Untitled (Boone Plantation)

Untitled (Boone Plantation).1992.
Edition 1 of 10.
One gelatin silver prints and one screen print text panel.
33 1/4” x 33 1/4” photograph,  20”x20” text panel.
Courtesy of Bonnie Levinson and Donald Kay.

Pairing a large sized photograph with a text panel, this piece displays a slave cabins of the Boone Hall Plantation in South Carolina alongside an early Gullah folk tale. The image showcases the humble slave quarters with two cannon balls in foreground and an archeological site to the far left. The stark black and white landscape is infused with layers of American history as it evokes the transgressions of war and slavery with contemporary efforts to unearth and rediscover new forms of historical evidence.

The adjacent text panel does not describe the contents of the image, rather it functions by extension, opening up the piece for viewers to draw and create connections between the image and text. The passage recalls a Gullah folktale that alludes to a popular belief amongst early slaves that their souls would return to Africa after their death. This belief served as a strategy of survival in coping with the trauma and abuse inherent in slavery. 

Dulce Montoya ‘14

Gund Gallery Associate