2024, Suchitra Mattai, for lush lands and rich sorrows -- National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington)
From the museum label: In her practice, Mattai investigates historical objects and considers their meaning in new contexts. Here, she extracts pages from The Grammar of Ornament (1856), a book by Owen Jones, a British architect and designer who aimed to codify visual motifs from around the globe; she reappropriates them as a backdrop for new figures. The title, referencing "lush lands and rich sorrows" alludes to the historical plunder of natural resources and ideas from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
2024, Suchitra Mattai, for lush lands and rich sorrows -- National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington)
From the museum label: In her practice, Mattai investigates historical objects and considers their meaning in new contexts. Here, she extracts pages from The Grammar of Ornament (1856), a book by Owen Jones, a British architect and designer who aimed to codify visual motifs from around the globe; she reappropriates them as a backdrop for new figures. The title, referencing "lush lands and rich sorrows" alludes to the historical plunder of natural resources and ideas from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.