Ann Morton: The Violet Protest and the 2019 Phoenix Art Museum Artists' Grants Recipients Exhibition

Ann Morton: The Violet Protest

Ann Morton: The Violet Protest showcases the latest collaborative art project by Ann Morton, the recipient of the 2019 Arlene and Morton Scult Artist Award whose work exploits traditional fiber techniques as conceptual tools for aesthetic, social communication to examine a society of which we are all a part—as bystanders, participants, victims, and perpetrators. Entitled The Violet Protest, the large-scale installation seeks to unite makers of varying political ideologies and encourage bipartisan collaboration. Similar to the artist’s previous public interventions, including the award-winning Ground Cover (2013), the work reflects both Morton’s handwork and that of other makers.

In January 2020, Morton announced an open call for textile artists and makers across the United States and Puerto Rico, asking them to participate in The Violet Protest by creating 8” x 8” square textile units that use equal parts of red and blue materials, symbolizing the union of opposing U.S. political ideologies. More than 1,500 makers from across North America, including all 50 U.S. states and British Columbia and Alberta in Canada, responded, providing more than 10,000 squares that Morton has used to create stacks shaped like the letters “U” and “S.” In this configuration, the red and blue of the textile units blend to create the overall impression of the color violet, with additional squares displayed along gallery walls to ensure every maker who participated is represented. Morton will continue to accept squares up to August 1, 2021, and these final submissions will be added to letter stacks and gallery walls over the run of the exhibition, providing viewers with the opportunity to see the work grow.

After Morton’s exhibition at Phoenix Art Museum closes on September 5, 2021, the artist will disassemble The Violet Protest and send squares from the installation to all U.S. Senators and Representatives, accompanied by a photo of the full work and a letter calling for elected officials to come together, prioritize the representation of their diverse constituencies, and reject political divisiveness.

Installation view, The 2019 Phoenix Art Museum Artists’ Grants Recipients Exhibition, 2021, Phoenix Art Museum. Courtesy of Phoenix Art Museum. Photo by Airi Katsuta.

The 2019 Phoenix Art Museum Artists’ Grants Recipients Exhibition

The 2019 Phoenix Art Museum Artists’ Grants Recipients Exhibition features works by emerging artists Christina Gednalske, Danielle Hacche, Lena Klett, Nazafarin Lotfi, and Kimberly Lyle, who comprise the Museum’s first all-women artists’ grants cohort. Gednalske’s artworks use video, writing, photography, painting, and performance to examine presence through the body, memory, and place. Hacche’s geometric, hard-lined abstractions made of pastel and gouache emphasize materiality and a dedication to process. Klett’s drawings, sculptures, and videos explore how knowledge is formed through intuition, interaction, and observation. Lyle’s interdisciplinary works probe humanity’s relationship to systems of communication, learning, and technology, effectively challenging the boundaries between languages, human and machine, past and present. Dynamic works by Lotfi explore the forces of opposition, tension, and harmony and how they allow for possibility and growth.