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Braxton McKinney and Lavon Thomas

A work made of inkjet prints (diptych), from "the birmingham project".
© 2012 Dawoud Bey.

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  • A work made of inkjet prints (diptych), from "the birmingham project".

Date:

2012

Artist:

Dawoud Bey
American, born 1953

About this artwork

In The Birmingham Project Dawoud Bey memorialized the tragic events that took place on September 15, 1963, when Ku Klux Klan members bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young black girls. Later that day two black teenage boys also died in related incidents of racist violence. In each diptych Bey paired a youth of the same age as one of the murdered children with an adult who has reached the age that the six boys and girls would be today. These two portraits were taken at the Bethel Baptist Church, which occupied a central role in the civil rights movement as the headquarters for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. By bringing together two sitters 50 years apart in age, Bey provoked a reflection on a half-century of change and the legacy left for future generations.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Dawoud Bey

Title

Braxton McKinney and Lavon Thomas

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.

Made 2012

Medium

Inkjet prints (diptych), from "The Birmingham Project"

Edition

2 of 6

Dimensions

Each image: 91 × 71 cm (35 7/8 × 28 in.); Each paper: 100.1 × 80.5 cm (39 7/16 × 31 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Photography Associates Fund

Reference Number

2014.592a-b

Copyright

© 2012 Dawoud Bey.

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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