Art-to-Art Palette Journal

Exhibit lauds an artistic Ohio icon

Case for The Ragmud Collection: Volume 5, “I Just Take Walks” and Volume 6, “America’s Homeless: Street People”, mixed media, 1987–2008. © Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson

     (NWPR-OH) – Born in 1940 in Columbus, Ohio, artist Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson combines traditional art materials with found and everyday objects to create enchanting two- and three-dimensional works. Densely packed with imagery and materials, her sculptural work is a cross between folk art, quilting and high art. Opening on Friday, November 19 at the Toledo Museum of Art, “Aminah Robinson: Voices That Taught Me How to Sing,” features Robinson’s Ragmud Collection which was recently acquired by the museum. The show will remain on view through February 27, 2011, in Gallery 4 at the Museum’s Glass Pavilion®.

     The Ragmud Collection was created over a span of 22 years and is a set of books that contain sculptural pieces, drawings, poems, stories, books-within-books, extended pullouts and cases. Never before shown publicly, the 10 volumes together cover the artist’s entire career and every kind of work, story and method of art making, said the Museum’s associate curator of contemporary and modern art, Amy Gilman.

     In her works, Robinson incorporates storytelling of some kind, whether it references the historical past, her family history or her explorations of her ancestry. Recurring themes in her work are memories of growing up in Poindexter Village in Columbus, and her experiences traveling through the African Diaspora. Several works specifically explore her close relationships with family.

“The Blackberry Patch” from The Ragmud Collection: Volume 1, Folklife in Poindexter Village 1940–1957. Book: mixed media, 1987–2008. © Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson

     Another central creative component in her work is her integration of everyday objects, such as men’s ties. She repeatedly uses buttons for everything from eyes to the borders of pages. “Making do” with readymade materials provides a strong link to Robinson’s ancestors who were brought from Africa with nothing but their culture and traditions. Another link to her ancestry is her use in her sculptural work of hogmawg, a mixture of mud, pig grease, dyes, sticks, small rocks, glue and lime that her father taught her how to make.

     There are multiple scheduled venues on the agenda throughout this Buckeye icon exhibition, however an extraordinary highlight is on Saturday, November 20, from 1:00-3:00 pm, where artist Robinson will be at the Glass Pavilion® for a book signing of  “The Ragmud Collection: Books by Aminah Robinson.” Admission to the exhibit and to the Toledo Museum of Art is free.

     The Museum is located at 2445 Monroe Street at Scottwood Avenue, just west of the downtown business district and one block off I-75 with exit designations posted.  For general information, call 419.255.8000 or 800.644.6862, or see www.toledomuseum.org.

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