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Image Not Available for Cheshire Smile
Cheshire Smile
Image Not Available for Cheshire Smile

Cheshire Smile

Artist Sanford Biggers (American, born 1970)
Date2008
MediumElectronic device, color laser-print on adhesive label, lenticular print
Dimensions2 × 4 in. (5.1 × 10.2 cm)
ClassificationsContemporary art
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
On view
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.
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