TL;DR
Get art and craft supplies delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
Fort Gansevoort will present 25 works by Columbus artist Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson in the exhibition “Beaded and Bound,” opening November 19 in New York. The books, dolls and textiles use materials including beads, buttons, fabric and Robinson’s handmade “hogmawg” to tell personal and community stories. The exhibition is scheduled to run through January 16.
Fort Gansevoort will present 25 works by late Columbus artist Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson in “Beaded and Bound,” an exhibition of mixed-media books, dolls and textiles opening November 19 in New York. Organized in collaboration with the Columbus Museum of Art, the show brings together works that draw on Robinson’s life, family histories and Black community experiences; it is scheduled to continue through January 16.
The exhibition spans works made through embroidery, appliqué, writing, painting and drawing, as well as assembled materials such as beads, buttons, shells, thread and found objects. Robinson’s pieces combine narrative and sculpture: some books open into extended, embellished surfaces, while dolls incorporate layered textiles and, in some cases, music boxes. The source report identifies 25 works in the presentation but does not provide a complete checklist.
Among the named works is “Women in Poindexter Village, Button Beaded Book” (1989), which refers to women who lived in the Columbus housing estate where Robinson grew up and includes a tribute to her mother. “A Holy Place: The Elijah Pierce Barbershop” (1983) depicts the studio and workplace of Pierce, a fellow Columbus artist Robinson considered a friend and spiritual mentor. The work connects their personal relationship with the barbershop’s role as a place of connection in African American communities.
Robinson also developed a material she called “hogmawg,” made from clay, leaves, twigs, mud, lime, animal grease and glue. According to the source report, she learned the process from her father, who also taught her bookmaking; her mother taught her sewing and needlework. These family practices became part of her approach to making tactile works that carry written and visual stories.
Stories Carried in Beads and Books
The exhibition brings together objects that connect individual memory with shared history. Robinson’s depictions of Poindexter Village and the Elijah Pierce barbershop place familiar people and settings at the center of the work, offering visitors a view of Black life through the artist’s own relationships and visual language.
The materials are part of that storytelling. Beads, buttons, fabric and handmade hogmawg give the works a physical presence, while their books and figures invite viewers to read them as more than conventional illustrations. Fort Gansevoort describes Robinson’s narratives as combining family histories, local accounts and African diaspora histories; that characterization is the gallery’s framing of the exhibition, rather than a claim that each work has one fixed interpretation.
The show also makes a body of work held in part by the Columbus Museum of Art available to New York audiences. Its presentation may introduce visitors to Robinson’s practice beyond individual objects, although the source material does not specify how many works are on loan from the museum or whether related public programs are planned.
Popular right now
Samsung QN65LS03FAFXZA 65 The Frame QLED 4K Art Mode Vision AI Smart TV (2025)
Dreame G10 Pro Wet and Dry Vacuum Mop
Ninja Mega Kitchen System Blender and Food Processor, 1500W, 72-oz Pitcher, 8-Cup Bowl, Black (BL770)
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Poindexter Village to Art
Robinson was born in 1940 and grew up in Poindexter Village, a public housing development in Columbus dedicated that year by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The source report describes it as one of the first federally funded housing projects specifically intended to support African Americans. Robinson spent most of her life in Columbus, apart from several years in Boise, Idaho, while married to a U.S. Air Force serviceman, and studied art in college.
Her creative practice expanded in the 1970s, while she worked for Columbus’s recreation and parks department and facilitated workshops. During a study trip to Egypt in 1979, a holy man gave her the name “Aminah,” which she legally adopted and preferred to use. She began exhibiting her work in the early 1980s. Robinson died in 2015.
Robinson called the sculptural reliefs on her books “RagGonNon.” She regarded them as interactive and open to interpretation, comparing their changing meanings to the ways readers respond differently to literature. Her connection with Pierce, also a Columbus artist, is reflected directly in the barbershop work included in the exhibition.
“The artist wove personal memories, family histories, and local narratives into richly tactile, sometimes peculiar, and always moving works alive with the histories of the African diaspora.”
— Fort Gansevoort
Exhibition Details Still to Come
The source report gives the exhibition’s opening date as November 19 and its closing date as January 16, but does not state the year alongside those dates. It also does not include the gallery’s street address, visiting hours, admission details, a full list of the 25 works or information about public events. The source describes the show as a collaboration with the Columbus Museum of Art but does not explain the loan arrangements or identify which institution owns each work.
The exhibition description presents Robinson’s work as engaging histories of the African diaspora and Black community life. Individual interpretations remain open, consistent with Robinson’s own view of her visual narratives as open to different readings. The available material does not report attendance expectations or any response from the artist’s estate.
The New York Exhibition Opens
“Beaded and Bound” is scheduled to open at Fort Gansevoort on November 19 and remain on view through January 16. Readers seeking practical visit information will need to consult the gallery’s current exhibition listing, since the source report does not give hours, admission terms or the year of the dates.
Once the exhibition opens, a fuller checklist and gallery materials may clarify which works are on display and how the collaboration with the Columbus Museum of Art was arranged. No additional programming or related announcements are confirmed in the source material.
Key Questions
What is “Beaded and Bound”?
It is a Fort Gansevoort exhibition of 25 works by Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, presented in collaboration with the Columbus Museum of Art. The works include mixed-media books, dolls and textiles.
When and where is the exhibition scheduled?
The exhibition is scheduled to open November 19 at Fort Gansevoort in New York and run through January 16. The source report does not specify the year or provide visitor hours.
Which Robinson works are mentioned?
The report names “Women in Poindexter Village, Button Beaded Book” (1989) and “A Holy Place: The Elijah Pierce Barbershop” (1983), alongside button-beaded dolls and other books. It does not give the complete exhibition checklist.
What is Robinson’s “hogmawg”?
Robinson’s handmade mixture combined clay, leaves, twigs, mud, lime, animal grease and glue. The source says she learned the process from her father, who also taught her bookmaking.
Source: thisiscolossal.com
