Kevin Beasley Untitled (parade) 2016
© Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York
Kevin Beasley combines found materials, clothing, and synthetic mixtures to create sculptures that reference Western art history and urban life. In Untitled (parade), the artist manipulated and molded different types of fabrics using a mixture of malleable resin to create a sculptural composition, invoking a sense of physical presence and movement. Portraying what resembles a group of ghostlike, faceless figures floating––or, as the title indicates, parading––the work presents a portrait of absent bodies, prompting viewers to replace the hollow spaces with imagined faces of the marginalized or underrepresented. Beasley draws inspiration from hip-hop culture—seen, for example, in his use of urban textiles and hooded garments—and the history of drapery depictions in Western painting, creating a mixture that imbues his work with a feeling of both liveliness and mournfulness.
Identification
Title
Untitled (parade)
Production Date
2016
Object Number
2017.008
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by Jorge M. Pérez, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and PAMM Ambassadors for Black Art
Copyright
© Kevin Beasley. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2017.008
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Housedresses, kaftans, and resin
Dimensions
87 x 72 x 48 inches
Visual Description
Untitled (Parade) by artist Kevin Beasley is sculpture made of housedresses and kaftans solidified in resin. It measures seven feet by six feet by four feet.
The work is comprised of about a dozen different pieces of fabric clothing that are hardened and glued in place by resin. The fabrics contain a variety of patterns, like animal prints, flowers, plants, or a combination of the two. The hardened fabrics have openings that are hollow as if a human head were occupying the empty spaces. They differ in height ranging from two to seven feet off the floor.
On one side there are several pieces of fabric that are brown and of a cheetah print. These pieces flow into one another and extend towards the floor creating the base for the entire sculpture. On this base it is possible to see small puddles of hardened resin. Extending from the cheetah print fabric are a set of yellow-green fabrics that have prints of plants, leaves, and flowers. These are met with white and green fabrics and finally much darker green, and purple fabrics. The fabrics all have a gloss finish that gives the impression of being wet. There are no visible armatures keeping the sculpture upright which makes the piece appear to be floating.
