Object Details
- Series
- 2/20
- Label Text
- These works are from the series "Discolored," begun in 1999, in which Searle uses her body as a canvas, staining different body parts with henna dye to suggest bruising, trauma, abuse, disease and eventual healing. Manipulating skin color allows Searle to comment upon the history of violence and prejudice associated with shades of skin color within South African history specifically, and world history generally.
- "When you talk about colour in South Africa as a context, you're generally talking about race. But when I use my body, I am a particular gendered individual, and in that sense there is a multiplicity of identities that's being explored within the work." (Tracy Murnik, "State of the Art." In Leadership [May 2000], pp. 54-61).
- Description
- Photographs of five body parts tracing the effects of the henna--on the soles of her feet, nape of her neck, under belly (below the belt), palms of her hands and small of her back. These photos are accompanied by a typed dictionary entry defining the term, stain. In each, one word is circled (foreign, mark, specimen, spoil, impregnate).
- Exhibition History
- Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, May 9- August 26, 2007; Fowler Museum at University of California, Los Angeles, October 14, 2007-February 17, 2008
- Encounters with the Contemporary, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 7, 2001-January 6, 2002
- Published References
- Kreamer, Christine, Mary Nooter Roberts, Elizabeth Harney and Allyson Purpura. 2007. Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution; Milan: 5 Continents Editions, pp. 212-213, no. 18.11a-e.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Berni Searle, born 1964, South Africa
- Date
- 1999-2000
- Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program
- Medium
- Inkjet print on paper
- Dimensions
- Framed : 59.7 x 53.3 x 5.1 cm (23 1/2 x 21 x 2 in.)
- Type
