…things come to thrive…in the shedding…in the molting…

This summer, experience the seductive beauty of gardens through the eyes of celebrated contemporary artist Ebony G. Patterson. Known for her lavishly detailed mixed media installations, Patterson brings her signature style to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, and NYBG’s landscape and galleries, in a major site-specific exhibition featuring breathtaking and provocative displays of art and nature.

Patterson’s work will captivate Garden visitors with the beauty of exotic flora and garden-inspired installations—from a monumental peacock sculpture to swarms of glitter-encrusted vultures. Inspired by her immersion in NYBG’s collections, Patterson’s work explores entanglements of race, gender and colonialism while inviting visitors to contemplate their own relationships with gardens and the natural world.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see one of the most exciting contemporary artists of our time transform one of the most stunning settings in New York City like never before. Ebony G. Patterson’s summer exhibition at NYBG is a must-see.

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Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery
Photo: Frank Ishman

Exhibition Guide

Explore the components of Patterson’s provocative installations as well as accompanying programs to experience during the exhibition.

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Ebony G. Patterson

Ebony G. Patterson received her BFA in painting from Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica in 2004. She received an MFA degree in 2006 in printmaking and drawing from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Patterson has taught at the University of Virginia; Edna Manley College School of Visual and Performing Arts; has served as Associate Professor in Painting and Mixed Media at the University of Kentucky; and was the Bill and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been featured in biennials worldwide including Liverpool (2021), Athens (2021), São Paulo (2016), and Havana (2015). Her work is in the collections of institutions including 21c Museum and Foundation, Louisville, Kentucky; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Art and Design, New York; Nasher Museum, Duke University, Durham, NC; the National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston; the Pérez Art Museum Miami; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky; Studio Museum in Harlem; the Virginia Museum of Fine Art; and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Patterson is Co-Artistic Director, along with curator Miranda Lash, of Prospect.6 New Orleans, slated to open in Fall 2024.

Exhibition Events

A close-up of an art piece by Ebony G. Patterson, with blue butterflies and differently colored textiles.

Ebony G. Patterson in Conversation with Thelma Golden

Thursday, May 25, 2023

a child with a clipboard and pencil taking notes on the purple pansies in front of her

Birds of a Feather

Saturday, May 27, 2023 – Thursday, August 31, 2023

A close-up photograph of dozens of red lace gloves punctuated with coral-like black structures

Ebony G. Patterson
...fester… (detail), 2023
Hand-cut jacquard woven photo tapestry with glitter, trim, tassels, lace, metal, plastic and glass beaded pins on foam and wood armature. White blown-glass plants, black flame-worked glass plants, gold leaf on found plastic spine, glittered resin vultures and artist-designed vinyl wallpaper

A golden spinal column hangs among folded swaths of colorful fabric

Ebony G. Patterson
...fester… (detail), 2023
Hand-cut jacquard woven photo tapestry with glitter, trim, tassels, lace, metal, plastic and glass beaded pins on foam and wood armature. White blown-glass plants, black flame-worked glass plants, gold leaf on found plastic spine, glittered resin vultures and artist-designed vinyl wallpaper

Glittering black bird sculptures stand amid red flowers and foliage on a sunny day, with a white conservatory dome visible in the background

Ebony G. Patterson
…things come to thrive…in the shedding…in the molting…, 2023
Glittered foam vultures, cast glass-and-hydrostone peacock on shellacked wood and Plexiglas armature with metal c-clamps, cast-glass limbs, blown-glass vertebrae, flame-worked glass plants, and living plants with sound

A pair of translucent legs wearing sneakers jut out from beneath a planting of pale green foliage

Ebony G. Patterson
…things come to thrive…in the shedding…in the molting…, 2023
Glittered foam vultures, cast glass-and-hydrostone peacock on shellacked wood and Plexiglass armature with metal c-clamps, cast-glass limbs, blown-glass vertebrae, flame-worked glass plants, and living plants with sound

A view of an illuminated green screen selection through a circular gateway

Ebony G. Patterson
Study for The Observation: The Bush Cockerel Project, A Fictitious Historical Narrative, 2012
Three-channel digital color video projection, with sound; artificial flowers, and glass orbs
19 min, 27 sec
Courtesy of Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago

Colorful paintings hang under spotlights on the blue walls of this intimate art gallery space

Mixed media artworks in the William D. Rondina and Giovanni Foroni LoFaro Gallery

Full text credit block for Ebony G. Patterson exhibition.

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Exhibition Guide

Ebony G. Patterson

Exhibition Events

Ebony G. Patterson in Conversation with Thelma Golden

Birds of a Feather