GALLERY

“Playing in the field of racialized fantasies was the guileful ruse of the black variety stage performer, and her stock and trade. Black women stage performers negotiated the currencies that their bodies commanded on world markets. Their artistic efforts were multi-signifying practices of dissemblance. Their performances must be understood as a double operation, exploiting the spurious racialisms of their time as well as enabling a space for satirical comment on the absurdity of such depictions."(1)

(1) Jayna Brown, Babylon Girls; Black Women Performers and the Shaping of the Modern 6 (1st ed. 2008)

18 x 14 inches || 46 x 36 centimeters

Ink and gouache on cotton paper

Curated by Kendra Jayne Patrick. Essay in Journal.