Barbara Chase-Riboud and Robert Motherwell, Tate Modern, London (2024-25)
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Works by Barbara Chase-Riboud and Robert Motherwell in this permanent collection gallery at Tate Modern in 2024–2025 used the color black and abstract forms to draw attention to how materials could express hidden stories and emotions. Motherwell created his set of screenprints, Africa Suite, in 1970. Part of the abstract expressionist movement, he developed this series of ambiguous black forms through freely experimenting with ink on paper. In these abstract shapes, he saw the potential of an emotion forming, although not yet defined.

The silkscreen printing technique he used was similar to stenciling. Motherwell was satisfied with the effect it produced for this series but preferred other printing techniques. He once explained that “Silkscreen is essentially a clumsy medium … If you try to modulate silkscreen, it is very difficult, the way it is difficult to modulate gouache or poster paintings.”

Born twenty-four years after Motherwell, Chase-Riboud created abstract sculptures and works on paper. She played with oppositions so that hard materials appeared soft, and soft materials appeared strong. She stated, “I was exploring the dynamics of opposing relationships … the metamorphosis of power from one to the other.”

Chase-Riboud’s work on display in this room was part of her series Zanzibar, named for the island off the coast of Tanzania that had been the base for the Indian Ocean slave trade from the 17th to the 19th century. Fascinated by sculpture’s ability to subvert expectations, she made works that seemed to defy their material. Here, she used the “lost wax” method of casting bronze on thin sheets to allow it to flow, creating a ripple effect.

The room also featured Chase-Riboud’s poem Why Did We Leave Zanzibar?, which reflected on the impact of slavery and histories of resistance. Her work as a poet spoke to the potential for words to be used as material, both literally and abstractly.

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Barbara Chase-Riboud and Robert Motherwell, Tate Modern, 2024-25
Tate Modern

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‍Christine Y. Kim © 2026. Site Credit: Common Space