Doyle and his Gullah community onSouth Carolina’s St. Helena Island embraced personal choice amid the changingsociety they lived in, understanding that oppression came in many forms. Thetitle of this piece reflects what is now understood as demeaning slang for anAfrican American, masculine lesbian, but Doyle regarded the sexualinclinations, gender identities, and self-presentations of individuals as partof what made them unique, and his aims were to celebrate individuality. Aboutpaintings exploring this theme, Doyle noted: “That’s two in one, a man and awoman, oh yes, a natural.”
(We Are Made of Stories:Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)
- Title
-
Bull Dager
- Artist
- Date
- ca. 1980
- Location
- Dimensions
- 39 1⁄8 × 25 1⁄2 × 2 3⁄8 in. (99.4 × 64.8 × 6.0 cm)
- Credit Line
-
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
- Mediums Description
- paint on sheet metal
- Classifications
- Highlights
- Keywords
-
- African-American
- Figure – full length
- African American
- Object Number
-
2016.38.26
- Palette
- Linked Open Data
- Linked Open Data URI
