By definition, embroidery is the addition of ornament using a needle and thread or yarn to decorate and enrich cloth and fabrics. Embroidery is not a technique indigenous to Africa, but spread with Islamic culture from North Africa southward beginning in the 10th century. Elaborately embroidered robes worn by Muslim men of authority were impressive and worthy of emulation.

In Noblesse O. Martin Puryear sculpts with red cedar and then applies aluminum paint to contrast the natural with the man-made, and the interior form with the exterior surface.

Although Sam Francis is known primarily as a colorist, and he searched the world for rare pigments to use in his vivid compositions, this work is from a series of works he executed in black.

In Untitled, thick interjections of olive green, canary yellow, sky blue, and violet punctuate a vertical construction of interlocking, jagged red and black shapes.

Mimbres potters developed one of the Southwest’s most appealing painting styles, distinguished by geometric compositions and narrative imagery that provides an eloquent record of Mimbres life. The painting on many Mimbres vessels suggests concepts of sacred space or cosmic geography.