Fred Wilson

X

Maker

Fred Wilson (American, b. 1954)
Exit Art (American, 1982 - 2012), publisher

Title

X
From the portfolio "Tantra"

Year

2005

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

Image: 47 x 44.3 cm (18 1/2 x 17 7/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

LL: inscribed in white (whiteout pen?): 19/50
LR: inscribed in white (whiteout pen?: Fred Wilson

Identification

Edition

19/50

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Exit Art

Object Number

2012.133.6.6

Type

Exhibition History

Defying the Shadow
Dec 01, 2020 – Dec 18, 2021
Heads Up! Recent Gifts to the Collection
Jul 31, 2015 – Jan 10, 2016

Label copy

This print juxtaposes a 1964 photograph of civil rights activist Malcolm X with the 1884 painting Madame X by John Singer Sargent. The photograph captures Malcolm X in a contemplative moment at a press conference for Martin Luther King, Jr. Obscuring the spatial relationship between the two figures, Wilson superimposed Sargent’s rendition of Parisian socialite Madame Gatreau so that her hand appears draped over Malcolm X’s shoulder.

Characteristic of the artist’s better-known installation and curatorial works, this image brings together unlikely subjects to plumb issues of identity, politics, and power.

Image use

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In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Fred Wilson (American, b. 1954)
Exit Art (American, 1982 - 2012), publisher
X; From the portfolio "Tantra", 2005
Digital color chromogenic print on Duratrans©
Image: 47 x 44.3 cm (18 1/2 x 17 7/16 inches)
Gift of Exit Art 2012.133.6.6

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