Object Details
- Tchif, born 1967, Benin
- Label Text
- Mapping the soul. For the artist Tchif, each of his canvases is “a piece of land to which the soul is attached.” The surface of this work is covered with pieces of cord that refer to ideas of binding in the Vodun faith.
- The red line, which moves like an artery through the center of Sunshine Land, may represent the journey of a soul through life on earth. The landscape is punctuated by small abstract inscriptions and marks in a secret language of the artist’s invention that signal the various stages a soul might take in its passage from infancy to the realm of ancestors, in the world beyond the canvas.
- Description
- Soaring ten foot vertically oriented canvas encrusted with thick applications of tangled cords embedded in earthen pigments of golden hues. Additional motifs include a vertical red “arterial line,” lizards, and a ladder.
- Exhibition History
- Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing
- Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 22, 2013-February 23, 2014; Fowler Museum at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, April 19-September 14, 2014; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, October 15, 2015-March 9, 2016
- Published References
- Milbourne, Karen E. 2013. Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa. New York: The Monacelli Press; Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 88, no. 69.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- 2012
- Object number
- 2014-2-1
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Acrylic, earthen pigments and cord on canvas
- Dimensions
- H x W: 271.1 x 139.7 cm (106 3/4 x 55 in.)
- Geography
- Benin
- See more items in
- National Museum of African Art Collection
- Exhibition
- Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts
- On View
- NMAfA, Second Level Gallery (2193)
- National Museum of African Art
- Record ID
- nmafa_2014-2-1
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys76cba276c-1f04-455b-8faf-405c44dcf609
