seated abstracted figure with dark hands and feet, with gold finger and toenails and a black rectangular cloth hanging down from a terracotta bowl-shaped hat as a face; open torso with black flat element on back, with a black heart with three brown vertical drips on a gold ground on inside of flat element/torso

Jesus with Bleeding Heart, 1972

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Camille Billops used fired earthenware to make new images of Jesus as a Black man. Following traditional imagery of Jesus as a martyr or exemplary sufferer for spiritual enlightenment and to save humanity, she depicted him here with a heart shaped hole in his chest. This detail emphasizes both his humanity and role in Christianity as a savior. To keep Jesus's face open to the personal imagination and beliefs of her viewers, she finished the sculpture with a simple linen cloth where his portrait would be.

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Details
Title
Jesus with Bleeding Heart
Artist Life
1933 - 2019
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2021.85.1
Curator Approved

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seated abstracted figure with dark hands and feet, with gold finger and toenails and a black rectangular cloth hanging down from a terracotta bowl-shaped hat as a face; open torso with black flat element on back, with a black heart with three brown vertical drips on a gold ground on inside of flat element/torso
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