Victor Ekpuk on his Centennial Commission

Описание: Presenting Victor Ekpuk’s graphic installation, inspired by ancient Nigerian script, in the main visitor entrance to The Phillips Collection, unveiled June 29, 2021.

Titled "State of the Union: Things have fallen apart, can the center still hold?," the installation is made of adhesive vinyl that covers the museum’s vestibule, and is one of three commissions, all by DC-based artists, that celebrate the Phillips’s 100th anniversary this year.

Victor Ekpuk (b. 1964, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria; lives in Washington, DC) is internationally renowned for his paintings, drawings, and sculptures, which reimagine the ancient Nigerian communication system, Nsibidi, to create his own unique language of abstraction. Ekpuk explains: “In the vestibule of The Phillips Collection, I want to welcome visitors to a sense of a spiritual sacred space through an immersive experience. Through my ‘script’ drawings, the distinction between writing and visual art, legibility, and illegibility are all dissolved. This process encourages viewers to experience my work in a holistic manner, allowing the abstraction rooted in ancestral knowledge and indigenous power symbols to build intuitive meaning.”

The Phillips Collection’s Centennial Artist Commissions are supported generously by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Frauke de Looper Trust, and the Sherman Fairchild Foundation. Visit PhillipsCollection.org/100 to learn more.