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Mimi Smith

Maternity Dress

Maker

Mimi Smith (American, b. 1942)

Title

Maternity Dress

Year

1966

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

wood, plastic, metal, Vinyl

Geography

Place Made: Western

Dimensions

114.3 x 36.8 x 17.8 cm (45 x 14 1/2 x 7 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2007.8

Type

Publications

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 13: Storage

The RISD Museum’s thirteenth issue of Manual unpacks the idea and reality of storage-objects museums don’t put on view, works made as containers of various sorts, and more metaphorical considerations about how meanings and narratives are stored. This issue serves as a companion to the Raid the Icebox Now series of exhibitions on view at the RISD Museum through November 2020, in which nine contemporary artists and design collectives use the museum and its collections as a site for critical creative production and presentation. Raid the Icebox Now marks the 50th anniversary of Raid the Icebox 1 with Andy Warhol*, held in 1970 at the RISD Museum.

Articles

The Care and Preservation of Art Composed of Plastic

A plethora of plastics is everywhere we look. The RISD Museum is continually acquiring art composed of polymers, colloquially referred to as plastic.

Exhibition History

United Histories
Mar 23, 2018 – Aug 12, 2018

Label copy

These works offer contrasting perspectives on motherhood and domesticity. Pippin, a self-taught African American painter, emphasizes the spirit of simplicity in colonial-era Quaker homes. Quietly depicting a mother and her infant child, he evokes associations with what could be seen as a less complicated historical moment in American domestic life. Smith presents a dress she made for herself during a pregnancy. Maternity Dress challenges social conventions and clothing designs that conceal, rather than celebrate, the transformed physical condition of pregnant women.

[see also: 44.094]

Image use

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In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Mimi Smith (American, b. 1942)
Maternity Dress, 1966
Plastic, vinyl, zipper, screws
114.3 x 36.8 x 17.8 cm (45 x 14 1/2 x 7 inches)
Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund 2007.8

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