Jeffrey Gibson: This Is the Day

‘This Is the Day’ features a series of embellished garments and helmets created for the exhibition that explore the layers of meaning and potential power presented through the ritual of dress. More than 50 works made between 2014 and 2018 include intricately beaded wall hangings and punching bags, paintings, ceramics, garments, helmets, and a new video commissioned by the Wellin Museum for the exhibition, ‘I Was Here’, 2018. The film follows Macy, a trans-Choctaw woman living on a reservation in rural Mississippi, melding documentary and fantastical elements in a way that harkens back to independent films from the 1980s and 90s such as 'Bagdad Cafe', 1987 and ‘My Own Private Idaho’, 1991. Combining jingles associated with Native American powwow rituals with lyrics from hit songs such as ‘dearly beloved’ and ‘hold me now’ from the 1980s and 1990s, ‘This Is the Day’ blends a multitude of materials and references in an eclectic and celebratory mash-up.