upcoming exhibition

Defying the Shadow presents images by Black artists and of Black figures that resist the consumptive impulses of looking. As anti-portraits or visages that challenge the impulse to be known, comprehended, categorized, or easily identified, these works oppose a historical narrative of dispossession and domination that continues to violate the humanity of Other-ed bodies. By examining how Black subjects operate in and against contemporary political systems-and their constant negotiation of surveillance and the risk of violence-this show considers the defiant body as not only a site of possibility, but also a challenge to authoritative systems of knowing, including the white-supremacist function of the traditional gaze. Beginning with Sojourner Truth’s abolitionist portraits stamped with the slogan “I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance,” these assembled works-ranging from 19th-century photographs to contemporary prints-focus on the appearance of shadows in formal and metaphorical settings.

Curated by Anita N. Bateman, Ph.D.

Former Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow

Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs