Aminah Robinson

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (February 18, 1940 – May 22, 2015) was an American artist.[1]

Aminah Robinson
Born
Brenda Lynn Robinson

(1940-02-18)February 18, 1940
Columbus, Ohio
DiedMay 22, 2015(2015-05-22) (aged 75)
Columbus, Ohio
NationalityAmerican
Alma materColumbus College of Art and Design
AwardsMacArthur Fellows Program

Life

Robinson was born in 1940 and raised in Columbus, Ohio, within the close-knit community of Poindexter Village, one of the country's first federally funded metropolitan housing developments.[2] Robinson received her formal art training at the Columbus Art School (now the Columbus College of Art and Design). She continued to live and work in Columbus. She attended the Columbus Art School from 1957 to 1960, then studied art history and philosophy at Ohio State University (1960 to 1963),[3] Franklin University, and Columbus' Bliss College.[4]

Robinson was christened "Aminah" (derived from Aamina, mother of the Islamic prophet Muhamad) by an Egyptian cleric during her visit to Africa in 1979.[3] She changed her name legally to include the forename in 1980.[5]

She has shown at the Columbus Museum of Art,[6][7] the Tacoma Art Museum,[8] and the Brooklyn Museum.[9] She died on May 22, 2015 of heart problems.[10]

Work

Her diverse body of work ranges from drawings and woodcuts to complex sculptures made from natural and synthetic materials, such as twigs, carved leather, music boxes, and "hogmawg," her own material composed of mud, grease, dyes, and glue.[2] The artist's "Memory Maps" (multi-media constructions of appliquéd cloth panels) contain "the idea and symbols of Africa—as a reservoir of culture, as the abode of spirits and inspiration for form and meanings that have traversed the great transatlantic African Diaspora to the Americas."[11]

Robinson had been the subject of nearly two hundred solo and group exhibitions before the 2002 retrospective, Symphonic Poem: The Art of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson at the Columbus Museum of Art.[12]

Awards

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Aminah Robinson (May 27, 2013). "Aminah Robinson | Hammond Harkins Galleries". Hammondharkins.com. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  3. Farrington, Lisa (2017). African-American Art: A Visual and Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 325. ISBN 9780199995394.
  4. "Aminah Robinson Biography - Mentored by Barber, Used Animal Skin for Chair Seat, Created Tapestry – Columbus, Art, Told, and Life – JRank Articles". Biography.jrank.org. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  5. "Chronology". Symphonic Poem (Exh. cat. Columbus 2002-2003). New York: Abrams. 2002. p. 193. ISBN 0810945053.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Interview with Aminah Robinson", The Columbus Dispatch, Bill Mayr
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. Retrieved April 16, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Symphonic Poem: The Art of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson". Brooklyn Museum. August 13, 2006. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Austin, Ramona (2002). "History, Myth, and Memory: Africa in the Art of Aminah Robinson". Symphonic Poem (Exh. cat. Columbus 2002-2003). New York: Abrams. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0810945053.
  12. Nill, Annegreth Taylor; Genshaft, Carole Miller (2002). "Statement and Acknowledgements by the Curators". Symphonic Poem: The Art of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. New York: Harry N. Abrahms. p. 7. ISBN 0810945053.
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