Joe Ward
Black Bones White Flesh
curated by Bre'Annah Stampley
Untitled
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
In this series, the Black and Brown body is both centered and forgotten, dead and alive. The skulls of formerly enslaved and Indigenous persons take center stage. Many of these skulls were taken captive after death by skull collector Dr. Samuel George Morton who, in 1839, published imagery and racist propaganda to depict Black and Indigenous people as inferior to White Europeans.
White hands and feet emerge from their bodies: a sort of abstract contrapposto for a white figure controlled by (or in control of) a Black and Brown mind.
These images, made primarily with graphite, are representative of memories and ideas from Ward's life. The skulls are sourced from photos from The Morton Crania Collection at Penn Museum as well as drawings from the publication Crania Americana.
White hands and feet emerge from their bodies: a sort of abstract contrapposto for a white figure controlled by (or in control of) a Black and Brown mind.
These images, made primarily with graphite, are representative of memories and ideas from Ward's life. The skulls are sourced from photos from The Morton Crania Collection at Penn Museum as well as drawings from the publication Crania Americana.
Tamir Rice's Gun
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
Who is Samuel George Morton?
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
Looking Through Turner's Skull
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
About the Artist:
Joseph Ward III
b. 1986, Okinawa, Japan
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
MFA, New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, & Sculpture (2020)
Joseph Ward III is a visual artist who explores the intersections of race, sex, and power in his studio practice.
😱
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
2021
graphite on paper
7 x 10.5 in.
For inquiries, please contact: info@straighlick.com
Curator: Bre'Annah Stampley