Erased Lynchings

Ken Gonzales-Day, Erased Lynchings, 2006, fifteen inkjet prints, dimensions variable, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.12.2A-O, © 2006, Ken Gonzales-Day

Artwork Details

Title
Erased Lynchings
Artist
Date
2006
Location
Dimensions
dimensions variable
Copyright
© 2006, Ken Gonzales-Day
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
fifteen inkjet prints
Classifications
Object Number
2012.12.2A-O
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2012.12.2A-O

Artwork Description

This group of photographs is based on historic postcards of California lynching victims that circulated in American culture during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. To produce these works, Gonzales-Day photographed the original images and then digitally removed the victims. In doing so, he redirected viewers’ attention away from the victim and towards the actions of the perpetrators. Regionally inflected words and phrases like “cowboy justice” and “bandito” printed on the original postcards contextualize these events.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013
Description in Spanish

Este grupo de fotografías está basado en tarjetas postales históricas mostrando las víctimas de los linchamientos ocurridos en California, que circularon en Estados Unidos durante el siglo XIX y a principios del XX. Para producir estas obras, Gonzales-Day fotografió la imagen original y luego uso métodos digitales para borrar a las víctimas. De esta forma dirige la atención del espectador hacia las acciones de quienes cometen el acto y no hacia la víctima. Los regionalismos idiomáticos y las frases como ​“cowboy justice” y ​“bandito” impresas en las tarjetas postales originales proveen el contexto a estos sucesos.

Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013

Works by this artist (17 items)

View all artworks
Frank Espada, No Parking (Williamsburg, Brooklyn), 1974, printed ca. 1995, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.10, © 1974, Frank Espada Photography
No Parking (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Artist
Date1974, printed ca. 1995
inkjet print
Not on view
Frank Espada, Cindy (Blake Avenue, East New York), 1963, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.4, © 1963, Frank Espada Photography
Cindy (Blake Avenue, East New York)
Artist
Date1963
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Frank Espada, Untitled (Two boys, East New York), 1964, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.8, © 1964, Frank Espada Photography
Untitled (Two boys, East New York)
Artist
Date1964
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Frank Espada, Untitled (Three Kings Day Parade – leaving), 1981, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.16, © 1981, Frank Espada Photography
Untitled (Three Kings Day Parade – leaving)
Artist
Date1981
gelatin silver print
Not on view

Related Books

OurAmerica_500.jpg
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art explores how Latino artists shaped the artistic movements of their day and recalibrated key themes in American art and culture. This beautifully illustrated volume presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge. Our America includes works by artists who participated in all the various artistic styles and movements, including abstract expressionism; activist, conceptual, and performance art; and classic American genres such as landscape, portraiture, and scenes of everyday life. 

Exhibitions

Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
October 25, 2013–March 2, 2014
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
City is Man
Artist
Date1941-1952
linocut
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Untitled
Artist
Date1976
embossed paper
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Mandala
Artist
Date1977
lithograph
Not on view
Image Not Available
Les Quais de la Seine a Paris
Artist
Date1917
hand-colored etching on postcard
Not on view