The Miraculous The Miraculous: New York
13. (Meat Packing District)
A young artist enters a museum on the opening day of a biennial exhibition of contemporary art. He makes his way to one work in the show, a well-known painter’s depiction of a murdered 14-year-old boy lying in a coffin. Inspired by an infamous 1955 lynching, the painting is titled Open Casket. The artist, who is Black, positions himself directly in front of the painting, whose creator is white, and remains standing there until the museum closes, rendering impossible any unimpeded view of the canvas. On the back of his gray T-shirt he has used a marker to write out the phrase “BLACK DEATH SPECTACLE.”
(Parker Bright, Dana Schutz)