Ebony G. Patterson, Untitled II from the Doiley Boyz series, 2008. Courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
A History of Flamboyance by Justin Phillip Reed. Cover Design by Alban Fischer.
Ebony G. Patterson
Ebony G. Patterson. Photo by Monique “Mogi” Gilpin.
Artist Bio
Ebony G. Patterson (b. 1981; lives and works in Kingston, Jamaica)
Ebony G. Patterson’s multilayered practice - in sculpture, installation, performance, and video – uses beauty as a tool. She employs opulent, hand-embellished surfaces and brightly colored patterns to seduce the viewer into bearing witness to the violence and social injustices imposed upon the invisible and the voiceless. Her works command the viewer to look past the façade – of their rich formal characteristics, of the fabricated fantasies increasingly traded in our consumer and social media-centric culture – and to acknowledge the realities of those not touched by the glitter and gold. The paradoxical means the artist uses to convey this message only emphasizes its urgency and weight.
Patterson received her BFA from Edna Manley College, Kingston, Jamaica (2004) and MFA from Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University, St. Louis, MO (2006). She has had solo exhibitions and projects at many US institutions including Pérez Art Museum Miami (through May 5, 2019); Baltimore Museum of Art, MD (through April 7, 2019); The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY (2016); Atlanta Center for Contemporary Art, GA (2016); and SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA (2016). Dead Treez, Patterson’s first large-scale institutional solo show, originated at the Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI (2015) and traveled to Museum of Art and Design, NY (2015); Boston University Art Galleries, MA (2016); and UB Art Galleries, University at Buffalo, NY (2017). Her work was included in Open Spaces Kansas City (2018), the 32nd São Paulo Bienal: Live Uncertainty (2016); the 12th Havana Biennial: Between the Idea and the Experience, Cuba (2015); Prospect.3: Notes for Now, New Orleans (2014), and the Jamaica Biennial 2014, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston. She was an Artist-in-Residence at the Rauschenberg Foundation, Captiva Island, FL (2017) and served on the Artistic Director’s Council for Prospect.4, New Orleans (2017). Patterson has received numerous awards, including the Stone and DeGuire Art Award, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University, St. Louis (2018); United States Artist Award (2018); Tiffany Foundation Grant (2017); Joan Mitchell Foundation Art Grant (2015); and the Andy Warhol Foundation Grant, in conjunction with Small Axe Project (2012). Patterson’s work is included in a number of public collections, including The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; Museum of Arts and Design, NY; Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, NC; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY; 21c Museum Hotels; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; and the National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston. Patterson is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
Artist Website
and visit Ebony G. Patterson at Monique Meloche Gallery
