A painting of Emmett Till hanging embedded with the prestigious body
of work in Whitney Biennial has stirred conversation on cultural
appropriation, artistic ownership and Black bodies as a spectacle,
culminating in a critical question: Do white artists have the right to
depict Black pain?
The painting by Dana Schutz, entitled, "Open
Casket," reimagines the photo of Emmett Till following his horrific
murder on August 28, 1955. In a gruesome similarity to the original
image, Schutz paints Till's face in the abstract. The smudges of paint
remind that his face was indeed left disfigured, unidentifiable.
This week the painting sparked outrage and
protest among some Black artists, who called for its removal and
destruction and physically blocked the piece in the gallery space.
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