Artworks

Jerome XXXII, 2014

  • Artist

    Titus Kaphar

  • Title

    Jerome XXXII

  • Date

    2014

  • Medium

    Oil, gold leaf, and tar on wood panel

  • Dimensions

    10 × 7 × 1 in. (25.4 × 17.8 × 2.5 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Jack Shainman Gallery

  • Object Number

    2015.1.3

Searching online databases for his father’s prison records, Titus Kaphar found ninety-nine other men who shared his father’s first and last name who were jailed for nearly identical crimes. The artist began painting portraits of these men based on their mug shots to demonstrate the larger issue of the disproportionate imprisonment of Black men in the United States, where the privatization of the prison industry has contributed to expanded incarceration. While each portrait depicts an individual with unique facial features, the "Jerome" series as a whole also represents a community deeply affected by mass incarceration.


Explore further
Artworks

Jerome XXXII, 2014

  • Artist

    Titus Kaphar

  • Title

    Jerome XXXII

  • Date

    2014

  • Medium

    Oil, gold leaf, and tar on wood panel

  • Dimensions

    10 × 7 × 1 in. (25.4 × 17.8 × 2.5 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Jack Shainman Gallery

  • Object Number

    2015.1.3

Searching online databases for his father’s prison records, Titus Kaphar found ninety-nine other men who shared his father’s first and last name who were jailed for nearly identical crimes. The artist began painting portraits of these men based on their mug shots to demonstrate the larger issue of the disproportionate imprisonment of Black men in the United States, where the privatization of the prison industry has contributed to expanded incarceration. While each portrait depicts an individual with unique facial features, the "Jerome" series as a whole also represents a community deeply affected by mass incarceration.


Explore further