BALTIMORE, MD (March 6, 2019)—Goya Contemporary Gallery is pleased to present the work of venerable Goya Contemporary gallery artist, MacArthur ‘genius’ fellow Joyce J. Scott and her mother, artist Elizabeth Talford Scott, for an exhibition that investigates the separate and reciprocally influential relationship they shared over 60 years of coinciding practices. 

“The cherished and intimate relationship these two artists shared over a lifetime of working in proximity to one another as both visual artists and global change agents, is as strong, complex, individual and genuine as the work they each produced” said Amy Eva Raehse, Executive Director and partner at Goya Contemporary.Descendants of slaves, the Scotts hale from a long line of makers with extraordinary craftsmanship adept at pottery, knitting, metalwork, basketry, storytelling, and quilting. Joyce J. Scott made art “in vitro” according to the artist. In reality, the close relationship with her mother, celebrated fiber artist Elizabeth Talford Scott, fostered a creative environment where J. Scott began to quilt and sew as early as her third year of age. At age five, Scott made her first necklace, a practice for which she is now renowned. Eventually, her creative exploration grew to include the use of beads, and her technique evolved with time and further instruction from a Native American beader who exposed Scott to the free form, off-loom peyote stitch method for which Scott further innovated and is now best known. Though the mother ‘s and the daughter’s practices eventually diverged into their own signature styles, the two artists remained the most influential elements in each other’s artmaking.

This exhibition will highlight significant works by both artists, including historic and new work by Joyce J. Scott, as well as historic and rarely seen works by Elizabeth Talford Scott.  Goya Contemporary has represented Joyce J. Scott as her primary dealer for over 20 year.   

JOYCE J. SCOTT

Joyce J. Scott (b. 1948, Baltimore, MD) is best known for her figurative sculpture and jewelry using free-form off-loom bead weaving techniques, as well as blown glass and found objects. As an African American, feminist artist, Scott unapologetically confronts difficult themes as diverse as her subjects which include race, misogyny, sexuality, stereotypes, gender inequality, social disturbance, economic disparities, history, and politics, rape, and discrimination. Scott has also established herself as an innovative fiber artist, print maker, installation artist, vocalist, and performer. In 2017, in collaboration with Goya Contemporary Gallery, Scott opened her largest exhibition to date, Joyce J. Scott: Harriet Tubman and Other Truths, at Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey where she realized two large-scale site-specific works focused on Harriet Tubman in addition to historic objects. Other past projects include glassworks made in Murano, Italy, which were exhibited in the 2013 Venice Biennale collateral exhibition Glasstress, and Joyce J. Scott: Kickin’ It with the Old Masters, organized by the BMA and Maryland Institute College of Art in 2000. Scott is the recipient of numerous grants, awards, residencies, and prestigious honors from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Anonymous Was a Woman, American Craft Council, National Living Treasure Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Baker Award, and MacArthur Fellowship (2016), among others. In spring 2019, she received a Visionary Artist Award from the Smithsonian Institute and an honorary doctorate from California College of the Arts, in Oakland, CA. 

Scott earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Instituto Allende in Mexico. In 2018, she was awarded an honorary fellowship from NYU, and an honorary doctorate from MICA. Other solo museum exhibitions include Joyce J. Scott at the Fuller Craft Museum, MA (2016); Joyce J. Scott: Truths and Visions at MOCA Cleveland, OH (2015); Maryland to Murano: Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott at the Museum of Art and Design, NYC (2014), and Kickin’ It With Joyce J. Scott at Houston Center for Contemporary Art (2007). Her work has been featured in group museum exhibitions at the African American Museum in Philadelphia (2017), Delaware Art Museum (2016), Philadelphia Museum of Art (2015), MFA Boston (2015), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2014, 2018, 2019), among others. Her work is in the collections of The Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY; Detroit Institute of the Arts, MI; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Museum of Art and Design, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Toledo Museum of Art, OH; The Smithsonian, Washington, DC; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; The Speed Museum, Louisville, KY; and Yale University, New Haven, CT, and many more.  Goya opens this exhibition concurrent with her exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art titled Hitching Their Dreams to Untamed Stars: Joyce J. Scott & Elizabeth Talford Scott  (May 15- Dec 1, 2019)  

ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT

Elizabeth Talford Scott (1916-2011) is a respected Fiber artist known for quilts and wall hangings that often innovate beyond the ability to perform the domestic functions associated with quilts by adding sculptural elements such as rocks or knotted material.  A descend of slaves, Scott was a sharecropper in North Carolina before migrating to Baltimore where she gave birth to, and raised her daughter, Joyce J. Scott.  In her lifetime, Elizabeth exhibited in Baltimore venues, as well as national venues including The Studio Museum of Harlem, NY; The Museum of American Folk Art, NY; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.  In 1998, she was granted a retrospective exhibition titled Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds, and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott that opened at the Maryland Institute College of Art and traveled to the Smithsonian Institution’s Anacostia Community Museum in Washington, DC; among other important venues in New England & North Carolina. In 1987, Elizabeth TalfordScott was bequeathed the Women's Caucus Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Visual Arts. The artist regularly produced workshops nationally, frequently collaboratively with her daughter Joyce J. Scott with a goal of educating students on methods and material usage in her craft.  She died in 2011.

About Goya Contemporary  

Goya Contemporary Gallery promotes the art and culture of our time, presenting ideas through exhibitions, curatorial practice, catalogues, print publishing, artist representation, and cultivation of collecting. The gallery builds private & public collections, assist in acquisitions, and facilitates auction activity. Goya Contemporary has earned international acclaim for its thought-provoking exhibitions, innovative programming, and unique collaborations with artists. Known as one of the most ethical, prestigious and long running galleries in the mid-Atlantic, Goya is dedicated to scholarly programming, and promoting the work of mid-career artists globally and locally.