Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World

December 8, 2019–May 31, 2020

Make Me a Summary of the World brings together several of Banerjee’s monumental installations in conversation with more than two dozen sculptures, as well as a thorough selection of works on paper to create an otherworldly and multi-sensory space. Using a variety of gathered materials ranging from African jewelry to colorful feathers, light bulbs, and Murano glass, Banerjee’s works investigate the splintered experiences of identity, tradition, and culture, prevalent in diasporic communities. These sensuous assemblages present themselves simultaneously as familiar and unfamiliar, thriving on tensions between visual cultures and raising questions about exoticism, cultural appropriation, globalization, and feminism. Her works are paired with thought-provoking and poetic titles that are works of art in themselves, ranging in length from 50 to nearly 200 words.

Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World is co-organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia and the San José Museum of Art, California. Major support for this exhibition is made possible by the William Penn Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Exelon Foundation and PECO, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Lead support for the presentation at the Fowler Museum is provided by The Martha and Avrum Bluming Exhibition Fund. Additional support is provided by the Shapiro Endowment Fund, Fowler Contemporary Council Fund, Pasadena Art Alliance, Barbara Timmer and Catherine Benkaim, the George R. and Nancy Ellis Endowment Fund, Carla Kirkeby, Betty and Richard Seid, Janis and William Wetsman and the Wetsman Foundation, L.A. Louver Gallery, Charlotte Chamberlain and Paul Wieselmann, Connie McCreight, and the Southern California Chapter/National Museum of Women in the Arts.

PRESS RELEASE: Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World

Installation Images