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Cheshire Smile

Artist Sanford Biggers (American, born 1970)

CultureAmerican

Date2008

MediumElectronic device, color laser-print on adhesive label, lenticular print

Dimensions2 × 4 in. (5.1 × 10.2 cm)

PortfolioPeter Norton Family Christmas Project

Credit LineGifts of Lynn Gumpert in memory of Amy L. Brandt (1978-2015), the McKinnon Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum of Art from 2011 to 2015

Object number2016.26.2

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 204

DescriptionBlack and round globular object with large smile with red lips and white teeth. Biggers references Lewis Carroll’s famous vexing cat in Alice in Wonderland that disappears except for its floating smile, as well as racial stereotypes perpetuated through early minstrel shows. His 2007 video Cheshire also references African-American men climbing trees, a grim reference to Billie Halliday’s Strange Fruit. Cheshire Smile is not numbered, nor is the limit of the edition indicated, but the gift editions range between 2500-5000.
ProvenanceThe work was a December 2008 gift of the Peter Norton, Los Angeles, who commissioned it from the artist. The work was a gift to the donor, Lynn Gumpert, from Peter Norton. Lynn Gumpert donated the work to the Chrysler Museum of Art in September 2016.

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