Rico Gatson
Shirley #3, 2023
Archival pigment print
Limited edition of 20 with 5AP + 1PP
Signed and numbered by the artist
$2,200
Shirley #3 celebrates the inspiring life of its titular figure, Shirley Chisholm, who combated racism and sexism to become elected as the first Black woman in Congress, as a representative of New York, in 1968. Born in Brooklyn, she was also the first to seek the nomination from one of the two major political parties during the 1972 presidential election, prior to co-founding the National Congress of Black Women in 1984. Gatson's work features graphic, linear rays of bold color that emanate from a photograph of Chisholm, in which she holds and speaks into a microphone. The composition places her as a clear focal point in the middle of the pictorial plane, emphasizing the sheer power of a figure who defied the status quo to enact great societal change.
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