The Art of Disguise: Cultural Masks from the Art Museum Collection
February 7 – May 2, 2015
Colorado Gallery
Centered on the Art Museum’s ethnographic collections of West African, Papua New Guinea, and South American art, The Art of Disguise: Cultural Masks from the Art Museum Collections explores the highly developed art of the mask. By concealing the wearer’s face, masks serve as support for the spirit of deities, ancestors and cultural idols, which are often personified as human or animal, or a composite of the two. Used in performances, masks are used to celebrate rites of passage, funerals, or blessings and often teach moral lessons. A variety of masks from West Africa, Papua New Guinea, and South America on view demonstrate the range of types, styles, sizes, and materials of masks.
Images:
(Left) Warrior’s Mask, Salampasu language group, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), carved wood, metal, raffia, and bark strips, 21-1/2 x 11 x 9 inches, John and Pam Finley Collection, T2011.12.59
(Right) Mbuya Mask, Western Pende, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), not dated, carved wood, raffia, cloth, and fiber, 20 x 10 x 10 inches, John and Pam Finley Collection, T2011.12.100
Funded in part by UW Art Museum Gala Funds.
The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie
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university with the top research universities in the United States.
The University of Wyoming Art Museum has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) since 1976. This accreditation recognizes the Museum's commitment to excellence,
high professional standards, and continued institutional improvements.