Jeffrey Gibson: They Teach Love

August 22, 2023–March 9, 2024 | JSMA Washington State University, Pullman, Washington

Organized by William Morrow, Director of Exhibitions, Schnitzer Family Foundation and Ryan Hardesty, Director, JSMA WSU

This marks Jeffrey Gibson's largest retrospective exhibition to date. Exclusively curated from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, They Teach Love presents a sweeping survey of over 35 objects across a span of fifteen years. Beginning with examples of the artist’s earliest engagements with printmaking and including important works in photography, painting, and sculpture, as well as recent forms that express his foray into performance, installation, and video, as well as contemporary adornment in fashion. 

The exhibition’s centerpiece is an expansive and immersive work titled To Name An Other, which is comprised of 51 screen-printed elk hide drums and 50 wearable garments. Originally commissioned as a performance by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in 2019, To Name An Other marks a turning point in the artist’s career whereby Gibson has increasingly sought out collective-based projects and performances to activate the communities he works within. This idea is especially appropriate when considering Jeffrey Gibson’s work, as he pushes to create affinity—collaboration is at the heart of his recent social practice. Working and learning together may aid to decolonize our minds and institutions, revealing a future we wish to inhabit. 

More information at JSMA WSU

A full-color, 16-page brochure was published in conjunction with this exhibition.