Jeffrey Gibson
This exhibition concerns the intersections of four powerful words—INFINITE INDIGENOUS QUEER LOVE. The two outer terms suggest boundless spaces and generative, tender relationships. The two interior terms convey markers of identity that Jeffrey Gibson disassembles and reconstructs through his artistic practice as a queer Choctaw-Cherokee man. Altogether this title offers a bold, declarative framework for this exhibition which debuts a series of collages, an immersive display featuring three hanging fringe sculptures, and recent videos created with collaborators, musicians, and performers. Shown together, these dazzling artistic expressions suggest that identity is pieced together by public life, popular culture, and intimate human bonds.
Organized by Sarah Montross, Senior Curator.
The show complements Gibson’s large-scale outdoor installation Because Once You Enter My House, It Becomes Our House, on view on the front lawn of deCordova’s Sculpture Park.
Jeffrey Gibson’s vibrantly patterned work refers to his Indigenous heritage as well as his queer identity, and the aesthetics and biases associated with those identity markers. He draws on Indigenous process and materials, and queer histories that use camp aesthetics as a critical strategy to deny any romanticizing of Indigenous cultures. By exaggerating these aesthetics Gibson forges conversations that transcend binary thinking. Merging styles and historical references, Gibson states, “I have continued to think about my practice as encompassing the past and present while considering the future.”
Gibson (b. 1972) earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MA from the Royal College of Art, London. His celebrated work has been featured in recent solo exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; the New Museum, New York, and Brooklyn Art Museum, Brooklyn, NY. His work was also included in the 2019 Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial. A 2019 MacArthur Fellowship recipient, Gibson is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.