Joyce J. Scott
Lynched Tree
2010
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Joyce J. Scott
Lynched Tree
2010
Physical Qualities
Plastic and glass beads, blown glass, thread, wire, wood, metal, found objects, Dimensions variable
Credit Line
Art Fund established with exchange funds from gifts of Dr. and Mrs. Edgar F. Berman, Equitable Bank, N.A., Geoffrey Gates, Sandra O. Moose, National Endowment for the Arts, Lawrence Rubin, Philip M. Stern, and Alan J. Zakon
Object Number
2022.64
“Humans have continuously destroyed nature and species no less brutally than white [people] lynched Black [people] from tree branches. It is the same impulse towards domination and extinction.”-- Joyce J. Scott
A pale-pink beaded figure hangs by her feet, her body open on the ground below. Her insides, an accumulation of broken glass and discarded things, pours forth from her abdomen and chest cavity. She personifies for Scott “the immature feelings we have as a young, slowly evolving species. The work addresses what we refuse to embrace because, if we accept the truth, then we must change or be proven wrong.”
The artist varies Lynched Tree with each new installation. She first conceived of this work suspended within a centuries-old live oak on the campus of Tulane University in Louisiana for the exhibition Prospect.2 New Orleans. Over time, Scott has incorporated fragments of earlier installations—conferring beauty and value through the accumulation of salvaged materials.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 2022; Goya Contemporary, Baltimore
Dan Cameron, "Prospect.2 New Orleans," Newcomb Art Museum at Tulane University, New Orleans LA, October 22 2011 - January 29, 2012.
Goya Contemporary, "Joyce J. Scott: On Kilter," September 12 - November 10, 2012.
Goya Contemporary, "Philosophy of Figure," November 20, 2012 - January 18, 2013.
Patterson Sims, "Joyce J. Scott: Truths and Visions," Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, January 29 - May 24, 2015; Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, August 28 - October 15, 2015.
Bruce Hoffman, "The Faces of Politics: In/Tolerance," Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, April 16 - August 21, 2016.
Mark Richard Leach, "Tell Me More, Unique Perspectives on Our Collective Human Experience," McColl Center for Art & Innovation, Charlotte, NC, April 14 - May 27, 2017.
"Both Sides Now: Joyce J. Scott & Sonya Clark," 108 Contemporary, Tulsa, OK, August 4 - September 24, 2017.
Lowery Stokes Sims and Patterson Sims, "Joyce J. Scott: Harriet Tubman and Other Truths," Grounds for Sculpture, October 20, 2017 – April 1, 2018.
"Reflecting Perspectives," Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, WI, April 18 - September 22, 2019.
Baltimore Museum of Art, "Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams", March 24, 2024 - July 14, 2024; Seattle Art Museum, October 17, 2024 - January 19, 2025.
Goya Contemporary, "Joyce J. Scott: On Kilter," September 12 - November 10, 2012.
Goya Contemporary, "Philosophy of Figure," November 20, 2012 - January 18, 2013.
Patterson Sims, "Joyce J. Scott: Truths and Visions," Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, January 29 - May 24, 2015; Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, August 28 - October 15, 2015.
Bruce Hoffman, "The Faces of Politics: In/Tolerance," Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, April 16 - August 21, 2016.
Mark Richard Leach, "Tell Me More, Unique Perspectives on Our Collective Human Experience," McColl Center for Art & Innovation, Charlotte, NC, April 14 - May 27, 2017.
"Both Sides Now: Joyce J. Scott & Sonya Clark," 108 Contemporary, Tulsa, OK, August 4 - September 24, 2017.
Lowery Stokes Sims and Patterson Sims, "Joyce J. Scott: Harriet Tubman and Other Truths," Grounds for Sculpture, October 20, 2017 – April 1, 2018.
"Reflecting Perspectives," Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, WI, April 18 - September 22, 2019.
Baltimore Museum of Art, "Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams", March 24, 2024 - July 14, 2024; Seattle Art Museum, October 17, 2024 - January 19, 2025.
Prospect.2 New Orleans. Edited by Ylva Rouse, Carrie Knopf. New Orleans: U.S. Biennial Inc. / Prospect New Orleans, 2011.
Sims, Lowery Stokes and Patterson Sims. Joyce J. Scott: Harriet Tubman and Other Truths. Hamilton, NJ: Grounds for Sculpture, 2018.
Manchanda, Catharina, and Cecilia Wichmann, eds. Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in my Dreams. Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum; Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 2024, plate 94, pages 134-135.
