21. Heinrich, Will (15 June 2023). "Ebony G. Patterson Brings a Crowd to the New York
Botanical Garden" (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/arts/design/patterson-new-york-bot
anical-garden-review-vultures.html). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 (https://search.
worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 29 July 2023.
22. Paravisini, Lisa (20 August 2010). "Bleaching gangstas'? Ebony Patterson interrogates
dancehall's expressions of masculinity" (https://repeatingislands.com/2010/08/20/bleaching-
gangstas-ebony-patterson-interrogates-dancehalls-expressions-of-masculinity/). Repeating
Islands. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
23. Ladosha, Neon (April 2011). "bookmarks: Art: Ebony G. Patterson" (https://neonladosha.blo
gspot.com/2011/04/art-ebony-g-patterson.html). bookmarks. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
24. Petrine Archer- Straw, Petrinearcher.com
25. "Pérez Art Museum Miami Announces Acquisition of Artwork by Ebony G. Patterson at Sixth
Annual Art + Soul Celebration" (https://www.pamm.org/about/news/2019/p%C3%A9rez-art-
museum-miami-announces-acquisition-artwork-ebony-g-patterson-sixth-annual). Pérez Art
Museum (PAMM). 11 February 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
26. "Reveal/Conceal: Exploring Identity in Contemporary Art" (https://web.archive.org/web/2019
1212220409/https://www.arkansasartscenter.org/reveal-conceal). The Arkansas Arts Center.
2018. Archived from the original (https://www.arkansasartscenter.org/reveal-conceal) on 12
December 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
27. "Collection: among the weeds, plants, and peacock feathers" (https://www.artsbma.org/colle
ction/among-the-weeds-plants-and-peacock-feathers/). Birmingham Museum of Art.
Retrieved 12 December 2019.
28. "Tarble Arts Center – Collections and Archives" (https://www.eiu.edu/tarble/collections.php).
Eastern Illinois University. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
29. "Ebony G. Patterson" (https://nasher.duke.edu/artists/4614/). Nasher Museum of Art at Duke
University. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
30. "REVEAL · Works from the Collection" (http://www.nermanmuseum.org/exhibitions/2014-11-
24-reveal-collection.html). NMOCA. Retrieved 12 December 2019.

External links
Official website (http://ebonygpatterson.com)
Ebony Patterson profile (https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/ebony-patterson/m04gn6w
x?hl=en) on Google Arts and Culture

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