Untitled: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A color photographic print portrait of an unidentified figure in a striped dress, with a black cap and face mask. The figure stands center frame, in front of a dark grey background, with her face turned to her proper right. The strapless dress of wide, vertical black and red stripes is worn over a sheer black blouse with a high neck and long sleeves, puffed at the shoulder and wrist. One side of the full skirt is held high to obscure her proper left shoulder and arm. A full black underskirt is visible along the bottom of the skirt. She also wears a tight-fitting black cap and hold a black mask bejeweled with clear stones up to their face to obscure all but here eyes, which are adorned with matching red and black striped lenses. 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 11/16 in. (48.3 × 32.2 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: 2019.71.4
• 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.