Upcoming CMA exhibition puts the hand in handwork
June 1, 2026
The Columbia Museum of Art announces featured exhibition Body Matters, on view August 22, 2026, through January 3, 2027. Organized by the CMA, this exhibition is part of Handwork 2026, Craft in America’s nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.
The human body is essential to craft. This genre of art is rooted in physical labor, tactile knowledge, and material intimacy, and the resulting pieces are often intended to protect bodies or to assist in nourishing them. Building on that foundation, this exhibition presents works made of wood, ceramics, glass, textiles, and sweetgrass, and foregrounds their bodily resonance in terms of method-making as well as subject matter.
The roughly 70 objects — drawn largely from the CMA Collection and bolstered with institutional loans — range from an Egyptian headrest (1650–1550 BCE) to a new museum acquisition, a mixed-media installation from artist John Sheridan (b. 1989) created this year and specially commissioned for this exhibition. Other highlights include a video installation from David Cushway (b. 1966), ceramics from Judy Moonelis (b. 1953), and a blanket of quilted condoms from Drunell Levinson (b. 1951). The artists, both historical and contemporary, reveal their deep engagement with the body through figural representations and objects that address life cycles and support bodily functions. Likewise, they leave the marks of their own bodies through the labor of creation — the gestures (or lack thereof), repetitions, and physical engagement that shape each piece.
Body Matters celebrates the importance of the hand in handwork and encourages viewers to consider their own relationships with objects both in and outside the galleries.
Body Matters is presented through the support of our generous sponsors and grantors. Bronze sponsors: Maynard Nexsen PC; Beth and Matthew Richardson; Brenda and Rick Wheeler. Grantors: City of Columbia; Experience Columbia SC; Richland County Government; South Carolina Arts Commission; Discover South Carolina.
