Renee Stout (born 1958) is an American sculptor and contemporary artist known for assemblage artworks dealing with her personal history and
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
heritage. Born in
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...
, raised in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, living in
Washington, D.C
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, N ...
National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution's African art museum, located on the National Mall of the United States capital. Its collections include 9,000 works of traditional and contemporary African art from both Sub-S ...
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...
to a family that enjoyed creative activities. Her mother did
needlework
Needlework is decorative sewing and textile arts handicrafts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework. Needlework may include related textile crafts such as crochet, worked with a hook, or tatting, worked with ...
. Her father, a mechanic and steelworker, liked to tinker. An uncle was a fine-art painter.
When Stout was one year old, her family returned to the East Liberty neighborhood in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. She took weekend classes at the
Carnegie Museum of Art
The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbu ...
as a child, which she credits for exposing her to African art. In particular, two objects at the Carnegie Museum profoundly influenced her: shrunken heads from South America and ''
nkisi
or (plural varies: , , or ) are spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa, especially in the Territory of Cabinda that are believed to cont ...
.'' Writing of her pivotal encounter at the age of ten years old with an ''
nkisi
or (plural varies: , , or ) are spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa, especially in the Territory of Cabinda that are believed to cont ...
nkondi
Nkondi (plural varies ''minkondi'', ''zinkondi'', or ''ninkondi'') are mystical statuettes made by the Kongo people of the Congo region. Nkondi are a subclass of minkisi that are considered aggressive. The name nkondi derives from the verb ''-kond ...
'', "I saw a piece there that had all these nails in it ... And I think once I got exposed to more African art in my travels as I got older, I found that I started going back to the pieces like that."
Greene has noted that Stout's childhood years in Pittsburgh coincided with Betty Davis' move there, and that Stout owned all three of her records as a teenager. In an interview with Greene, she compared the reception of Betty Davis' work with the reception she expected for her own: "People were not ready for her. . . . I think it's going to be the same with my work: 'Oh, that's weird . . . ' And then one day, way down the line when I'm eighty or ninety, it's like, 'Oh, we get it now!' aughter
Career
Stout attended
Carnegie-Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technol ...
, where she trained as a
photo-realist
Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be ...
painter. She graduated with a BFA in 1980, where she followed the realist style of
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism, American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolor painting, watercolorist and printmaker in e ...
and
Richard Estes
Richard Estes (born May 14, 1932 in Kewanee, Illinois) is an American artist, best known for his photorealist paintings. The paintings generally consist of reflective, clean, and inanimate city and geometric landscapes. He is regarded as one o ...
. She then worked as a professional sign painter, exhibiting her skill by painting convincing images of textures such as glass, plastic and cardboard.
After moving to Washington, D.C. in 1985, Stout was exposed to the gritty reality of urban drug use and racism–themes which she has incorporated into her work. Stout also explores her African-American heritage in her art. Through the African diaspora, as well as the world and her immediate environment, Stout finds the inspiration to create works that encourage self-examination, self-empowerment and self-healing, harnessing the belief systems of African peoples and their descendants.
Additionally, Stout uses imaginary characters to create a variety of artwork, some of which include: painting, mixed media sculpture, photography and installation. Stout is the recipient of awards from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expression ...
and the
Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation was founded in 1918 by Louis Comfort Tiffany to operate his estate, Laurelton Hall, in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. It was designed to be a summer retreat for artists and craftspeople. In 1946 the estate cl ...
, and has shown her work in solo and group shows throughout the United States, and in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
In 1993, Stout was the first African American to have a one-person exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art. Her exhibition was titled ''The Eyes of Understanding: Kongo Minkisi and The Art of Renee Stout''.
Renee Stout was a 2000 Artist-in-Residence at the
Tryon Center for Visual Art
McColl Center (formerly McColl Center for Art + Innovation) is an artist residency and contemporary art space located at 721 North Tryon Street in Charlotte, North Carolina.Charlotte, NC
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
. In 2021 she was one of the jurors for
The Phillips Collection
The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the grandson of James H. Laughli ...
