Tomashi Jackson: Across the Universe

Deeply committed to social justice, artist Tomashi Jackson creates vibrant prints, paintings, videos, textiles, and sculptures that powerfully explore systemic inequities found throughout US history. This is the first book to present the evolution of Jackson’s work.

Over the course of her career, Jackson has closely investigated specific histories related to cities, lands, and individuals in the United States, with the purpose of revealing how systemic racism and civil rights advocacy have informed America’s approach to housing, education, transportation, voter disenfranchisement, police brutality, migration, and agriculture. Inspired by Josef Albers’s research on the relativity of color, she employs image layering and the effects of light and perception toward illuminating underrecognized patterns of activism, resistance, oppression, and societal advances.

This volume offers an opportunity to look comprehensively at overarching themes and developments in her process by gathering bodies of work in a variety of media created over time and in different locations. Jackson’s engaging and nuanced approach to US history situates her as one of the most relevant artists practicing today.

About The Author

Miranda Lash is the Ellen Bruss Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.

Robin D. G. Kelley is the Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA.

Zoé Whitley is Director of Chisenhale Gallery, London.

Larry Ossei-Mensah is an independent curator and critic.

Liz Munsell is the Barnett & Annalee Newman Curator of Contemporary Art at the Jewish Museum, New York. 

Megan O’Grady is Assistant Professor, Critical and Curatorial Studies at CU Boulder.