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MoMA PS1 presents the first major solo museum presentation of fourth-generation Navajo weaver Melissa Cody (b. 1983, No Water Mesa, Arizona) spanning the last decade of her practice, showcasing over 30 weavings and a major new work produced for the exhibition. Using long-established weaving techniques and incorporating new digital technologies, Cody assembles and reimagines popular patterns into sophisticated geometric overlays, incorporating atypical dyes and fibers. Her tapestries carry forward the methods of Navajo Germantown weaving, which developed out of the wool and blankets that were made in Germantown, Pennsylvania and supplied by the US government to the Navajo people during the forced expulsion from their territories in the mid-1800s. During this period, the rationed blankets were taken apart and the yarn was used to make new textiles, a practice of reclamation which became the source of the movement. 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.
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.
Major support for Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies is provided by The Coby Foundation and The Deborah Buck Foundation.
Additional support is provided by Komal Shah and Gaurav Garg.
Special thanks to Becky Gochman.
Learn more about the exhibition on our website.
Press Kit
Images
Melissa Cody. The Three Rivers. 2021. Wool warp, weft, selvedge cords, and aniline dyes. Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Melissa Cody. World Traveler. 2014. Wool warp, weft, selvedge cords, and aniline dyes. Installation view of Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies, on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 through September 2, 2024. Photo: Kris Graves
Melissa Cody. Carbidopa-Levodopa Release. 2009. Wool warp, weft, selvedge cords, and aniline dyes. 27 x 17 in. (68.6 x 43.2 cm). Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
Melissa Cody. Into the Depths, She Rappels. 2023. Wool warp, weft, selvedge cords, and aniline dyes. 87 x 51 9/16 in. (221 x 131 cm). Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.
Melissa Cody. Lightning Storm. 2012. 3-ply aniline dyed wool. 14 × 20″ (35.6 × 50.8 cm). Courtesy the artist. Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.
Melissa Cody. Path of the Snake. 2013. 3-ply aniline dyed wool. 36 × 24″ (91.4 × 61 cm). Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.
Melissa Cody. Deep Brain Stimulation. 2011. Wool warp, weft, selvedge cords, and aniline dyes. 40 x 30 3/4 in. (101.6 x 78.1 cm). Image courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Melissa Cody. Under Cover of Webbed Skies. 2021. Wool warp, weft, selvedge cords, and aniline dyes. 36 3/4 x 25 1/4 in. (93.3 x 64.1 cm). Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.
Melissa Cody. Untitled. 2022. Wool warp, weft, selvedge cords, and aniline dyes. 106 x 56 in. (269.2 x 142.2 cm). Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.
Melissa Cody. White Out. 2012. 3-ply aniline dyed wool. 17 × 24″ (43.2 × 61 cm). Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.
Portrait of Melissa Cody. Melissa Cody Working in Her Studio. 2023. Inkjet print on paper. Courtesy Graham Nystrom. Photo: Graham Nystrom
Portrait of Melissa Cody. Melissa Cody Spinning Wool Yarn With a Traditional Navajo Drop Spindle. 2023. Courtesy Graham Nystrom. Photo: Graham Nystrom