Untitled (Children on Swing Set, Harlem, NY)
Kwame Brathwaite, American, 1938 - 2023
1971, printed 2022
Archival pigment print
1/5
Image: 15 1/16 × 15 1/16 in. (38.3 × 38.3 cm)
Sheet: 19 3/16 × 19 1/2 in. (48.7 × 49.5 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Contemporary Art Fund and the Sondra and Charles Gilman Jr., Foundation Fund
© Kwame Brathwaite
2023.1.2
Geography
Place Imaged: New York, United States, North America
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
none
Label
This picture of a group of children playing on a swing set in a public play area, a little girl in the background nursing an injury likely caused by falling off her swing, is a quintessential image of childhood but not a common representation of Black children in a city setting. Often, images of Black children playing are set in rural environments or urban locations that appear unclean and unsafe, placing an ominous veil over the lives of Black children in the city. This building and fenced playground, on the other hand, are clean and built for the purpose. For these children, swings simply mean testing the limits of youthful freedom and having fun.
From the 2024 exhibition And I'm Feeling Good: Relaxation and Resistance, curated by Alisa Swindell, Associate Curator of Photography
Course History
Art History 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2024
Art History 83.07, Keywords for ARTH: Race, Mary Coffey, Winter 2024
Theater 10.55, African and African American Studies 32.15, Curating Black Theater, Monica Ndounou, Spring 2024
Exhibition History
And I'm Feeling Good: Relaxation and Resistance, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 20-April 13, 2024.
Provenance
Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, California; sold to present collection, 2023.
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