- Untitled 15
Frame: 46 5/8 × 46 5/8 in. (118.4 × 118.4 cm)
Explore Further
Erica Deeman’s striking series of silhouettes reflects on photography’s fraught history of racial representations and its connections to 19th-century practices of physiognomy—a pseudoscience used to asses character traits from the physical appearance of individuals’ facial forms that was rooted in racist and Eurocentric ideology and institutionalized into policing. “Today, we are living through an important time,” comments Deeman, “where tough questions are being asked about how both people of color and women are treated and depicted.” The scale, grace, and subtleties of Deeman’s images celebrate diversity and the beauty and strength of character of her subjects.
ProvenanceThe artist, 2014; purchased by the Pilara Foundation, San Francisco, 2014; given to MFAH, 2024.
Exhibition History“The Artist Speaks: Erica Deeman”, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego,
California, April 24–September 16, 2018.
“Erica Deeman: Silhouettes”, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive,
Berkeley, CA, March 8–June 11, 2017.
“Collected”, Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco, May 2, 2016–January 31,
2017.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.