Jimmy DeSana
Parka

ArtistAmerican, 1949–1990
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Parka
Date1985
MediumSilver dye bleach print
DimensionsAt opening: 13 3/8 × 10 3/8 in. (34 × 26.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Steven Kasher and Susan Spungen
Object number2018.555
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

After Jimmy DeSana was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985, his
provocative, intense, and sometimes playful photographs took a marked turn
toward abstraction as he began to work in a violent frenzy. For many at the
time—DeSana included—an AIDS diagnosis was a death sentence, in part due to the
American government’s inaction and indifference toward the crisis in its early
years. To create Parka, DeSana first photographed the figure (perhaps the
artist himself) using black-and-white film. He then sandwiched the
black-and-white negative with a color filter and printed it directly onto color
photographic paper, creating this arresting negative image set against lurid,
dramatic color.




ProvenanceSteven Kasher and Susan Spungen, New York; given to MFAH, 2018.
Exhibition History“Jimmy DeSana: Late Work,” Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, January 13 – February 18th, 2017
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[signed and dated by photographer on verso]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Untitled
Jimmy DeSana
1985
Silver dye bleach print
2018.556
Trademarks
Jimmy DeSana
1985
Silver dye bleach print
2018.554
Chair
Jimmy DeSana
1985
Silver dye bleach print
2018.553
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1985
Silver dye bleach print
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