The Jerome Project (My Loss)
2014
Titus Kaphar
American, born 1976
Contemporary Art
Titus Kaphar created this body of work based on dozens of mugshots of incarcerated men who share the first and last name of his father, Jerome. The resulting series of portraits reflects the disproportionate effect that mass incarceration has on Black people and memorializes the experiences of distance and separation commonly felt by families with loved ones in prison.
Each figure appears before a gold-leaf ground that recalls the Byzantine tradition of icon painting. The thick layers of tar encroach upon the subject, representing the harm and the long-term effects of life under the carceral state.
Each figure appears before a gold-leaf ground that recalls the Byzantine tradition of icon painting. The thick layers of tar encroach upon the subject, representing the harm and the long-term effects of life under the carceral state.
- Maker/Artist
- Kaphar, Titus
- Classification
- Painting
- Formatted Medium
- Oil, gold leaf, and tar on wood panel
- Dimensions
- a, in travel frame: 214 lb. (97.07kg) b, in travel frame: 234 lb. (106.14kg) a, in display/storage vitrine: 365 lb. (165.56kg) a: 76 1/2 × 59 1/2 × 3 3/4 in. (194.3 × 151.1 × 9.5 cm) Vitrine for a : 68 3/4 × 84 3/4 × 9 1/8 in. (174.6 × 215.3 × 23.2 cm) b: 76 1/2 × 59 1/2 × 3 3/4 in. (194.3 × 151.1 × 9.5 cm) Vitrine for b: 68 3/4 × 84 1/2 × 9
- Departments
- Contemporary Art
- Accession Number
- 2015.7a-b
- Credit Line
- William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund
- Exhibitions
- I See Myself in You: Selections from the Collection, The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America, The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time
- Rights Statement
- © artist or artist's estate
- Museum Location
- This item is not on view
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