4. Della Wells at Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York
A Milwaukee-based, self-taught artist inspired by her mother’s tale of growing up in North Carolina between WWI and WWII, Della Wells used those stories to escape her mom’s mental illness and father’s uncontrollable anger before therapeutically turning the tales into subject matter for her dreamlike collages. Creating collages, paintings, and folk-art dolls for the past 30 years, she has carried on the tradition of Romare Bearden to create visual narratives from recycled magazines, which has its roots in the patch-work wallpaper from homes of the American South in earlier times, and a style of practical decorating still found in parts of Africa and the Caribbean.
The colorful collages in her “Mambo Land” exhibition portray a world in which she envisions “Black women rule.” Assembling urban houses surrounded by chickens, flowers, and flags, she depicts stylishly clad Black women and girls in idyllic domestic settings. Playfully collaging facial features, body parts, and outfits for people while filling rooms with furniture, pictures, and plants, Wells lovingly constructs the world of her American dream, where her imaginary citizens happily inhabit lively homes, work in peaceful cities, and vacation in sunny spots.
Through August 9.
- Paul Laster