Antonio McAfee

Baltimore, MD

Antonio McAfee’s towering collage, The Ruler, is composed of photographic portraits that include influential figures who frequently appear in his current series, such as his mother, cousins, grandmother, and musical luminary Betty Davis. Much like the work Unmaking and Making, also hanging in the space, The Ruler includes images of middle-class African Americans from The Exhibit of American Negroes, shown at the 1900 Paris World Exposition and organized by civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois and lawyer and educator Thomas Calloway. Unlike Unmaking and Making however, The Ruler seemingly renounces the elements of confrontation and authority that are often associated with portraiture by fragmenting the figures and camouflaging them within the body of the piece and its environment. The translucent quality of this work and its intentional placement in front of the window allows viewers to think about alternative strategies for creating monumental portraiture in comparison to the statues of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette in Mt. Vernon Place.