Caption
Renée Stout is best known for her multifaceted approach to art, making use of a variety of materials and media. Her innovative incorporation of storytelling, use of the alter ego, investigation into West African spiritual traditions, and allusions to popular culture form a type of environment that is both real and imaginary. Her work evokes personal as well as collective cultural memory.
The title and objects in Stout’s installation conjure phrases such as black magic, black as midnight, black as tar, and black is beautiful, and reference themes related to gender, strength, power, nourishment, poison, and creation. They also play on Miles Davis’s innovative and influential jazz album Bitches Brew, whose cover art featured similar diametrically linked themes such as light/dark, good/evil, white/black, male/female, and earth/heaven.
Description
The central painted panel of an installation artwork, with assorted attached objects (.1.1-14). The panel (.1.1) is made from two (2) segments of wood secured together with a third section of wood attached vertically at center, forming an overall asymmetrical shape. The panel surface is covered in a dark wash, painted in layers throughout, with repeating patterns of stenciled flowers and fabric paisleys. In the left half of the panel, attached to the top edge, is a box constructed to look like a Brownie style camera, to which a light bulb and a camera lens are attached. At center of the left side is a wall shelf with an attached figurine. The figurine is adorned with necklaces made from glass and gemstone beads, a cloth wrap around the belly, and more beads strung around the waist. Below the wall shelf, a letter is affixed to the panel with a cutout from a tooled book cover above it. At center is a vertical strip of wood with several decorative elements attached. At upper left of the central strip is a small card or game piece from an unidentified board game. To the right of the game piece, at upper center of the central wood strip, a bottle is painted onto the wood, with text painted to its right. Below this bottle is a postcard-shaped card, featuring a passport-size photograph of a boy covered with orange acetate film, and a computer chip at lower right. At lower center is a piece of wood in the shape of a cutting board, onto which text has been painted. At the upper right-hand corner of the right panel is a painted, slithering snake, head facing towards the center of the panel. Below the snake is a mantel-style shelf with bottles (described below). Below the shelf, at the right edge, is a tooled book cover inside a frame, adhered to the panel. At the bottom edge of the right panel is a segment of wallpaper.
This central panel features a number of bottles and pouches that rest on or hang from the panel:
2013.145.1.2: Bottle (1 of 8), top left edge of panel. Brown glass with a fixed stopper, illustrations of internal organs on one side, filled with an unidentified organic or mineral material.
2013.145.1.3: Bottle (2 of 8), top edge of panel. Blue glass with a clear fixed stopper, filled with an unidentified material, possibly pigment.
2013.145.1.4: Card, far left of mantel. Card is decorated with an illustration in 2 sections of a man holding a bottle next to a red and black heart. The card is mounted and backed with paper with a pattern of green leaves and lattice.
2013.145.1.5ab: Bottle (3 of 8) with removable stopper, second from left on mantel. The bottle is brown glass, with the underlined words [VAN VAN] etched in the middle of one side, and [135] etched at the bottom of the same side. The stopper is clear glass and has a large letter [A] in the middle.
2013.145.1.6: Bottle (4 of 8) with fixed stopper, third from left on mantel. The bottle is a greenish-clear glass with a fixed stopper topped with a clear stone on the top. The bottle has a black-and-white photograph folded inside and unidentified organic material, possibly earth.
2013.145.1.7: Bottle (5 of 8) with fixed stopper, middle-left of mantel. The bottle is clear glass with a reddish tinge on the bottom, and a tooth and teeth fragments inside. The bottle is sealed with a brown sealant mixture composed of unidentified organic material.
2013.145.1.8: Bottle (6 of 8) with fixed stopper, middle-right of mantel. The bottle is clear glass with a stopper covered with small faceted green stones. Filled with an iridescent material, possibly foil.
2013.145.1.9: Bottle (7 of 8), with fixed stopper, third from right on mantel. Blue cobalt glass with a fixed stopper, sealed with a gold coating or paint.
2013.145.1.10: Bottle (8 of 8), second from right on mantel. Bottle is red molded glass with shapes of leaves and berries on each side, with a fixed stopper. The bottle contains unidentified organic material, possibly wood or bone.
2013.145.1.11: Copper plate printing block, far left of mantel. Etched on the copper plate is a portrait of a woman with bobbed hair, wearing a blouse and necklace. The copper plate is mounted on wood and backed with paper in a red bamboo print.
2013.145.1.12: Pouch (1 of 3), hangs on hook on left side of panel. The pouch is in a red velvet fabric decorated with a piece of gold fabric in a paisley shape embellished with embroidered metal thread. Across and around the paisley are headpins decorated with pink seed beads and sequins. The back of the pouch is unembellished. The pouch hangs by a hand worked chain made by the artist from scrap wire. The pouch is stuffed with unidentified organic materials individually bagged in plastic bags.
2013.145.1.13: Pouch (2 of 3) hangs on a decorated nail at center-right of panel. The pouch is a black satin material decorated with a piece of pink fabric in a paisley shape embellished with embroidered metal thread. Across and around the paisley are sequins and headpins decorated with blue seed beads and sequins. The back of the pouch also is covered with blue seed beads and sequins. The pouch is secured with gold cord and finished with a large pink beaded bead, and hangs from the panel by a satin cord. The pouch is stuffed with unidentified organic materials individually bagged in plastic bags.
2013.145.1.14: Pouch (3 of 3) hangs on nail underneath mantel on right side of panel. The pouch is a green velvet material decorated with a cutout piece of fabric in a heart shape embellished with embroidered metal thread. Across and around the heart are green and gold sequins, and headpins decorated with green seed beads and sequins. The lower back half of the pouch only is covered with green seed beads and sequins. The pouch hangs by a hand worked and hand beaded chain made by the artist from scrap wire. The pouch is stuffed with unidentified organic materials individually bagged in plastic bags.
On the verso of the panel, at center, is text hand-written by the artist in black ink, listing the title of the artwork, the year, the music that Stout listened to while making the artwork, and perfumes worn. At verso upper center, a segment of wood, which appears to be a side panel from a cigar box, is attached to the panel. The wood is engraved with the text: "premium long leaf imported tobaccos / Hercules claro".
Medium
mixed media: wood, glass, paint, metal, cloth, paper, plant material, wallpaper, sequins, minerals, bone, earth, photographic lenses, light bulb, photographic gelatin and silver on photographic paper, acetate film
