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Previous Exhibitions
 Kickin' It
with Joyce J. Scott
April 7 - May 27, 2007
Dorothy Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries
Image: Joyce J. Scott, No Mommy Me I, 1991, Leather and beads, 15" x 6" x
6", Private Collection. Image Courtesy of ExhibitsUSA.RELATED EVENTS
For over three decades, Joyce J. Scott has been creating objects of
exceptional skill and beauty while offering her own distinctive commentary on
social issues such as stereotyping, violence, and the prejudice that we all
confront at some point in our lives. Now, a national retrospective of her
30-year career, Kickin’ It with Joyce J. Scott, opening April 7, 2007 at
Polk Museum of Art, pays tribute to her remarkable career by presenting 60 of
her works created since 1970. This comprehensive exhibition includes sculpture,
jewelry, prints, and textiles as well as videos and photographs of Scott’s
performance and installation work.
The foundation of Scott’s art is craft. Though she often mixes
materials—ceramic, glass, cloth, and metal—beads are prevalent in her work: a
glittering, beaded surface is a signature element of her oeuvre. If her subject
matter is sometimes harsh, it is leavened by her wry humor and masterly
technique. And her influences, from African and Native American experiences to
comic books, television, and other venues of popular American culture, are as
wide ranging as her media.
Joyce J. Scott was born in Baltimore and still lives in the neighborhood
where she was raised. Scott received a B.F.A. degree from the Maryland Institute
College of Art and a M.F.A. in crafts from Institute Allende in Mexico, with
further study at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and Haystack
Mountain School of Crafts in Maine.
Scott’s earliest art lessons were received at home from her mother, the
renowned fiber artist, Elizabeth Talford Scott. She began to be influenced from
an early age by three generations of basketmakers, quilters, storytellers, and
wood, metal and clay workers. At the center of this generative heritage was the
influence of Africa, where the creation of utilitarian objects of beauty is
everyday practice. In keeping with traditional African practices, Scott often
uses beads as medium.
Scott is renowned for her striking creations and biting social commentary on
issues such as racism, violence, sexism and stereotypes. She writes, “I believe
in messing with stereotypes, prodding the viewer to reassess.” According to
Scott, “It’s important to me to use art in a manner that incites people to look
and then carry something home - even if it’s subliminal - that might make a
change in them...I am a visual and performance artist because it’s my best voice
as a human. It allows interaction, sometimes masked, even scabrous, in ways
polite society finds uncomfortable,” writes Scott. “My work is not meant to be
openly offensive. I skirt the borders between comedy, pathos, delight, and
horror. I invite the viewer to laugh at our collective selves. Humans are
hilariously precocious.”
Joyce Scott exhibits, performs, and lectures nationally and internationally and
is the recipient of prestigious honors from the National Endowment for the Arts,
the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Anonymous Was a Woman and the American
Craft Council.
Kickin’ It with Joyce J. Scott is made possible by a generous grant
from Altria Group, Inc. The exhibition is curated by George Ciscle,
Curator-in-Residence, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, and
organized and toured by ExhibitsUSA. ExhibitsUSA is a national division of
Mid-America Arts Alliance, a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1972.
Scott will attend the opening reception of the exhibition on Friday, April 13
and will introduce her work with a lecture at 6:00pm. On Saturday, April
14,1-4:30pm, Scott will present a performance and two other prominent scholars
will join us for Dialogues with Artists.
Members' Celebration Opening Reception
Friday, April 13, 2007 | 6:00 - 8:00pm
Lecture by Joyce J. Scott at 6:00pm
FREE for Members, $5 Guests
Join us on April 13 for the Members' Celebration Opening Reception for
Kickin' It With Joyce J. Scott. The artist will attend and will give a
lecture about her work at 6:00pm. The reception will follow. Cash Bar.
Dialogues With Artists: Joyce J. Scott
Saturday, April 14, 2007 | 1:00 - 4:30pm
$20 Members, $25 Non-Members, $10 Students with I.D.
Internationally acclaimed artist Joyce Scott will give a live performance in
conjunction with the exhibition Kickin’ It with Joyce J. Scott on
Saturday, April 14th. The performance is open to the public. Scott is well known
for her performances and uses her art to speak out about racism, sexism, and
other prejudices.
In addition to Scott’s performance there will be lectures by Dr. Leslie
King-Hammond and author Mel Watkins. Dr. King-Hammond is dean of graduate
studies at the Maryland Institute, College of Art and is considered one of the
foremost authorities of African American aesthetics, women studies, and
contemporary twentieth-century art history. Mel Watkins is the author of On
the Real Side, A History of African-American Comedy from Slavery to Chris
Rock and Dancing with Strangers, a recollection of growing up in
Midwestern American in the 1950s and 1960s. He will talk about Joyce Scott’s
role as a performer and humorist within the context of African American humor.
Dialogues with Artists (Formally Symposium) is a new program bringing
multicultural artists to Polk County to participate in this year’s exhibitions
and outreach programs. Dialogues attempts to enrich the community by exposing
audiences to art through exhibitions, personal conversations with selected
artists from the shows, and through workshops directed to both at-risk youth
organizations and high school teachers. The dialogues program illustrates how
art can be an effective personal storytelling tool for educating, a method for
documenting, and finally, a way to engage one’s art with community.
The Dialogues with Artists program is made possible by a Challenge America
grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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