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Home>Exhibitions>Past>2023>The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions

# The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions

Past Exhibition

## March 17 – September 10, 2023East Building, Mezzanine

Writer James Baldwin highlighted the power of people’s interior lives, specifically those of artists, to move our world forward. While our emotional, spiritual, and psychological existences often remain hidden, visual artists bravely bring theirs to light through color, form, texture, material, and composition.

Though we do not wholly believe it yet, the interior life is a real life, and the intangible dreams of people have a tangible effect on the world.

—James Baldwin, *Nobody Knows My Name*, 1961

*The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions* displays a selection of artworks that have been added to the National Gallery’s collection of modern and contemporary art over the last three years. Works by María Berrío, Melvin Edwards, Sonia Gomes, Rashid Johnson, Freddy Rodríguez, and many others reshape our collection and understanding of the capacity of art to bring about change. Through allusions to the body, community, and everyday spaces, as well as in more abstract works, these twenty-five artists creatively draw upon their interior lives to offer rich perspectives on life’s challenges and possibilities.

## Explore Selected Works

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
María Berrío, *A Sunburst Restrained*, 2019, collage with Japanese paper and watercolor on canvas, Gift of Erika and John Toussaint, 2020.2.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Barbara Rossi, *Parlor Picture*, 1983, acrylic on Masonite in artist's frame, Gift of Kohler Foundation, Inc., 2021.57.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
, *Woman #1*, 1975-1977, acrylic on canvas, Gift of Funds from Agnes Gund, 2022.125.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Christopher Myers, *What Does It Mean to Matter (Community Autopsy)*, 2019, cotton appliquéd on furnishing and specialty fabrics, Purchased as the Gift of Glenstone Foundation, 2021.1.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Jonas Wood, *Helen's Room*, 2017, oil and acrylic on canvas, Purchased as the Gift of Stuart Barr, Sarah MacKey, and TSL, a Private Asian Collector, 2020.13.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Hilary Pecis, *Flea Market*, 2021, acrylic on linen, Gift of George Frederick Mead Merck, 2021.56.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Winfred Rembert, *G.S.P. Reidsville*, 2013, dye on carved and tooled leather, Gift of Funds from Glenstone Foundation, 2022.37.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Louise Nevelson, *Untitled*, c. 1975, painted wood, Gift of Milly and Arne Glimcher, 2021.96.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Mwangi Hutter, *Ours To Hold And Caress And Cherish*, 2017, acrylic and diluted chalk on canvas, Gift of Tony Podesta Collection, Washington, DC, 2020.116.2

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Martin Puryear, *Minion*, 1981, painted ponderosa pine, Gift of Nancy and Carl Gewirz, 2020.114.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
John Outterbridge, *Plus Tax: Shopping Bag Society, Rag Man Series*, 1971, mixed media, Purchased with funds from The Ahmanson Foundation and Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, 2020.12.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Sharon Louden, *Community*, 2013, oil and enamel on stretched paper, on panel, Gift of Cheryl Numark, 2021.60.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Rashid Johnson, *Planet*, 2014, mirrored tile, black soap, wax, shea butter, and vinyl, Gift of Funds from Ryan E. Lee and Lee Group Holdings (LGH), and Laura and Stafford Broumand, 2022.81.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Lee Ufan, *Dialogue*, 2011, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund and Gift of Milly and Arnie Glimcher, 2022.83.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Rozeal. (formerly known as iona rozeal brown), *SONG OF SOLOMON 5:16 – BE BEEWORLD: BE B BOY B GIRL (after “Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Gueifei playing the same flute,” by Kitagawa Utamaro)*, 2014-2016, mixed media on wood, Gift of Giorgio Furioso and William A. Clark Fund, 2021.19.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Freddy Rodríguez, *Paradise for a Tourist Brochure*, 1990, acrylic, sawdust, and newspaper collage on canvas, Gift of Funds from The Ahmanson Foundation, and Patrons' Permanent Fund, 2022.45.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Nancy Shaver, *Georgiana, Shirley, and Sharon*, 2011, wooden blocks, fabric, paper, Flashe acrylic paint, and house paint, Gift of Elizabeth Kessenides, 2020.19.1

The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions
Rosie Lee Tompkins, Irene Bankhead, *Untitled (framed half-squares four patch)*, 1989 (pieced); 1990 (quilted), corduroy and velveteen, Gift of Stephanie Soldner and Garrett Sullivan Family, 2021.10.1

Stories from the ExhibitionThe Stories Behind 10 New Additions to Our Collection
See modern and contemporary works new to the National Gallery.
Artist Christopher Myers Considers What It Means to “Matter”
We talk with him about his process and inspiration, from the quilts of Gee’s Bend to cutouts by Henri Matisse.

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