Jo Sandman: Skin Deep
February 14 through August 17, 2025
Step into a world of shadows, light, and symbolism—and an enduring legacy of Black Mountain College’s artistic experimentation.
Jo Sandman: Skin Deep showcases the recent acquisition of Serpents (1998), a unique set of 12 large-scale photograms by the innovative artist, Jo Sandman. Featuring snakeskins arranged into hieroglyphs, the photographs are deeply rooted in the artist’s training as a painter in Summer 1951 at the famed Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Photograms are camera-free images made by placing objects on light-sensitive paper and exposing them to light, creating unique silhouettes and patterns that showcase the interplay of light and shadow.
As part of its educational model, Black Mountain College encouraged—almost mandated—interdisciplinary exploration. Though Sandman primarily trained as a painter, notably with Robert Motherwell, this course of study did not preclude her from working with renowned photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. These practices intersect in Serpents through its meditation on materials, technique, light, and composition.
Black Mountain College was also where Sandman was exposed to the concept of glyphs (or pictorial language) by poet and professor, Charles Olson. Olson had recently visited the Yucatan peninsula, where he excavated at the sites of Mayan ruins and Sandman and other artists were energized by his tales. Olson’s stories and impressions of archaeological and pictorial language inspired cross-disciplinary collaborations amongst Black Mountain faculty, notably dancer-choreographer Katherine Litz, Social Realist painter Ben Shahn, and composer Lou Harrison in The Glyph.
Skin Deep is an exhibition dedicated to showcasing Sandman's deep commitment to interdisciplinary art and the innovative use of found objects. The PMA is grateful to be able to share this gift from the artist with our audiences as the museum expands its photography collection.
