Praise Dancers, Edna, Texas

Artist Rahim Fortune (American, born 1994)

Date2020

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 17 7/8 × 22 inches (45.4 × 55.88 cm)
Sheet: 19 7/8 × 23 15/16 inches (50.48 × 60.8 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the Beckett Art Purchases Fund in memory of Samuel and Ethel Beckett

Object number2023.19.1

SignedSigned on sheet verso, lower right, in black pen: "Rahim Fortune [signature] / 02-01-23"

InscribedOn sheet verso, lower right, in black pen: "1/7 + 2 AP"

Markingsnone

Edition/State/Proofed. 1/7 + 2 A.P.s

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of three women wearing long dresses with eyes closed, heads bowed, and hands raised. Behind the figures is wood paneling and a curtained mural.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Rahim Fortune traveled to Edna, Texas, where he collaborated with a close friend to create a series of images inspired by her family. This photograph features three women, including his friend's mother, participating in a long-standing Baptist tradition known as praise dancing, a form of worship through music and dance. A regular ritual in Black Baptist churches, Fortune says, it "dates back to the early years of emancipation and most likely further back to an African tradition."

Provenance

Rahim Fortune;

Pace Gallery, New York, 2022;

Purchased by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2023.

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