Misery

Artist Reginald Sylvester II American, born 1987

Date2021

MediumAcrylic and dyed cord on U.S. military issue olive drab shelter halves

Dimensionsheight, width: 86 × 74 in. (218.4 × 188 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of Christopher Jones

Object number2022.11.1

On View

On view

Label TextFunctional military tent shells serve as the backdrop for Sylvester ’s abstract works that allude to shelter and protection. The artist uses frantic, improvisational brushstrokes to explore themes of trauma, religion, and the collective Black experience. As he states, the tent shells represent refuge in many ways, “Refuge in war and Christ being our refuge.”
The son of a Marine veteran, Sylvester connects military tents with the familial. He recalls the military paraphernalia present throughout his life, especially military tent shells used in the 1960s and ‘70s to house soldiers. He appreciates experimenting with the tarps, buttoning them over frames to change their form, and painting on them to demonstrate their durability.
[M. Brooks, 2023]ProvenanceCreated by the artist, 2021; with Maxmillian William Gallery, London, EnglandExhibition History“Painter’s Refuge: A Way of Life,” Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Charlotte, NC, May 5, 2022 – January 26, 2023.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," December 4, 2023-the present. Object Rights Statement

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