Images(10)

Blessing of the Men

Artist Clarissa Sligh American, born 1939

Date1996–2017

MediumGelatin silver print photographs, gold and silver foil, acid free black paper, cotton thread, and glass beads

Dimensionsheight, width, and depth (overall): 48 × 192 × 60 in. (121.9 × 487.7 × 152.4 cm)
height, width, and depth (each framed photograph): 24 1/4 × 20 1/4 × 3/4 in. (61.6 × 51.4 × 1.9 cm)

ClassificationsMixed Media

Credit LineGift from the Collection of Hedy Fischer and Randy Shull

Object number2022.16.1a-ggg

On View

Not on view

Label TextSligh’s installation features nine photographs obscured by a curtain of more than 2,000 origami cranes strung on cotton thread. The images capture men in various acts. Some are combing their children’s hair; others are sitting contemplatively inside their homes. Each of these portrayals demonstrates the harm caused by stereotypical manliness, where many men are taught to maintain some emotional distance between themselves and their loved ones.
Meanwhile, the origami cranes work on a variety of levels. For example they function as a protective shield that obscures the piece’s front view. For Sligh the cranes balance between boldness and delicacy, symbolizing power throughout her work.
[M. Brooks, 2023]ProvenanceCreated by the artist, 1996-2017; sold to Hedy Fischer and Randy Shull, April 2018; given to NCMA December 14, 2022.Published ReferencesSay It Loud: From the Collection of Hedy Fischer + Randy Shull (Asheville, NC: 22 London, 2018), 46-47, illus. color 47.Exhibition HistoryAsheville, NC, 22 London Gallery, "Say It Loud," September 29–October 28, 2018.

Asheville, NC, Asheville Art Museum, "Appalachia Now!," November 14, 2019–October 28, 2018.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection Reimagined," December 12, 2023-May 24, 2024. Object Rights Statement

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