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Afropick

Earthenware dish on a short stand decorated in blue with floral bands on a rim and on a skirted base. Central Chinese-style scene depicts birds in a floral garden. The glaze on a rim is damaged and reveals brownish earthenware material.

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  • Earthenware dish on a short stand decorated in blue with floral bands on a rim and on a skirted base. Central Chinese-style scene depicts birds in a floral garden. The glaze on a rim is damaged and reveals brownish earthenware material.

Date:

2005

Artist:

Sanford Biggers
American, born 1970

About this artwork

Biggers, who earned his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999, was first exposed to printmaking during a trip to Japan as an undergraduate. In this print the artist took an Afro pick in the shape of a Black Power salute—a popular commercial item in the 1970s—and depicted it in the style of Pre-Columbian art. The work references speculative theories regarding possible transatlantic trade networks between ancient Africans and native peoples in Mexico prior to the colonization of North America by Europeans.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Sanford Biggers

Title

Afropick

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

2005

Medium

Two Color Woodcut on Mulberry Paper

Dimensions

182.9 × 69.9 cm (72 1/16 × 27 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Jane E. Ratcliffe Coakley

Reference Number

2009.706

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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