Silent Barriers
Artist/Culture
Richard Merkin
(American, 1938–2009)
Date1968
Mediumcolor screenprint with offset lithograph on cream wove paper
Dimensionssheet: 60.5 x 44.5 cm (23 13/16 x 17 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Markingsblindstamps of Impressions Workshop, and the Artists Against Racism and the War
Credit LineGift of Impressions Workshop, Inc.
Object number1971.45
Label TextKnown as an eccentric dandy, Merkin incorporated his love for the Roaring Twenties into his contemporary civil rights protests. Silent Barriers, which shares its name with a 1937 film, was created from newspaper clippings from the 1920s and ‘30s to comment on the obstacles that divide society across race, gender, and class.
In his prints, Merkin creates collages from well-known comic strips and news articles in an effort to underscore America’s long and ongoing history of racism. Here, he indicts white men, like himself, for discriminating against people of color as a way to allay fears of losing their own position of privilege and control. For example, the small panel at left contains a trembling hand and the caption, “We’re Nervous, That’s What.”ProvenanceGift of Impressions Workshop, Inc. Boston, MAOn View
Not on view