's juried invitational, ''
Inside Outside, Upside Down
''Inside Outside, Upside Down'' was a invitational art exhibition held from July 17 to September 12, 2021, at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., as part of the museum's centennial celebration exhibitions.
Jurors
This exhibition was an ...
'', a show that "forces us to remember a time that left us 'confused, battered, and disoriented' through the eyes of 64 D.C.-area artists."
Artistic style
Combining vestigial African American customs and street culture with the theatrical and carnivalesque, Stout's oeuvre consists of handmade assemblages, installations and tableaus, vibrant paintings, prints, and photographs – all of which are employed in the creation of complex narratives featuring characters conceived by the artist. Her artistic influences include
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba consti ...
sculpture, and the ''
nkisi
or (plural varies: , , or ) are spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa, especially in the Territory of Cabinda that are believed to cont ...
'' (sacred objects) of the Central African
Congo Basin
The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It c ...
, which she first saw at the
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Carnegie Institute complex in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Carnegie Institute complex, which includes t ...
in her youth.
Other subjects in her work often include
Haitian Vodou
Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. There is ...
Marie Laveau
Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 15, 1881)''Marie Laveau The Mysterious Voodoo Queen: A Study of Powerful Female Leadership in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans'' by Ina Johanna Fandrich was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of ...
.. In an interview conducted by Dr.O in her book ''Tales of the Conjure Woman'', Stout says that in order to open the conversations, regarding the ancestry of African American culture, she will continue inspiring her works on themes such as African-derived spiritual belief systems and Hodoo. She also admits to having to "occupy a weird space within the art world--a place that has more possibilities, both in energy and spirit" ''Tales of the Conjure Woman'' presents an artistic interpretation of hoodoo and voodoo that unmasks these mysterious and lasting traditions. Channeling her alter ego, Fatima Mayfield, a fictitious herbalist and fortune-teller, looks to these cultural traditions as a jumping-off point for developing her own distinct visual language, resulting in a complex body of work that is meticulously constructed and laden with symbolism.
Stout's sculptural installations often include materials used in the practice of voodoo. Handmade potions, roots and herbs, found objects, bones, and feathers are combined with painted and sculptural elements. Other aspects her work include examinations of positive and negative interpretations of blood, fire, and guns. Examples of this can be seen in ''Bellona (Roman Goddess of War), Baby’s First Gun'', and ''Arsenal for The Fire Next Time.''
Stout's work also suggests a diverse group of American artists as influences– the photorealist painter Richard Estes, sculptor Joseph Cornell, installation artist Edward Kienholz, and assemblage artist Betye Saar. Their impact is apparent in Stout's use of trompe l'oeil painting, found-object tableaus, and handmade mechanical and totemic forms. Stout's early experience as a professional sign painter and ongoing interest in handmade commercial signage comes through in various pieces as well.
Exhibitions
Stout has participated in a large number of solo shows in the United States and internationally. Her notable solo shows include ''Astonishment and Power: Kongo Minkisi and the Art of Renée Stout'' (1993),
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds ...
,
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
,
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
; ''Ranting in the Night Studio'' (2003), The Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri; ''Readers, Advisors, and Storefront Churches'' (2005),
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in the Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana.
Established in 1999, and in Stephen Goldring Hall at 925 Camp Street since 2003.
The building
The Ogden consists of two main buildin ...
Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art
The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (HICA or "the Halsey") is a non-profit, non-collecting contemporary art institute within the School of the Arts at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. The HICA presents contemporary ar ...
