Object Details
- Njideka Akunyili Crosby, born 1983, Nigeria
- Label Text
- Acclaimed artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby responds to the lustrous paintings of Francisco Goya, the history of portraiture, and such personal effects as souvenirs from her wedding and that of her brother in this intimate self-portrait. She describes her mixed-media paintings as creating “a very active space where cultures come together to create something new” by juxtaposing visual cues from Nigeria, Los Angeles, and elsewhere to recognize the hybrid experience of people who move, travel, and share experiences across borders.
- Description
- Mixed media collage portraying the artist herself, reflected in a mirror in front of which she is seated. On a shelf beneath the mirror rest a plate and cup onto which the photographs of a couple have been transferred. The artist is represented as seated and wearing a yellow cap-sleeved shirt, green head-wrap, and matching skirt. Her arms are crossed in her lap and her eyes are directed downward. The backdrop consists of commemorative cloth in which oval shaped photographs of a couple are surrounded by a pattern of green and grey ovals on a mustard-colored background.
- Provenance
- Acquired from the artist
- Exhibition History
- I Am: Contemporary African Women Artists, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2019 - April 3, 2022
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- 2016
- Object number
- 2017-5-1
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © 2016 Njideka Akunyili Crosby
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Acrylic, colored pencil, collage and commemorative fabric on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W: 154.3 × 132.6 cm (60 3/4 × 52 3/16 in.)
- Geography
- Nigeria
- See more items in
- National Museum of African Art Collection
- National Museum of African Art
- Topic
- Commemorative
- Writing
- geometric motif
- female
- Record ID
- nmafa_2017-5-1
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys75287065e-0c68-48ac-81eb-bbabe933b1ec
