Untitled: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A color photographic print portrait of an undientified individual in a black and white ensemble with hair and makeup inspired by the character The Joker. The subject is pictured standing against a dark grey background, wearing a shiny black dress with white puff shoulders, two round white appliqués at the bodice, and large white appliquéd ruffles at the waist and above the knees. She also wears the collar and cuffs of a white button-down shirt and white satin gloves that end just below the fingertips. Her makeup consists of white facepaint, exaggeratted dark eyes with large eyelashes and black paint branching down from under the eye along with a red lip drawn into an exaggerated wide mouth. The subject wears a black and green wig styled to stand straight up with a large green curl at the front. She looks down with her face tilted slightly towards her proper right shoulder and both arms bent with her hands held by her shoulders. There are no inscriptions, front or back.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2010s
• Photograph by: Gerard H. Gaskin, Trinidadian American, born 1965
• Subject of: Unidentified
• Printed by: Light Work, American, founded 1973
• Type: portraits
• Type: inkjet prints
• Medium: ink on Canson Baryta photographique paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet) : 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image) : 19 × 12 5/8 in. (48.3 × 32.1 cm)
• Place captured: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Gender
• Topic: Identity
• Topic: LGBTQ
• Topic: Music
• Object number: 2019.71.26
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Gerard Gaskin Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.