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You are here: Home1 / Ato Ribeiro

Ato Ribeiro

2019-2020 Newsletter Essay

2017-2018 Newsletter Essay

Ato Ribeiro works in a variety of media: sculpture, installation, drawing and printmaking. Born in Philadelphia in 1989, he spent his childhood and adolescence in Accra, Ghana. The articulation of his West African heritage and his African American identity is central to his art. This is evident in his wooden assemblages that reference both Ghanian strip-woven kente cloth and Black quilting traditions of the American South that were used as a symbolic language in the Underground Railroad, guiding slaves to freedom in the North.

Ribeiro works with discarded pieces of wood—a material that he defines as conceptually paralleling the way individuals of African heritage have been treated throughout history. He then pieces these precious scraps together into geometric patterns that are recognizable as a language and even hint at narrative but confound the viewer because their specific code and meanings are not necessarily decipherable. As the artist has explained, “My wooden kente and quilt works, mixed media installations and prints provide educational opportunities to seek out new points of reference, while preserving layers of African cultural heritage and varying ethnic perspectives.”

Ribeiro received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2017 and his BA from Morehouse College in 2012. He has been awarded a number of prestigious residencies and awards, including the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, MASS MoCa Residency (2021), the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), the Küenstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin through the 2017 Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Emerging Artist Award, the Santa Fe Art Institute (2017) and the Ox-Bow LeRoy Neiman Foundation Fellowship, Saugatuck (2017).

Ato Ribeiro - Home Away From Home 8, 2021, repurposed wood, plastics, 72 by 96 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away From Home 8
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away From Home 9, 2022, repurposed wood, plastics, 72 by 96 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away From Home 9
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away From Home 3, 2017, repurposed wood, wood glue, 72 by 96 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away From Home 3
Ato Ribeiro - Bend or Break (SOLD), 2021, repurposed wood, wood glue, plastics, 72" x 48"
Ato Ribeiro - Bend or Break (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Between You and Me (SOLD), 2018, repurposed wood, wood glue, 48 by 48 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Between You and Me (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Log Cabin Checkers Board, 2017, repurposed wood, wood glue, coffee grounds, indigo dyed receipts, 24 by 24 by 1 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Log Cabin Checkers Board
Ato Ribeiro - Sisala The Micro and Macro (SOLD), 2020, repurposed wood, wood glue, 21 by 21 by 18.5 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Sisala The Micro and Macro (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Sisala The Micro and Macro (detail) (SOLD), 2020, repurposed wood, wood glue, 21 by 21 by 18.5 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Sisala The Micro and Macro (detail) (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - What a Preventer of Life-Loss (SOLD), 2020, repurposed wood, wood glue, 15.25 by 15.25 by 18.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - What a Preventer of Life-Loss (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - What a Preventer of Life-Loss (detail) (SOLD), 2020, repurposed wood, wood glue, 15.25 by 15.25 by 18.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - What a Preventer of Life-Loss (detail) (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - The Goldenen Palanquin, 2020, repurposed wood and textiles, 48 by 96 by 96 inches
Ato Ribeiro - The Goldenen Palanquin
Ato Ribeiro - The Goldenen Palanquin (detail), 2020, repurposed wood and textiles, 48 by 96 by 96 inches
Ato Ribeiro - The Goldenen Palanquin (detail)
Ato Ribeiro - The Goldenen Palanquin (detail), 2020, repurposed wood and textiles, 48 by 96 by 96 inches
Ato Ribeiro - The Goldenen Palanquin (detail)
Ato Ribeiro - Main Race (SOLD), 2019, repurposed wood, 47 by 71 by 1 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Main Race (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Home Coming 4 (SOLD), 2018, repurposed wood, wood glue, 72 by 48 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Home Coming 4 (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Home Coming (SOLD), 2017, repurposed wood, wood glue, 72 by 48 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Home Coming (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away From Home 4 (SOLD), 2018, repurposed wood, wood glue, 72 by 96 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away From Home 4 (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away from Home 5 (SOLD), 2018, repurposed wood, wood glue, 72 by 96 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Home Away from Home 5 (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Home Coming 3 (SOLD), 2018, repurposed wood, wood glue, 72 by 48 by 1.25 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Home Coming 3 (SOLD)
Ato Ribeiro - Untitled (Wooden Kente Quilt 10)(SOLD), 2018, repurposed wood, wood glue, 24 by 23.75 by 1 inches
Ato Ribeiro - Untitled (Wooden Kente Quilt 10)(SOLD)

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Ann MortonAnn Morton - Blue MAGA, 2020, official "Donald J. Trump Make America Great Again Hat - Red Red Cap/Red", blue embroidery floss, 8 x 10.5 x 6 inches (16.5 inches tall with stand), uniqueMichael Eastman - White Palace, Buenos Aires, 2017, photograph, available in three sizes: 40 by 50 inches, 48 by 60 inches, and 72 by 90 inchesMichael Eastman
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