Untitled #7

Artist Magdalene Odundo (British, born Kenya, 1950)

Date1994

MediumEarthenware

DimensionsOverall: 20 × 11 3/4 × 11 3/4 inches (50.8 × 29.85 × 29.85 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Estelle and Morton Sosland in honor of the 75th anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Object number2021.31.9

Inscribed"Odundo 1994" inscribed at bottom of foot

On View

Not on view

Collections

Terms

DescriptionThis symmetrically shaped ceramic vessel is black. Its rim is open and wide and tapers to a long cylindrical neck. Two circular shaped handles are on either side of the neck above the body of the vase which swells just beneath the handles. Three small projections are located on either side of the neck above the handles.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

1995: University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of Los Angeles California.

1996: The Newark Museum of Art, Rutgers University, New Jersey; Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.

1997: The Saint Louis Art, St. Louise, MO.

Recent Gifts of Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, July 30 2022–January 21 2024, no cat.

Gallery Label

Magdalene Odundo, a Kenyan-born artist residing in England, employs the coil construction and ceramic firing techniques used by African women for thousands of years. Although Odundo studies the ceramic traditions of other world cultures, a modernist sensibility guides her search for simplified, expressive forms. A recurring theme in her work is the human form and, in particular, the female body. The elongated neck with its protuberances makes possible reference to scarification patterns. The circular handles, doubling as arms or hoop earrings, suggest abstract references to the decorated body. With its robust forms and burnished surface, this untitled ceramic vessel is a classic example of Odundo’s work.

Provenance

Purchased from Anthony Slayter-Ralph Fine Arts, Santa Barbara, CA;

Promished Gift, 2019;

Bequeathed by Estelle and Morton Sosland to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2021.

Published References

Marla C. Berns, "Ceramic Gestures: New Vessels by Magdalene Odundo (exh. cat.) Santa Barbara, 1997, ill. p. 23, plate 10. cat. no.7.

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