Ebony G. Patterson is a female Jamaican artist, and currently a professor of painting at the University of Kentucky. Hidden among the electric color and ornamentation in her work is an examination of the dichotomy between Jamaican dancehall culture and masculine expectations among the working class. Patterson’s work speaks to the media and fetishization of dreadful events that become entertainment instead of tragedy.

 

Her study of material blurs the line between high and low art, juxtaposing macabre with embellishment in order to represent the underrepresented in working-class Jamaican society. Between the leaves and in the bed is part of KMAC’s collection and Patterson’s ongoing series Dead Treez in which she adorns the gruesome remains of a figure so they become an aesthetic object rather than a tragic story.

 

Related artists in KMAC's collection:

Minnie Adkins, Ernest Baker, Linvel Barker, Minnie Black, Denzil Goodpaster, Carl McKenzie, Earnest Patton, Donny Tolson

 

Click to view an archival list of all artists in the collection.

 

Recurring themes:

Class, Domestic Life, Economy, Material Culture

 

KMAC exhibitions:

Into the Mix, Permanent Collection: Recent Acquisitions

 

Reference material:

Cozier, Christopher, et al. Art in the Caribbean: An Introduction. London: New Beacon, 2010.