Photographed by Scott Wolff. Captured from a digital file. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.

The Struggle: Portrait of Johnny Spain

Artist Elisabeth Sunday (American, b. 1958)

CultureAmerican

Date1990

MediumGold toned gelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 13 1/8 × 10 3/16 in. (33.3 × 25.9 cm)
Overall, Support: 15 7/8 × 12 in. (40.3 × 30.5 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 19 5/16 in. (61 × 49.1 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated on verso

Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank

Object number2003.7

Not on view

Label TextElisabeth Sunday American (b. Cleveland, Ohio, 1958) The Struggle, Portrait of Johnny Spain, 1990 Gold-toned gelatin silver print Purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 2003.7 ~ Elisabeth Sunday has traveled to remote locations in Africa, India, Thailand, Bali, and Australia to photograph the indigenous people of those lands. In particular, she is interested in photographing and interviewing traditional mystics and healers to learn their messages in order to guide and inspire people of the world. In creating these images, she photographs with a fun house mirror which to her "represents a doorway or window into the invisible, inner world; the world we access through meditative reflection." Using this same technique, she photographed Johnny Spain, best known as a Black Panther activist. In the photograph, the womb-like distortion caused by the fun house mirror reiterates Spain's search for identity. Born into a white family in Mississippi as Larry Armstrong, Spain was the product of an illicit affair between his mother and a black man. As Larry aged, his skin grew darker, and his hair grew more typical of that seen in African Americans. At the age of six, his white family sent him to live with a black family in Los Angeles where his name was changed to Johnny Spain, and he was raised as an African American. A troubled black youth, Spain was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. In prison, he befriended George Jackson, the charismatic Black Panther, and became a member of that organization. While incarcerated, Spain became a positive force by uniting prisoners of different races as he worked for prisoners' rights. Nonetheless, he was the only one of the San Quentin Six convicted of an attempted jailbreak in which George Jackson was killed. Spain's conviction stemming from the jailbreak was later overturned, and after serving 21 years for his original offense, he was released on parole. Before release from prison, he established a relationship with his birth mother and father. In 2005, the Chrysler Museum will present a solo exhibition of Elisabeth Sunday's work. Edited By: GLY Edited Date: 11/10/2003Exhibition History"Silver Images: The Photography Collection at 25," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., November 5, 2003 - August 2004. "Making and Meaning: Selections from the Chrysler Museum of Art Collection," Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, June 1 - August 11, 2013.