Jeffrey Gibson – No Simple Word For Time: What is Truth? season

In his first solo exhibition in a UK museum, Jeffrey Gibson – who will become the first Indigenous solo artist to represent the USA at next year’s Venice Biennale – creates a new site-specific installation for the Sainsbury Centre.

Incorporating murals, paintings, textiles and historical objects, Gibson includes text drawn lyrics, poetry and his own writing, complete with references to abstraction, fashion and popular culture.

Nineteenth and twentieth century objects from Indigenous cultures of North America and selected by the internationally renowned artist, will be shown alongside his own work, including beadwork, parfleche and dolls.

As well as considering Gibson’s own relationship to these objects and their cultural histories, the installation prompts us to consider how Indigenous cultures have historically been displayed within museums.

It will also illuminate the rich practice of abstraction in Indigenous art, going against the common narrative within UK museums that abstraction emerged in Europe in the twentieth century.

The exhibition follows the success of Empowering Art: Indigenous Creativity and Activism from North America’s Northwest Coast at the Sainsbury Centre in 2023.

This exhibition is part of the 2024 What Is Truth? Season