MELISSA CODY

The title of the exhibition, Webbed Skies, refers to the sky as a unifying element of all territories, connecting distinct narratives and methods of coexistence beyond borders.While adept at myriad styles of weaving, Cody primarily engages with the Germantown Revival movement, which emerged after the tragic period known as the Long Walk (1863–68). With the aim to expel the Navajo people from their territory, the US military burned homes, damaged fields, and killed livestock, forcing over 10,000 people to migrate hundreds of miles and enter a military camp. Along the way, weavers devised strategies to continue working with available means, unraveling supplied blankets and using the yarn for weaving. The commercially produced blankets came from Germantown, Pennsylvania, where the introduction of synthetic colors opened new horizons of experimentation within the context of confinement, a method crucial to Navajo cultural resistance. While acknowledging this history and working on a traditional Navajo loom, Cody’s masterful works exercise experimental palettes and patterns that animate through reinvention, reframing traditions as cycles of evolution.

Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies is organized by Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP and MoMA PS1. The exhibition is curated by Isabella Rjeille, Curator, MASP, and Ruba Katrib, Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, MoMA PS1. Exhibition research and support is provided by Andrea Sánchez, Coordinator of Curatorial Affairs, MoMA PS1.