Smarthistory – Assemblage and materiality

1980–today

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Despite the application of rosebuds and glitter, this painting is anything but delicate.

Bradford's painting draws from ancient Greek myth to celebrate a space beloved to him: his mother's beauty parlor.

Serra builds a textured surface with layers of oil stick, blurring the distinction between drawing and sculpture.

Burn marks, scars, and scratches cover the surface of Johnson's work.

Takaezu's ceramics reflect her belief that art should have "mystery, an unsaid quality; it contains a spirit and is alive."

Irwin's installation-like interventions transformed a former Nabisco factory into a contemporary art space.

Thomas's assemblage of photographs, paint, and glittering sequins lends sacredness to the struggles of the civil rights movements.

Seen from above, the enormous spiral recalls many natural forms. Seen up close, the material used to make the pattern becomes visible: salt.

From Johnson's hollow, scarred bronze sculpture, nature is bursting forth.

This is one of a series of about fifty altered punching-bags produced by Jeffrey Gibson.

Using found objects, Rina Banerjee illuminates the obscured histories of Black and South Asian populations in New Orleans.

This bandolier bag is the first of its kind from the Sac and Fox tribe in more than 20 years

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