Nina Simone Childhood Home: Benefit Auction Co-Presented by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and Pace Gallery | Hosted by Sotheby’s

Nina Simone Childhood Home: Benefit Auction Co-Presented by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and Pace Gallery | Hosted by Sotheby’s

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 11. The Mother Tongue .

Anicka Yi

The Mother Tongue

Lot Closed

May 22, 07:11 PM GMT

Estimate

90,000 - 110,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Anicka Yi

b. 1971

The Mother Tongue


Executed in 2022.

UV print on silk screen mesh, in a cherry frame

58 1/2 × 46 1/2 in. (148 3/5 × 118 1/10 cm.)


©2023 Anicka Yi / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: David Regen, courtesy of Gladstone Gallery.


Please note that while this auction is hosted on Sothebys.com, it is being administered by Pace Gallery, and all post-sale matters (inclusive of invoicing and property pickup/shipment) will be handled by Pace Gallery. As such, Sotheby’s will share the contact details for the winning bidders with Pace Gallery so that they may be in touch directly post-sale.

Acquired from the artist's studio

Following early experiments with “soap painting,” (2013–15), Anicka Yi began to investigate painting and image-making in earnest in 2020. She began by feeding images of sculptural works from her archive into a machine learning (ML) model that generated new two-dimensional composition ideas. As Yi expanded this process, she developed several ML algorithms, mixing in different biomorphic imagery, while manipulating her past work to prompt and guide the algorithm’s output. Each ML algorithm functions as a layer of “paint” and generates unique imagery—, from brush strokes and washes of color, to blood cells and fish eggs, scratched and ruptured skin, polyps and crustaceans, and the undulations of a deep ocean floor. These digital amalgamations resulted in her “mesh painting” series. 

 

For the present work, The Mother Tongue (2022), Yi collaged imagery from her various ML algorithms to create a digital painting showcasing supple forms emerging from the unknown. This painting was then UV-printed onto two layers of silkscreen mesh, creating a moiré effect in which the partial opacity of the superficial layer is disrupted by the impressions of the patterned underlayer. The Mother Tongue was chosen as a humble tribute to Nina Simone, whose blending of many musical styles continues to evoke dazzling waveforms in the radical present and into the future. Balancing generational tides as we face the uncertainties of the 21st century, the enduring legacy of Simone continues to inspire with courage and ever-flowing grace.