Spike Lee

Object Details

Exhibition Label

2017 Portrait of a Nation Prize Recipient

Born Atlanta, Georgia

Spike Lee is an innovative and provocative filmmaker with no qualms about confronting hot-button issues of race and class in his feature films and documentaries. In 1986, he scored an indie hit with his first full-length motion picture, She’s Gotta Have It. Written, directed, and produced by Lee (who also played one of its characters), the film was shot in under two weeks on a budget of $175,000 and earned more than $7 million at the box office. Having received wide critical acclaim since the 1980s for his original, pioneering work, Lee has since brought varied projects to the screen, including Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), and Bamboozled (2000). His probing documentaries include 4 Little Girls (1997), an examination of the 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, and When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006), a study of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating impact on New Orleans and the federal government’s inadequate response to the tragedy.

Nacido en Atlanta, Georgia

Spike Lee es un cineasta innovador y provocador que no vacila en abordar temas candentes relacionados con la raza y las clases sociales en sus películas y documentales. En 1986 obtuvo un éxito resonante con su primer largometraje, la producción independiente She’s Gotta Have It. Escrita, dirigida y producida por Lee (quien también actuó), la película se filmó en menos de dos semanas con un presupuesto de $175,000, y recaudó más de $7 millones en la taquilla. Con una obra cuya originalidad ha sido ampliamente elogiada por la crítica desde la década de 1980, Lee ha traído una variedad de proyectos a la pantalla, entre ellos Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992, y Bamboozled (2000). Entre sus inquisitivos documentales se destacan 4 Little Girls (1997), un examen del atentado con explosivos de 1963 a la Iglesia Bautista de la Calle 16 en Birmingham, Alabama, y When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006), un estudio del impacto devastador del huracán Katrina en Nueva Orleans y la ineficacia del gobierno federal en su reacción a la tragedia.

Data Source

National Portrait Gallery

Artist

Jesse Frohman, born 1958

Sitter

Spike Lee, born 27 Mar 1957

Date

c. 1990 (printed 2014)

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the artist; 2017 Portrait of a Nation Prize Recipient

Medium

Inkjet print

Dimensions

Image: 80.1 × 78.7 cm (31 9/16 × 31")

Sheet: 112 × 92.4 cm (44 1/8 × 36 3/8")

Type

Photograph