Untitled: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A color photographic portrait of an unidentified figure in a Ronald McDonald inspired ensemble. The figure stands in center frame, against a dark grey background. They wear a long, bright red wig and their face is painted in white, red and black clown make-up with exaggerated features. They wear yellow colored contacts that have an orange ring around the exterior. They are dressed in a red, yellow and white leather-like harness. The bodice has vertical red and white stripes with a yellow "M" in the center, yellow straps at the waist and a length of gold chain looped at the bottom center. Long white sleeves are attached via yellow straps at the shoulder and wide red straps connected via O-rings. The sleeves extend past the figure's hands, obscuring them. The bottom is composed of yellow leather-like fabric with exaggerated points at the hips. There are red splatters across the garment. The subject looks directly at the camera, with their proper left arm raised. 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: 2019.71.5
• 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.