Broken Dance, Ethnic Heritage Series

John Outterbridge

c. 1978-82

A stitched-together, anthropomorphic assemblage of stainless steel, wood, leather, sewn cloth, and an ammunition crate in which Outterbridge transforms discarded materials into a fractured dancer that confronts loss, resilience, and cultural memory.

You first notice the gleaming, helmet-like metal 'head' and bulbous, padded hips bound in patterned cloth, its asymmetric 'legs'—one socked and one mechanically capped—resting on a military ammo box, a startling collision of tenderness and threat.

Part of Outterbridge’s Ethnic Heritage Series, this work helped expand postwar American sculpture by using everyday and military detritus to address race, history, and the bodily effects of violence, insisting that discarded objects carry social memory.

Palette

Art Terms

Found object Sculpture Textile African diaspora Investigating identity Assemblage

Exhibitions

Contemporary Sculpture: Selections from the Collection of The Museu...

1979

Contemporary Works from the Collection

1987

Sculptors' Drawings

1986

Drawing Now: 1955–1975

1976