Ima Mfon
Untitled 03

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Images(3)

Artist Ima MfonNigerian, born 1989

CultureNigerian

Titles

Untitled 03
from the series Nigerian Identity

Date2015, printed 2017

PlaceNew York, New York, United States

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 19 15/16 × 19 7/8 in. (50.7 × 50.5 cm)
Sheet: 21 15/16 × 21 7/8 in. (55.8 × 55.5 cm)
Mount: 22 × 21 15/16 in. (55.9 × 55.7 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Photo Forum 2017

Object number2017.259

Not on view

Explore Further

Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionWhen Ima Mfon moved from Nigeria to the United States, he was troubled that his culture was subsumed into a broad racial category of Blackness and pegged with erroneous stereo- types. “I use a plain background to eliminate any cultural or ethnic context,” he said. “Viewers are not allowed to place these subjects in the expected settings, whether of urban disrepair or African wilderness. I want to contest the predictable ‘National Geographic’ approach to peoples who may be unfamiliar to the photographs’ viewers.” The sparse images are powerful meditations on ethnicity and identity, and reveal the importance of deeper cultural understanding.
ProvenanceThe artist; [Rick Wester Fine Art, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2017.
Exhibition History"Through an African Lens: Sub-Saharan Photography from the Museum's Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 27–November 8, 2020.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Printed in black, verso of mount, applied label: Ima Mfon // Nigerian Identity: Untitled No. 03, 2015 // Gelatin Silver Print, 2017 // 20 x 20 inches // Edition 1/5

Signed in black ink, verso of mount, applied label.

Signed in black ink, verso of mount, applied label.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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