COFFEE & CONVERSATION: BEADS IN CONTEMPORARY ART

COFFEE & CONVERSAtion:
Beads in contemporary art
January 30 | 1 - 2pm Eastern
Online Zoom Event
free & open to the public

Beads can be used to make jewelry, embellish, discuss identity, and create installations. In 2018 Artsy featured an article “6 Artists Turning Beads into Spellbinding Works of Art” and 2019 Vogue published an article “Meet 8 Indigenous Beaders Who Are Modernizing Their Craft.” Since then, the proliferation of beads in art has continued. Join our Executive Director, Jaimianne Jacobin in conversation with artist Demetri Broxton and author Lois Sherr Dubin in a conversation about beads and the use of beads in art. Demetri will speak to us about his work, and Lois will give an overview of the history of beads from around the world. 

About Demetri Broxton
Demeti Broxton is a mixed media artist of Louisiana Creole and Filipino heritage who was born and raised in Oakland, CA. His textile sculptures reflect his connection to the sacred art of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, the beading traditions of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians, and his love of hip hop and graffiti culture. Broxton holds a BFA with an emphasis in oil painting from UC Berkeley (2002) and an MA in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University (2010). His work has been exhibited internationally and most recently at SFMOMA Artists Gallery (2019), UNTITLED Art Fair (2020 & 2021), and Kala Art Institute (2021). His work is held in several private collections and the permanent collection of the Monterey Art Museum. 
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About Lois Sherr Dubin
Lois Sherr Dubin is a curator and the author of the best selling book The History of Beads: 30,000 B.C. to the Present. This publication is a visually stimulating book that synthesizes the most important information known about beads from twelve world regions and examines the roles beads play in their cultural contexts. It has since been translated into four different languages and a revised edition, The History of Beads: 100,000 B.C. to the Present, was reissued in 2009. Dubin has also authored The History of Beads, North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: Prehistory to the Present and several books about master beads artists. In addition to her work in bead history, Dubin formerly spent a career in landscape architecture, she is a practicing jewelry artist and was adopted into the family of Jim Hart of the Haida Nation in 2006.

Demetri Broxton, 'I'm on a mission,' 2022.

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Big thank you to the Bead Society of Greater Washington for sponsoring this event and encouraging us to take a deeper dive into this topic.