On View
Visual Arts Gallery
Exhibition
Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
Photograph by
Flash, Lola, American, born 1959
Subject of
Flash, Lola, American, born 1959
Date
2019
Medium
ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W (sheet): 50 × 40 1/16 in. (127 × 101.7 cm)
H x W (image): 48 3/8 × 37 15/16 in. (122.8 × 96.3 cm)
Caption
Throughout the self-portrait series syzygy, the vision, photographer Lola Flash dons a space helmet, an orange prison uniform, and handcuffs. “Heavy on my mind is America’s mass incarceration and the question of breaking free,” Flash writes of the series, which also reflects several years of personal interactions with the police. Flash was arrested in 2008 “for walking while Black.” Flash’s teaching license was suspended, leading to unemployment. Although syzygy, the vision, began as a response to Afrofuturism, it expanded with the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd’s killing to include themes of mass incarceration and documentary photographs of Black Lives Matter protests.
Description
An inkjet self-portrait depicting the photographer, Lola Flash, as a lone figure against a landscape of water and distant mountains. Flash stands gazing into the distance, arms crossed, while wearing a bright orange prison uniform, a futuristic white helmet with blue visor, and bright orange handcuffs that dangle from one wrist. There are no prints or inscriptions, front or back.
Place depicted
Woodstock, Ulster County, New York, United States, North and Central America
Portfolio/Series
syzygy, the vision
Classification
Photographs and Still Images
Movement
Afrofuturism
Type
portraits
inkjet prints
Topic
Art
Black geographies
Freedom
Identity
LGBTQ
Photography
Prisons
Race discrimination
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, purchased through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative
Object number
2021.57.3
Restrictions & Rights
© Lola Flash
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5fb09460d-33eb-4516-bc25-ecec7f7f2ede

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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