VMFA invites visitors to observe the installation of the mural, Procession, in the Atrium from August 12 to September 22, 2020.
Procession is a site-specific, commissioned work by Nigerian-born American artist Odili Donald Odita. Odita designed the mural to activate the Atrium space with color, line, and forms. Using acrylic and latex paint, acrylic soft gel medium, and varnish, assistants from the artist’s studio in Philadelphia are executing the painting based on the artist’s plan.
Procession is inspired not only by works in the museum collection such as the extraordinary quilts from Gee’s Bend, Alabama, that the museum acquired in 2019, but also by the current sociopolitical moment in the United States. Working in the same vein as Sol LeWitt, whose Wall Drawing #541 is on view in the museum’s Marble Hall, Odita created a work that responds to the dynamic architecture of the Atrium.
