%C2%A9 Beverly McIver
Pretty is...a Little Black Girl, 2002
Color lithographexpand_more
The Plautz Family Endowmentexpand_more 2014.121.5
Not on Viewexpand_more
In this 2002 self-portrait, Beverly McIver depicts herself in blackface make-up, standing alone in an intentionally ambiguous setting, gazing pensively at the viewer. Dressed in a maid’s uniform (her mother was a domestic worker), she wears a clown’s wig and white gloves, cradling a pair of dark-skinned dolls. Her shoes and socks are those of a child. On the wall behind her hangs a portrait of a grinning circus clown. The unconventional, pared-down composition focuses our attention on the details of the figure’s costume and accompanying props. The scene recounts a recurring dream from McIver’s childhood. She explained: “As a child I had dreamed of becoming a clown to escape my Black skin, poverty, and the housing project I once called home. Clowning was my disguise, my liberation.” For McIver, the self-portrait represents a personal journey of discovery in which she confronts ingrained racial stereotypes while exploring her own identity as a woman and an African American.
Details
- Title
- Pretty is...a Little Black Girl
- Artist Life
- born 1962
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2014.121.5
- Provenance
- Segura Arts Studio, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind. (publisher); sold to MIA, 2014.
- Curator Approved
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© Beverly McIver