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    Kaari Upson, Split Eye [still], 2012 – 2017. HD video, color, sound. Henry Art Gallery, purchased with funds from The Buddy Taub Foundation, 2020.6.

    Henry Art Gallery Announces New Acquisitions, Including works by Chakaia Booker, Jacob Lawrence, Catherine Opie, Amanda Ross-Ho, and Carrie Yamaoka

    Seattle, WA — The Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington is pleased to announce recent acquisitions. Between 2020 and 2022, 348 new objects entered the museum’s permanent collection, which now includes more than 28,000 works of art. We are delighted to share a selection of these objects below. You can view the full list of new acquisitions here.

    A significant cultural resource, the Henry’s collection features the work of national and international artists in a broad range of media including photographs, prints, drawings, paintings, ceramics, costumes, and textiles, collected since the museum’s inception in 1926. “The Henry’s collecting practices are guided by the museum’s commitment to equity and inclusion and to amplifying diverse voices and ideas,” says Dr. Ann Poulson, Curator of Collections. The Henry is prioritizing bringing works by BIPOC artists, particularly those identifying as Black, Latinx, and Native American, as well as artists who identify as women and LGBTQ+ into the collection. Examples include works by Chakaia Booker, Sarah Cain, Sue de Beer, Somaya Critchlow, Jacob Lawrence, Martín Soto Climent, and Kaari Upson.

    “Once a work enters our collection, we take stewardship of it to ensure proper care, preservation, and availability for scholarship,” Dr. Poulson explains. Many works from the collection are exhibited as part of the museum’s rotating exhibitions, including the recent presentation of A Gee’s Bend Quilt by Mary L. Bennett and the upcoming everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt. group exhibition which will feature moving image installations drawn from the museum’s holdings. Works are also loaned to other institutions for public view and research.

    As a museum focused on contemporary art and ideas, the Henry has a long tradition of commissioning and premiering new works by established and emerging artists. A number of works entering the collection are by current or recent exhibiting artists, including Elaine Cameron-Weir, Fiona Connor, Barbara Earl Thomas, Suzanne McClelland, Catherine Opie, Amanda Ross-Ho, and Carrie Yamaoka. “The Henry is an artist-centered, community-engaged organization,” says Shamim M. Momin, Director of Curatorial Affairs. “We believe that artists are essential to building community and advancing society.” By collecting the work of exhibiting artists, the museum is able to extend its support beyond the bounds of an exhibition while also ensuring the continued conservation of works for future generations.

    Somaya Critchlow’s Georgie (2020) is a celebration of Blackness, autonomy, and the female body, which finds good company in Frankie (1995), Catherine Opie’s portrayal of a personhood and a body that was rarely treated with such directness and honor. Although the methods and materials differ, Chakaia Booker’s sculptural reconfiguration of rubber tires, titled Liquid Infusion (2004), explores some of these same concepts. Her deconstructed tires transform a material traditionally associated with masculine industry into curves and tendrils more reminiscent of the female body, while also evoking the variation in Black skin tones and the texture of both tribal scarification and the physical markings of racialized cruelty.

    Amanda Ross-Ho’s White Goddess #16 (LA COTE) (2008) is a playful reinterpretation of the ancient, and occasionally trendy, knotting technique of macramé. Ross-Ho’s work creates a lively dynamic when placed side-by-side with the many examples of traditional textiles in the Henry’s collection. Fiona Connor’s Untitled #21 (Silverlake Dog Park) (2019) also uses unexpected materials to make something that looks familiar—her resin cast of a noticeboard highlights analog social connectivity and community building.

    "Growing and diversifying the Henry’s collection is a top priority for us,” Momin says. “We are particularly grateful to the many individuals who make it possible for us to acquire these significant works and are honored by their trust in us to care for them.” The Henry's collection originated with a gift of 178 works of art donated to the University of Washington by Horace C. Henry, the museum's founder. Much of the Henry's collection is accessible to the public online as well as in-person through The Eleanor Henry Reed Collection Study Center.
    Somaya Critchlow (U.K., born 1993), Georgie, 2020. Colored pencil on paper. Henry Art Gallery, gift of Peggy and Danny Comden, 2021.4. © Somaya Critchlow. Image courtesy of Maximillian William.

    Chakaia Booker (U.S., born 1953), Liquid Infusion, 2004. Rubber tire and wood. Henry Art Gallery, gift of Dennis Braddock, in memory of Janice Niemi, 2021.6 © Chakaia Booker. Installation view of Plural Possibilities & the Female Body, 2021, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle. Photo: Jueqian Fang.

    Carrie Yamaoka (U.S., born 1957), 36 by 36 (small bubble) [detail], 2015. Reflective polyester film, urethane resin, and mixed media on wood panel. Henry Art Gallery, purchased with funds donated by Nancy Grover, 2020.4. © Carrie Yamaoka. Installation view of Carrie Yamaoka: recto/verso, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, 2019. Photo: Mark Woods.

    Jacob Lawrence (U.S., 1917–2000), Harriet Tubman, 1975. Colored and graphite pencil on paper. Henry Art Gallery, gift of the Estates of Janet Barker Fudala and John Fudala, 2020.8. © 2022 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Nick Pironio.

    Catherine Opie (U.S., born 1961), Frankie, 1995. Chromogenic color print. Henry Art Gallery, Monsen Family Collection, gift of Maren Monsen and Jeffry Grainger, 2020.9. © Catherine Opie.

    Los Carpinteros (The Carpenters), Dagoberto Rodríguez (Cuba, born 1969) and Marco Castillo (Cuba, born 1971), Fluido, 2004. Pigmented urethane; foam-lined, blow molded, plastic carrying case. Henry Art Gallery, gift of Molly Jae Vaughan, 2021.20.1-.6. © Los Carpinteros. Image courtesy of Los Carpinteros.


    Amanda Ross-Ho (U.S., born 1975), White Goddess #16 (LA COTE), 2008. Acrylic on canvas drop cloth. Henry Art Gallery, gift of the artist and Shane Campbell Gallery. © Amanda Ross-Ho.


    Barbara Earl Thomas (U.S., born 1948), Delicious, 2021. Paper cut with hand printed color. Henry Art Gallery, purchased with funds from Bill True, Shari Behnke, Edie Adams, Sylvia Wolf and Duane Schuler, and the Ambrose M. and Viola H. Patterson Endowment Fund, 2022.5. © Barbara Earl Thomas. Image courtesy of Zocalo Studios - Spike Mafford.


    Fiona Connor (New Zealand, born 1981), Untitled #21 (Silverlake Dog Park), 2019. Cast resin and green paint. Henry Art Gallery, gift of the artist, 2020.24. © Fiona Connor. In Plain Sight [Installation view, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, 2019] Photo: Mark Woods, courtesy of the Henry.