Acrylic and graphite on paperexpand_more
Gift of Mary and Bob Merskyexpand_more 2022.98.15
Edgar Arceneaux’s seascape, The Slave Ship Zong, presents a contemporary interpretation of a shocking historical event known as the Zong Massacre of 1781, in which 133 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard by the crew of the British slave ship Zong during a transatlantic voyage to preserve food and water and collect on insurance claims. Here, Arceneaux creates a fictitious Afrofuturist-inspired storyline that alludes to the science-fiction myth, invented by Detroit-based techno duo Drexciya, about an aquatic Black race descended from castaways of the Zong. No ship is visible in the dramatic scene, but instead roiling waves bubble over with hundreds of pairs of eyes, which Arceneaux says is “tied to the Drexciyan mythology of the transformation of bodies becoming an accelerated evolution of humanity.” Though based on tragedy, Arceneaux's narrative is one of hope and optimism for the future.
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