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Image Not Available for Dear Arlene (Mom)
Dear Arlene (Mom)
Image Not Available for Dear Arlene (Mom)

Dear Arlene (Mom)

Artist (American, born 1977)
Date2019
Mediumscreenprint, acrylic, Sumi ink and graphite
Dimensionsframed: 54.6 × 81.3 cm (21 1/2 × 32 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineMuseum purchase through the estate of Blake Robinson
Object number2022.1
Label TextDear Arlene includes various visual references sourced from popular culture, ranging from a photograph of a lynch mob to graphics in Warner Bros. cartoons. A handwritten list of African American artists Morgan “knew, knows, and knows of" is used as a physical leveling device. The frame is hung askew to align the text with the plane of the floor. As a result, the names, and by extension artists of color, are foregrounded. “The history of art relegates the contributions of Black artists to a narrow field of influence,” wrote Morgan, “It requires that their names be recognized as a personal way to conjure their individual and unified presence.” The title of the drawing, Dear Arlene, is taken from the first name on the list, Morgan’s mother who was also an artist.
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