Pace Primitive is please to announce a new online exhibition: A Collection of Yoruba Beadwork.  This group of twenty-five museum-quality pieces was assembled over the course of thirty years and numbers many superb examples of Yoruba beaded costume and regalia from the first half of the 20th Century. 

A bold collage of contrasting colors, unique textures that will not allow the eyes to rest, light reflecting and refracting as it dances across the segmented surfaces -- this is the living essence of Yoruba beadwork. Beads transform the objects they embellish, lending ephemeral, otherworldly qualities that are conducive to celebrating the power of sacred kings, divine spirits, and the ancestors. 

Yoruba beadwork exists as an endless spectrum with many variables and permutations utilizing different color combinations and symbolic designs.  However, these choices are not made for mere aesthetic or decorative reasons alone.  Each element has a unique representational meaning whether intended for use by royalty or diviners.

Some of the most powerful beadwork objects are the conical, veiled king's crowns, adenla.  This type of crown is to be worn by the king only on ritual occasions during festivals.  The beaded veil covers the king's face.   Attention is taken off the individual man and focused on the large crown which creates a strong impact and visual image of authority. 

Another major component of Yoruba beadwork involves objects used by Ifa priests and priestesses to address the divine spirits and ancestors.  They wear beaded regalia including divination necklaces, dance panels, and divination bags containing their divining instruments.   Ifa priests endure years of training from an early age in order to learn the ways of addressing spiritual powers.  An Ifa priest must be recognized as a person possessing great understanding before given the right to wear a divination necklace; thereby, bestowing rank and importance on the priest within the Ifa community. 

Yoruba Beadwork is the product of great artistry, imagination, and effort, serving both an aesthetic and cultural purpose.  These are objects meant to be seen and acknowledged as visual indicators of power and spirituality which are integrated into the community, making it a livelier and more colorful environment for all.

We invite you to visit the exhibition at www.paceprimitive.com.  Highlights will be on view at the gallery through May 9. 2009  For more information, please contact the gallery at (212) 421-3688 or info@paceprimitive.com. 

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Pace Primitive is pleased to announce Art of Nigeria.  This important exhibition showcases masterworks of sculpture from across the most populous and diverse nation in Africa.  The pieces on display range from the monumental to the miniature and illustrate the strength and depth of the artistic traditions of the peoples of Nigeria.
 
A towering Ishan figure from a communal shrine represents the veneration of ancestors and lineage that ensures the continuation of cultures in the Delta region.  Expressed as a giant male figure whose arms unfurl male and female descendants, its scale and great graphic power are a sculptural embodiment of a people's cosmology.  A life-sized Igbo female figure from the shrine of Asaga Ohafia was one of eleven that made up the largest statuary group in Igboland.  Other pieces from that shrine have belonged to the Monzino collection and the Tishman/Disney collection at the National Museum for African Art.  An important Urhobo female figure represents the spirit of oniemo, or "mother-of-children", the founding female ancestor of a clan.  She is represented with all of the adornments of a matriarch and the scarification and jewelry that trace her lineage and, by extension, that of her descendants.  The scale of the figure, many times larger than the child she cradles, reinforces her status as the primordial mother. 
 
A group of ancestor and guardian figures from the Benue region of eastern Nigeria offer a study in the synthesis and stylization of the human form.  Geometrical, expressive, or surreal, each conveys a unique vision of the individual as the emblem of the community and of ancestors as conduits to the spirit world.  A rare Montol figure or an imposing Wurkun figure exemplify the radical reinterpretation of the body that inspired the work of early 20th Century modern artists.

Art of Nigeria will be on view through May 9, 2009.  Please visit www.paceprimitive.com for installation views.  For more information, please contact the gallery at (212) 421-3688 or info@paceprimitive.com.

 

http://www.paceprimitive.com  32 East 57th Street NYC 10022  Tel 001 212 421 3688

Pace Primitive was founded in 1973 in collaboration with PaceWildenstein as a gallery devoted to fine tribal art.

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