Wholeness is No Trifling Matter, 2023
Born in 1989, Ato Ribeiro is an artist working across multiple disciplines, including sculptural installation, drawing, and printmaking. He was born in Philadelphia, PA, but his formative years spent in Accra, Ghana, deeply influenced his creative vision. Ribeiro earned his B.A. from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, before pursuing his M.F.A. in Print Media from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Rooted in his West African heritage and African American identity, Ribeiro’s art explores cultural intersectionality. His wooden assemblages draw inspiration from Ghanian strip-woven kente cloth and Black quilting traditions of the American South, often incorporating the symbolic languages that guided slaves to freedom during the Underground Railroad. In Ribeiro’s words, “My wooden kente and quilt works, mixed media installations and prints provide educational opportunities to seek out new points of reference, while preserving layers of African cultural heritage and varying ethnic perspectives.”
Ribeiro has received numerous accolades for his work, including the 2017 Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Emerging Artist Award, a residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany, and fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Most recently, Ribeiro was awarded the 2022-2023 MOCA GA Working Artists Fellowship. His work is in the collections of the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, Mercedes-Benz USA Headquarters, Detroit Institute of Art, and the Cranbrook Art Museum, to name a few
Rooted in his West African heritage and African American identity, Ribeiro’s art explores cultural intersectionality. His wooden assemblages draw inspiration from Ghanian strip-woven kente cloth and Black quilting traditions of the American South, often incorporating the symbolic languages that guided slaves to freedom during the Underground Railroad. In Ribeiro’s words, “My wooden kente and quilt works, mixed media installations and prints provide educational opportunities to seek out new points of reference, while preserving layers of African cultural heritage and varying ethnic perspectives.”
Ribeiro has received numerous accolades for his work, including the 2017 Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Emerging Artist Award, a residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany, and fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Most recently, Ribeiro was awarded the 2022-2023 MOCA GA Working Artists Fellowship. His work is in the collections of the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, Mercedes-Benz USA Headquarters, Detroit Institute of Art, and the Cranbrook Art Museum, to name a few