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Artworks

William Villalongo, Stocks and Bonds (Blue), 2012

William Villalongo

Stocks and Bonds (Blue), 2012
Acrylic and velvet flocking on wood panel
50 x 32 in.
View on a Wall
Stocks and Bonds (Blue) symbolizes the complexity of the contemporary Black experience in America. The economics of the Black body in history is baked into the title itself, enslavement being...
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Stocks and Bonds (Blue) symbolizes the complexity of the contemporary Black experience in America. The economics of the Black body in history is baked into the title itself, enslavement being the primary source of cheap labor in both Europe and America. Here the Black body is caught between the past as represented by the Luba fertility stool and the shore, and the present represented by contemporary painting.

Small abstract paintings stack together to form stocks, a torture device developed in medieval times and sometimes used at slave auctions. The title Stocks and Bonds in the context of this picture speaks to the complexity of cultural and historical bonds as well as the economics of trading bodies as commodities. The compounded effects of such histories live within and alongside contemporary life and become visible in the systemic violence directed at Black life. The artist reflects on the complexity of the Black experience and the difficulty of moving forward.

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