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
Andrea Barnwell Brownlee
Andrea Barnwell Brownlee is an American art curator and author. She is the current CEO of the Cummer Museum. She is the former director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. Her work has historically focused on the promotion of female Afric ...
was involved with one of Renee Stout's larger installation exhibitions, ''The Thinking Room'' (2005), and a book, ''Renee Stout: Tales of the Conjure Woman'', which "brings together more than sixty recent works and draws viewers into a dynamic, complex, and richly textured web. This exhibition of fictitious tales and courageous ingenuity offers a rare and special opportunity for viewers to explore the mythic, folk, and spiritual traditions that inform and shape Stout's complex world view and temporarily suspend disbelief" Subsequently, these works became the subject of the traveling exhibition ''Tales of the Conjure Woman'' (2013-2016), originating at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art.
She has also participated in numerous group shows and exhibitions, including ''
Afro-Atlantic Histories
''Afro-Atlantic Histories'' ( Portuguese: ''Histórias Afro-Atlânticas'') is the title of a touring art exhibition first held jointly at the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) and the Instituto Tomie Ohtake in Brazil in 2018. The exhibition is ma ...
''.
Notable works in public collections
*''The Grandfather'' (1983),
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...
,
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
*''Fetish #1'' (1987),
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...
*''Fetish #2'' (1988), Dallas Museum of Art
*''Ceremonial Object'' (1990),
National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...
,
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, Washington, DC
*''Headstone for Marie Laveau'' (1990),
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Bui ...
*''She Kept Her Conjuring Table Very Neat'' (1990),
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...
,
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a ...
*''Erzulie Dreams'' (1992), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
*''The Old Fortune Teller's Board'' (1993),
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds ...
, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
*''The Colonel's Cabinet'' (1991-1994), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
*''See the Truth'' (2002),
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was desi ...
, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
*''Seduction Coat'' (2004),
Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...
and National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
*''See-Line Woman'' (2009),
Hood Museum of Art
The Hood Museum of Art is owned and operated by Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. The first reference to the development of an art collection at Dartmouth dates to 1772, making the collection among the ol ...
,
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of ...
*''Crossroads Marker with Little Hand, Reaching'' (2015),
Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United Stat ...
*''Elegba (Spirit of the Crossroads)'' (2015),
Phillips Collection
The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips (art collector), Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the ...
, Washington, DC
*''Incantation #6 - The Alchemy of Healing'' (2015),
Africa Museum
The Africa Museum ( nl, Afrika Museum) is a museum in Berg en Dal in the Netherlands. The museum on the outskirts of the city of Nijmegen is a complex with indoor as well as open-air display areas, covering art, culture, music, photographs, vid ...
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
*''Mannish Boy Arrives (For Muddy Waters)'' (2017), Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
*''Hoodoo Assassin # 6 (The Chameleon)'' (2019),
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (2 ...
,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
Awards
*
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expression ...
Award (1991, 1999)
*
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation was founded in 1918 by Louis Comfort Tiffany to operate his estate, Laurelton Hall, in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. It was designed to be a summer retreat for artists and craftspeople. In 1946 the estate ...
Award (1993)
*
Anonymous Was A Woman Award
The Anonymous Was A Woman Award is a grant program for women artists who are over 40 years of age, in part to counter sexism in the art world. It began in 1996 in direct response to the National Endowment for the Arts' decision to stop funding in ...
(1999)
*
Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...
Award (2005)
*
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (2 ...
David C. Driskell
David C. Driskell (June 7, 1931 – April 1, 2020) was an American artist, scholar and curator; recognized for his work in establishing African-American Art as a distinct field of study. In his lifetime, Driskell was cited as one of the world� ...
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
Alumni Achievement Award (2015)
*
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation was founded in 1918 by Louis Comfort Tiffany to operate his estate, Laurelton Hall, in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. It was designed to be a summer retreat for artists and craftspeople. In 1946 the estate ...
(2018)
*
Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award
The Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award was established under the presidency of Lee Ann Miller (1978–80). Joan Mondale, artist and wife of vice-president Walter Mondale, helped to secure approval for a national award honoring women ...