Past Exhibitions

Tomashi Jackson: Love Rollercoaster

For Love Rollercoaster, visual artist Tomashi Jackson has created five new paintings centered around themes of voter disenfranchisement and suppression in Ohio’s Black communities.

The paintings examine the state’s troubling history with these issues and its particular challenges in the present political moment. Photographs, local and national campaign ephemera, details from conversations with Ohio citizens, and planes of bright color are the foundational materials Jackson uses in creating these compelling works.

ABOVE
Tomashi Jackson, Love Rollercoaster (2016 Butler County Voting Line) (1965 John Lewis Accepts Voting Rights Signing Pen from LBJ), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 88 1/8 x 81 x 8 in. Image courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York.

More about our fall exhibitions

Presented amid the most contested presidential election in American history and massive social upheaval surrounding the entwined public health issues of systemic racism and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wexner Center’s fall exhibitions showcased work from a diverse group of artists examining the tenets of American democracy, representative structures, and modes of political discourse. Discover more about the other exhibitions on view and related programs below.

A detail shot of a collage painting depicts three blurry figures.

Tomashi Jackson, Time and Space (1948 End of Voter Registration Line) (1965 LBJ Sings the Voting Rights Act), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 89 3/8 x 83 3/4 x 8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York. Photo: Joshi Radin Flores.

Artist Tomashi Jackson is seated in front of two of her collage paintings

Tomashi Jackson in front of Is Anybody Gonna Be Saved? (1948 Middle of Voter Registration Line) (1965 Abernathy and King Watch the Signing of the Act), 2020, and Contradiction (1948 Head of Voter Registration Line) (1965 Clarence Mitchell, Patricia Roberts Harris, and Others Watch the Signing of the Act), 2020. Photographer: Joshi Radin Flores.
 

A full shot of a collage painting depicts three blurry figures.

Tomashi Jackson, Love Rollercoaster (2016 Butler County Voting Line) (1965 John Lewis Accepts Voting Rights Signing Pen from LBJ), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 88 1/8 x 81 x 8 in. Image courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York.

A detail shot of a collage painting shows pieces of voting advertisements alongside strokes of green, black, and yellow paint.

Tomashi Jackson, Contradiction (1948 Head of Voter Registration Line) (1965 Clarence Mitchell, Patricia Roberts Harris, and Others Watch the Signing of the Act), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 89 1/2 x 80 x 8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York. Photo: Joshi Radin Flores.

A detail shot of a collage painting depicts 5 blurry figures.

Tomashi Jackson, Is Anybody Gonna Be Saved? (1948 Middle of Voter Registration Line) (1965 Abernathy and King Watch the Signing of the Act), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 92 x 80 x 8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York. Photo: Joshi Radin Flores.

A detail shot of a collage painting depicts a blurry figure facing forward.

Tomashi Jackson, Time and Space (1948 End of Voter Registration Line) (1965 LBJ Sings the Voting Rights Act), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 89 3/8 x 83 3/4 x 8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York. Photo: Joshi Radin Flores.

A detail of a collage painting depicts strokes of green and yellow paint over top print ephemera with messages about voting.

Tomashi Jackson, Contradiction (1948 Head of Voter Registration Line) (1965 Clarence Mitchell, Patricia Roberts Harris, and Others Watch the Signing of the Act), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 89 1/2 x 80 x 8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York. Photo: Joshi Radin Flores.

A detail of a collage painting with continue strokes of blue and white paint over top brown paper bags.

Tomashi Jackson, Time and Space (1948 End of Voter Registration Line) (1965 LBJ Sings the Voting Rights Act), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 89 3/8 x 83 3/4 x 8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York. Photo: Joshi Radin Flores.

A detail of a collage painting showing red paint strokes over print ephemera containing messages about voting.

Tomashi Jackson, Is Anybody Gonna Be Saved? (1948 Middle of Voter Registration Line) (1965 Abernathy and King Watch the Signing of the Act), 2020. Acrylic, Pentelic marble, Ohio Underground Railroad site soil, American electoral ephemera, and paper bags on canvas and fabric. 92 x 80 x 8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery, New York. Photo: Joshi Radin Flores.

Organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts, originally conceived by former Senior Curator of Exhibitions Michael Goodson, and curated by Curatorial Associate Kristin Helmick-Brunet, Director of Learning and Public Practice Dionne Custer Edwards, and Chief Operating Officer Megan Cavanaugh.

MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
American Electric Power Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Huntington Bank
Nationwide Foundation

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Kaufman Development
Cardinal Health Foundation

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Past Exhibitions

Tomashi Jackson: Love Rollercoaster