Ellington Robinson, "Oath of the Imperialists"

ELLINGTON ROBINSON
Born in Washington, DC, 1975
Currently lives and works in Washington, DC

Oath of the Imperialists
2013
Collage, found objects, and oil

Ellington Robinson, who earned his MFA in painting and mixed media at the University of Maryland in 2008, repurposes once-functional objects to explore ongoing histories of global imperialism. His work makes palpable connections between contemporary global politics and events such as the Berlin Conference (1884–1885) and Sykes–Picot Agreement (1916) at which European powers used maps and abstract instruments of measurement to partition the continent of Africa and territories of the Ottoman Empire for colonial exploitation.

To make Oath of the Imperialists, Robinson collaged a heavy, oval tabletop with map-like patterns. Knives plunged into its surface seem to stake a claim in this imagined geography. Expanded on its runners but missing its central leaf, the whole structure is held together by a single pressure gauge, as if to warn of the precariousness and explosive force of human conquest.

Student Committee Selection 2014–2015
Contemporary Art Purchasing Program
The Adele H. Stamp Student Union—Center for Campus Life