Pensacola, FL
Artist
Anthony Barboza
(American, born 1944)
Date1966
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 6 1/2 × 9 3/4 inches (16.51 × 24.77 cm)
Sheet: 10 15/16 × 14 inches (27.78 × 35.56 cm)
Sheet: 10 15/16 × 14 inches (27.78 × 35.56 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2016.30.3
SignedSigned on sheet verso, center, in black pen: "A. Barboza ©"
InscribedInscribed and dated on sheet verso, center, in black pen: "Pensacola, Fla. / 1966"
Markingsnone
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of broken neon sign which once read "LIBERTY" mounted on wall above window. The E is broken and the R is hanging at an angle. The outline of the letters remains on the dark colored wall.Exhibition HistoryRotation 25. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, October 19, 2018- March 17, 2019, no cat.
In this image, the fractured letters of the word “Liberty” suggest a broken sociopolitical system. Though documentary in nature, the photograph conveys deeper layers of meaning that allude to racial injustice during the civil rights era.
Barboza was a member of the New York City photography collective called Kamoinge. (In Kenya’s Kikuyu language, Kamoinge translates to “a group of people acting together.”) Formed in 1963 Kamoinge supported and encouraged African American photographers at a time few opportunities were available. The group produced a wide range of imagery, fostering a vision of African American life that countered negative stereotypes perpetuated in the mass media and addressed social injustice.
The Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2016;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2016.
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2016.
Copyright© Anthony Barboza
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