Newsroom: Columbus Museum of Art Presents “Fragments of Epic Memory”
Columbus, OH — June 27, 2024 — The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is pleased to present Fragments of Epic Memory, a group exhibition exploring the legacies of Caribbean liberation struggles within the present, juxtaposing historical photographs with the work of contemporary Caribbean artists. Fragments of Epic Memory is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and is curated by Julie Crooks, Curator, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora at the AGO. CMA’s presentation is organized by Daniel Marcus, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions.
As with previous iterations of the exhibition, CMA’s presentation of Fragments of Epic Memory is anchored by a selection of over 100 photographs from the AGO’s Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. Dating from the early 19th century and produced largely by European and American photographers, these images document the aftermath of emancipation, a period that coincided with the invention and rise of the photographic medium. Surrounding this photographic archive are paintings, photographs, video projections, and other works by Caribbean artists from the 1960s to the present, offering a capsule survey of contemporary Caribbean art with an emphasis on recent production. This juxtaposition reveals the ongoing process towards liberation and world-building across the region and the reverberation of historical legacies around the globe, offering a multigenerational and multicentric presentation.
Originating at the AGO, CMA’s presentation marks the fourth and final iteration of Fragments of Epic Memory, condensed versions of which were previously shown at the Portland Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. CMA will present an expanded version of the touring exhibition, including newly-added works by several artists featured in its initial iteration at the AGO, as well as two pieces on loan from Columbus collectors
Though initially conceived prior to 2020, Fragments of Epic Memory is heavily informed by the racial justice uprisings that followed George Floyd’s murder, tracing histories of liberation through the Caribbean. Through its interplay across timescales, the exhibition refutes the colonial imaginaries that posit the Caribbean merely as a tourist destination, instead centering the region as a locus of liberatory struggles that have since defined the modern era.
The early photographs presented in the exhibition offer a historical glimpse into the world generated by the end of slavery in the Caribbean and the journey through anti-colonial struggles and towards national liberation. Rather than mapping a linear timeline between the 1830s and the present, Fragments of Epic Memory collapses history by identifying elements of contemporary culture and politics within the past, illuminating manifestations of longer legacies of independence and liberation, originating in the refusal of enslavement and colonization in the 19th century.
CMA’s presentation of Fragments of Epic Memory reflects the museum’s longstanding commitment to honoring narratives of liberation through rotating exhibitions as well as its permanent collections. Previous such presentations have included the 2020 exhibition Art after Stonewall, 1969–1989, a groundbreaking survey of art and visual ephemera tracing the impact of the LGBTQ civil rights movement on the art world, which traveled to several venues after originating at CMA. The museum’s Philip J. and Suzanne Schiller Collection of American Social Commentary Art, cataloging the left-wing movements of the 1930s and the Black Power movement of the 1960s and ’70s, has also become central within the museum’s historical and contemporary wings since its acquisition in 2005. Through these various channels, CMA aims to honor the diversity of histories held by the museum’s diverse local and regional communities.
Fragments of Epic Memory additionally marks one of CMA’s largest presentations of video and time-based works, featuring a plethora of video projections that cultivate an immersive, responsive experience with viewers. Running concurrently to two exhibitions by Columbus-native Ming Smith, the groundbreaking photographer known for capturing the vibrancy and depth of Black cultural figures, Fragments of Epic Memory emphasizes the historical underpinnings of the photographic medium while contributing to global perspectives. Whereas Ming Smith: Transcendence and Ming Smith: August Moon trace personal and collective memory as they relate to regional communities in Columbus, OH and Pittsburgh, PA, Fragments of Epic Memoryoffers a lens to recognize the diasporic and hybrid nature of Black communities globally.
An artistic dialogue between Columbus and the Caribbean has previously been cultivated through exhibitions such as Cartas de Cuba — Letters from Ohio, which originated at CMA in 2022 and toured various venues across the state. Through Fragments of Epic Memory, the museum looks forward to inviting in the local Caribbean community as well as welcoming exhibiting artists to CMA, with forthcoming programming to be announced.
Exhibition Details
Fragments of Epic Memory
On View at the Columbus Museum of Art
480 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43215
September 19, 2024–January 26, 2025
Visitor Hours
Tues: 10:00 AM — 5:00 PM
Weds: 10:00 AM — 5:00 PM
Thurs: 10:00 AM — 10:00 PM
Fri–Sun: 10:00 AM — 5:00 PM
Mon: Closed
About Columbus Museum of Art
CMA is where creativity and the daily life of its community intersect and thrive, as the Museum champions new and different ways of thinking and doing. CMA celebrates the creative process and sets the stage for people to experience art, ideas and relationships that spark creativity and nurture collective, courageous imagination.
CMA’s collection includes outstanding late 19th- and early 20th-century American and European modern works of art, grounded in the Ferdinand Howald and the Howard D. and Babette L. Sirak Collections. The Museum houses the world’s largest collections of works by beloved Columbus-connected artists Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, Elijah Pierce and George Bellows and acclaimed collections such as The Photo League and the Philip J. and Suzanne Schiller Collection of American Social Commentary Art. The recently established Scantland Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art also continues CMA’s dedication to showcasing the art of our time.
The Greater Columbus Arts Council, Nationwide Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, Paul-Henri Bourguignon and Erika Bourguignon Fund for Visual Arts and Richard H. and Ann Shafer funds with the assistance of the Ingram-White Castle Foundation of The Columbus Foundation provide ongoing support.
Photo Credits
Unknown, White River, Jamaica, about 1915. Gelatin silver print. Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. Purchase, with funds from Dr. Liza & Dr. Frederick Murrell, Bruce Croxon & Debra Thier, Wes Hall & Kingsdale Advisors, Cindy & Shon Barnett, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Kamala-Jean Gopie, Phil Lind & Ellen Roland, Martin Doc McKinney, Francilla Charles, Ray & Georgina Williams, Thaine & Bianca Carter, Charmaine Crooks, Nathaniel Crooks, Andrew Garrett & Dr. Belinda Longe, Neil L. Le Grand, Michael Lewis, Dr. Kenneth Montague & Sarah Aranha, Lenny & Julia Mortimore, and The Ferrotype Collective, 2019. Photo © AGO. 2019/266
Paul Anthony Smith, Midnight Blue, 2020. Unique picotage on inkjet print, coloured pencil, spray paint on museum board. Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchase, with funds from Friends of Global Africa and the Diaspora, 2022. © Paul Anthony Smith, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo AGO. 2022/12
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PRESS CONTACT
Allison Brainard
Account Executive, Cultural Counsel
allison@culturalcounsel.com
Lydia Simon
Director of Marketing and Communications, Columbus Museum of Art
lydia.simon@cmaohio.org
