Cloth

late 20th century

African

BTP: Break the Pattern

Repetition is taken for a ride on these cloths. Each pattern starts off with small designs placed side by side, duplicated over and over. Along the way, however, interruptions keep leading the designs astray. Cubes start to pile up on each other, dots collide and lines refuse to stay straight. This unpredictable visual pattern is considered by many to be a major element of the African aesthetic-a flair for accents that offer a percussive rhythm to visual and musical traditions. Here, a definite attraction to breaking routine is explored in cloths that were worn as skirts in West Africa.

Resist-dyed cotton

44 1/2 in. (113 cm)

L.: 65 1/2 in.

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.299

Not currently on view

Resources

Published ReferencesBeckwith, Naomi and Valerie Cassel Oliver (eds.). Howardena Pindell: What Remains to be Seen. Exh. Cat. Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 2017; p. 64, reproduced fig. 15 [not in exhibition].

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