Created by
Rucker, Rashaun, American, born 1978
Date
2020
Medium
graphite and paint on paper
Dimensions
H x W x D (frame): 32 1/8 × 26 × 2 3/8 in. (81.6 × 66 × 6 cm)
H x W (work): 23 3/4 × 18 in. (60.3 × 45.7 cm)
Caption
Rashaun Rucker is best known for his work dealing with Black male identity and social conditioning. In his Psychological Redlining series, he merges portraits of African American men with images of rock pigeons. Rock pigeons are generally viewed as urban, unclean nuisances. Rucker asserts that people perceive Black men much the same way—essentially pigeonholing them psychologically into a space where they don’t belong. The red cages framing each portrait relates to redlining, a systemic real estate policy demarcating communities of color by red lines on a map to limit access to home loans, insurance, and even grocery stores. Rucker says he created these images to “communicate why we as Black men often don’t fly, even though we have the ability to go far and beyond our circumstance.”
Description
This is a mixed media portrait of a man with a pigeon emerging from the top of his head, framed within a red frame in the shape of a birdcage. The graphite portrait shows the man from the neck up. He is depicted in profile facing the right. His eyes are closed. In place of his nose and mouth is a bird’s beak emerging from feathers sprouting out of his cheeks and chin. The portrait is enclosed in a frame of red paint creating a square birdcage with the two sides consisting of thin red lines while the bottom and top are wide red bars. There is a red decorative finial on the top consisting of a wide rounded flattened finial topped by a knob with a length of chain emanating from the top. The artist's signature "Ruck" appears along the man's neck.
Place made
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, United States, North and Central America
Portfolio/Series
Psychological Redlining (13 Studies)
Classification
Visual Arts
Type
multimedia works
portraits
Topic
Art
Identity
Men
Mental health
Race discrimination
Stereotypes
Urban life
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Partial gift of Arthur Primas and Jumaane E. N’Namdi and museum purchase.
Object number
2023.107.9
Restrictions & Rights
© Rashaun Rucker
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5eb862359-e324-485d-a70a-2dc8243be074

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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