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ACCESSIBILITY We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.
Presenting collaged tapestry, drawing, installation, and sculpture, Jasmine Murrell’s most comprehensive US solo exhibition foregrounds the artist’s focus on memory, mythology, representation, and collective care.
The exhibition, Ancient Future, features an iteration of Murrell’s long-term project Immortal Uterus (2007–ongoing) created in response to the Wexner Center’s gallery. The title of the installation references the “immortal,” still-duplicating cervical cancer cells of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman. The cells were collected from Lacks in 1951 without consent or compensation and developed into the HeLa cell line, which is still widely used for clinical testing and vaccine development.
Inspired by diasporic and ancient techniques—including the art and architecture of the Dogon and Yoruba of West Africa and the Nahua of Mexico—as well as influences from her own community, Murrell’s practice explores the relationship between our environment and the lived experience of Black bodies, specifically Black women. Using commonplace materials to unite the earthy and the metaphysical, the artist’s work reveals, in her own words, “our unconscious associations around the body” while questioning “whom we identify as desirable and valuable.”
This presentation is part of Portal For(e) the Ephemeral Passage, an interdisciplinary exhibition curated by jaamil olawale kosoko that amplifies Black feminist voices in contemporary art and performance. Click here to view the complete lineup.
Jasmine Murrell, Ancient Future, 2022, in Portal For(e) the Ephemeral Passage, installation view at the Wexner Center for the Arts, June 10-August 14, 2022. Photo: Stephen Takacs.
Jasmine Murrell, Immortal Uterus #12, 2016. VHS tape, wire, and sound equipment, 10 × 10 ft. Image courtesy of the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, photo: Roy Rochlin.
Jasmine Murrell, 2018. Photo: Argenis Apolinario © Jasmine Murrell.
Jasmine Murrell, The Unknown One, 2019. Mixed media on canvas, 4 ft. × 6 ft. × 4 in. Image courtesy of the artist © Jasmine Murrell.
Jasmine Murrell (b. Detroit, MI) is based in Brooklyn, New York, and has a BFA from Parsons School of Design and an MFA from Hunter College. Her works have been exhibited internationally in venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; Bronx Museum of the Arts; Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam, Netherlands; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. She is a former member of artist collective HOWDOYOUSAYYAMINAFRICAN? (also known as the YAMS Collective). Learn more on the artist’s website.
Portal For(e) the Ephemeral Passage is organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts and curated by jaamil olawale kosoko in collaboration with all of its programming departments.
PORTAL FOR(E) THE EPHEMERAL PASSAGE MADE POSSIBLE BY National Endowment for the Arts New England Foundation for the Arts
EXHIBITIONS MADE POSSIBLE BY Bill and Sheila Lambert The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Carol and David Aronowitz Crane Family Foundation Mike and Paige Crane
FREE GALLERIES MADE POSSIBLE BY American Electric Power Foundation Adam Flatto Mary and C. Robert Kidder Bill and Sheila Lambert
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR FREE GALLERIES PROVIDED BY CoverMyMeds PNC Foundation
WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY The Wexner Family Greater Columbus Arts Council The Columbus Foundation National Endowment for the Arts Ohio Arts Council American Electric Power Foundation L Brands Foundation Adam Flatto Mary and C. Robert Kidder Bill and Sheila Lambert Institute of Museum and Library Services Nationwide Foundation Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY Mike and Paige Crane Pete Scantland Axium Packaging CampusParc CoverMyMeds Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams President Kristina M. Johnson and Mrs. Veronica Meinhard Nancy Kramer Huntington Lisa Barton Johanna DeStefano Russell and Joyce Gertmenian Liza Kessler and Greg Henchel Ron and Ann Pizzuti Joyce and Chuck Shenk Bruce and Joy Soll Jones Day
Jasmine Murrell
