The Sky’s the Limit

Hand-painted, leaded glass chandelier, wood figurine, vintage glass bottles, chandelier ornaments, birdcage, steel, wood pedestal, lace, cowry shells, taxidermy deer paws, Indian marriage jewelry, ostrich eggshells, porcelain doll hands, silver leaf, gold leaf, wire, linen cord, and marble baby doll hands
Oct 21, 2023, to Feb 25, 2024

The contemporary sculptures in this exhibition dangle from the ceiling, cascade down walls, and extend far beyond their footprint on the gallery floor. Process-focused sculptures were pioneered by women creators in the mid-20th century, and they continually expand and redefine this medium.

Through the postwar years, curators and critics routinely ignored or minimized women’s innovations in sculpture, which included handwork, repetition, and unconventional materials. Today, scale and a focus on materiality are two techniques that sculptors use to achieve maximum impact. Monumentality expresses an artistic freedom for many makers. Artworks on view feature an array of found objects with strong cultural associations, including silver-plated vessels, hair combs, faux flowers, ostrich eggs, and parasols. Other works on view are composed from aluminum, blown glass, wool, paper, wire, and cedar wood.

Recent acquisitions and never-before-exhibited works by Sonya Clark, Beatriz Milhazes, Cornelia Parker, Mariah Robertson, Shinique Smith, and Joana Vasconcelos form the core of the exhibition. Several NMWA collection artists: Petah Coyne, Alison Saar, Davina Semo, Ursula von Rydingsvard, and Yuriko Yamaguchi, made available new works from their studios and connected the museum to private collections holding their art. Works by artists Rina Banerjee and Johanna Unzueta are on view at NMWA for the first time in The Sky’s the Limit.

From its opening in 1987, NMWA committed to collecting and exhibiting visionary sculpture by women. As the museum prepares to open the doors of its revitalized building, this exhibition expresses the museum’s dedication to illuminating artists’ illimitable impact and influence.

A sculpture made of colorful fabric tied into a round form hanging from a strip of black fabric. A smaller ball of yellow fabric hangs below with a ribbon.

Shinique Smith, Daisies up your butterfly, 2013; Clothing, fabric, ribbon, rope, and fashion accessories, 38 x 22 x 27 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell and the Ohio Advisory Group; © Shinique Smith and SAS Studio LLC; Photo by Jason Mandella

Exhibition Sponsors

The Sky’s the Limit is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. This exhibition is underwritten by Presenting Sponsor Denise Littlefield Sobel.

Curatorial research funds were provided by Marcia Myers Carlucci. Additional support for the exhibition catalogue comes from The Deborah Buck Foundation.

    Exhibition Gallery

    A sculpture of a dark skinned woman seated in a dark chair. The figure wears an elongated sheer white dress with a pink hem that extends far below the bottom of the chair.
    Alison Saar, Undone, 2012; Cast fiberglass, polyester dress, cast aluminum branches, cotton rags, found chair and bottles, 180 x 60 x 60 in.; © Alison Saar; Courtesy of Tia Collection, Santa Fe, NM. Image courtesy of L.A. Louver, Venice, CA
    A black bell covered in three-dimensional white flowers with a black clapper, hanging from a black chain.
    Davina Semo, Fetish, 2022; Patinated cast bronze bell, PolyJet 3D-printed opaque VeroWhite resin, leather wrapped solid bronze clapper, hemp shibari rope, powder-coated stainless steel hardware, and powder-coated galvanized steel chain, 18 x 19 in. diamter; Collection of Kaitlyn and Mike Krieger, San Francisco; © Davina Semo; Image courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco; Photo by Ed Mumford
    A sculpture suspended from the ceiling made of wax-covered silk flowers hanging within a rectangular steel frame. Hardened white wax coats and drips down all surfaces of the sculpture against a dark grey background.
    Petah Coyne, Untitled #1273 (The Age of Innocence), 2008; Specially formulated wax, silk flowers, pigment, fabricated steel understructure, wire, cable, cable nuts, cable sleeves, turnbuckles, and quick-link shackles, 81 x 70 x 12 in.; Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co., New York; © Petah Coyne; Photo by Christopher Burke Studio
    A tall, abstract wooden sculpture with a vertical, organic shape is sited on a wooden floor against a white background.
    Ursula von Rydingsvard, Dóttir II, 2019; Cedar wood and graphite, 127 x 70 x 42 in.; Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co., New York; © Ursula von Rydingsvard
    \ \ \ \

    The Artist,

    Sonya Clark

    Textile artist Sonya Clark interweaves craft, history, and race to create mixed-media works that celebrate Blackness and address racial tensions and stereotypes.
    A woman with medium-dark skin tone and short black hair smiles into the camera. She wears black glasses, a white and yellow knit top and gold earrings.

    The Artist,

    Joana Vasconcelos

    Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos creates sculptures and installations that explore consumer culture, collective identity, and our assumptions about what constitutes art.
    A light-skinned adult woman with bobbed brown hair wears a black sleeveless dress. She smiles wide and leans her hands back against a railing. Behind her is the lower portion of a large colorful fabric sculpture in front of a white wall.

    The Artist,

    Alison Saar

    Alison Saar creates artworks that frequently transform found objects to reflect themes of cultural and social identity, history, and religion.
    A light-skinned, adult woman speaking with one hand extended and the other touching her neck in a white gallery filled with her colorful artworks depicting African-American women. She has curly gray hair, glasses, and wears a simple, black, sleeveless top and a necklace.

    The Artist,

    Petah Coyne

    Petah Coyne evokes intensely personal associations in sculptures made of incredibly varied materials.
    A black-and-white photograph of a light-skinned adult older woman seen from the chin up. She has a salt-and-pepper bob haircut and wears a dark turtleneck.

    The Artist,

    Ursula von Rydingsvard

    Sculptor Ursula von Rydingsvard fuses a labor-intensive process with personal reflection to construct evocative and monumental abstract works from cedar wood.
    Color photograph of a woman shot from the collarbone up. Her brown hair is short on the sides and reaches up on the top, with subtle blonde highlights. Her light skin is slightly lined and she smiles subtly, her brown eyes looking right into the camera.

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    In an art gallery with white walls, a long, snake-like piece of metallic paper printed with splotches of black, blue, purple, and orange in an abstract pattern is partly affixed to the wall. At one point the paper falls from the wall and cascades onto the floor and further into the room.
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