Janet Olivia Henry

We are honored to present Janet Olivia Henry’s first solo exhibition at Gordon Robichaux, following the gallery’s presentation of the artist’s work at the Independent Art Fair in 2023; the inclusion of her art and graphic design in the celebrated exhibition Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 2023; and Henry’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles at Stars gallery this spring.

Installed across both of Gordon Robichaux’s spaces, the exhibition is Henry’s most comprehensive to date, evincing her commitment to an inventive, multifarious practice and the development of a singular visual language over the course of five decades. In the larger gallery, the artist will present foundational early works: Juju Box sculptures comprised of small toys and objects collected and assembled during the 1970s, and hanging anthropomorphic objects incorporating photographs, text, beadwork, Japanese knotting, and sewn and batted vinyl created during the 1980s. The second gallery will feature works made in the past year including hanging sculptures with dense clusters of colorful beads and narrative texts and a diorama of the artist in her studio constructed with Lego-like building blocks and a plastic doll.

Throughout, Henry employs a wide array of materials—toys, miniatures, beads, vinyl, and shredded currency—and photographic processes and craft traditions, including sewing, weaving, braiding, quilting, and jewelry-making. Her work embraces storytelling and play as liberating practices to critique gender, race, and class. Henry explains, “My art is social commentary, but it’s process-driven. I found that I could use toys and dolls to tell stories, and I incorporated photography and craft to make sculpture. I now realize that I created my own medium. My work comments on what I observe, looking outward, and in turn, looking back at myself.”

Janet Olivia Henry, Duplicate (Vacation), 2024, Wrapped and braided waxed nylon, seed beads from Czechoslovakia, faux turquoise, handmade lamp-work beads, African amber from Guinea, tiny silver Heishi beads and pacer beads from Nigeria, purple zigzag beads, pink charm painted metal casted flowers from the United Kingdom, glass wound padre beads, commercial wooden beads, purple agate beads from Brazil, Tagua nut sliced beads from Brazil, reconstructed synthetic turquoise beads, marriage beads made in Czechoslovakia traded in Mali, glass autumn teardrop beads from Czechoslovakia, amethyst purple 8mm round plastic beads, ceramic beads by Sheila Schmidt, pink bubble bath set with curlers from the 1950s, antique glass Venetian disks, turquoise blue pumpkin beads, Afghan silver coin beads, orange Czechoslovakian teardrop beads, turquoise dyed Howlite beads.