Sotheby’s is proud to partner with the commissioning institutions of the U.S. Pavilion, the Portland Art Museum, Oregon, and SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico, to create and present a special edition of 60 cashmere blankets made to support one of the opening events celebrating the U.S. Pavilion for La Biennale di Venezia, the 60th International Art Exhibition. The blanket edition, titled I Feel Real When You Hold Me , was created by renowned contemporary artist Jeffrey Gibson and published by Sharon Coplan Hurowitz for Sotheby’s. The blankets are available now on sothebys.com.
Gibson, who is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, will be the first Indigenous artist to represent the U.S. at the Biennale Arte with a solo exhibition.
All proceeds from the limited-edition blanket will support one of the opening events honoring Gibson and his exhibition for the U.S. Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale.
“We are thrilled to support the United States Pavilion for the 60th Biennale Arte and Jeffrey Gibson with this exclusive collaboration, which we know our clients will love. Jeffrey’s visionary approach to art promises to ignite profound conversations and inspire audiences globally and this partnership reinforces our commitment to supporting the leading artists of our time on this momentous occasion.”
Brooke Lampley, Sotheby’s Chairman and Worldwide Head of Sales for Global Fine Art
“The blanket design actually grew out of a flag that I designed for a performance in 2021, commissioned by the Aspen Art Museum. I’ve made flags before; the earliest one I can remember goes back to around 2010. Flags, for me, represent the idea of taking up space, in the model of nationhood. Different kinds of subcultures have created their own flags as ways of identifying themselves.
And then the text reads: ‘I feel real when you hold me.’ It is in my handwriting, and I decided to layer it on top of the flag. It’s just my thinking about blankets and wrapping things, but also my relationship both to people and objects. Many North American collections contain objects that have been removed from their communities. The most important thing that people do when they are reunited with these objects is to hold them.”
Jeffrey Gibson
