<I>Cicely</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2022
name: label: Created by
content: Rico Gatson, American, born 1966
label: Photograph by
content: Unidentified
label: Manufactured by
content: Baobab Frames and Art Services, American, founded 1985
label: Subject of
content: Cicely Tyson, American, 1924 - 2021
notes: label: Caption
content: Cicely is part of a series of works on paper called Icons, which Gatson began in 2007. In these works, the artist begins with photographs of African Americans legends, including Sidney Poitier, Muhammad Ali, Lena Horne, Thelonious Monk, Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Charlie Parker, Stokely Carmichael, and more. He then surrounds each individual with rays of color that emanate from their bodies like sunbursts, radiating power, intelligence, and energy. Inspired in part by the 1960s political graphic design of Emery Douglass, the Black Panthers’ minister of culture, Gatson also draws on the formal qualities of Bauhaus, Constructivism, and early modern religious icons.
label: Description
content: A color pencil and photographic collage featuring an image of Cicely Tyson as part of the Icons series by Rico Gatson. The collage is on white paper mounted on white board and framed inside a white, rectangular, shadow box. At the bottom center of the collage is a cutout, black-and-white photographic image of Cicely Tyson. Tyson is shown from the chest up, leaning slightly forward, and smiling at the viewer. Her arms are held slightly forward and tightly at her sides. She wears a lacy blouse with a high collared neck and a beaded necklace with a large pendant with three drops. Her hair is braided and twisted into a high top knot. At the front center of her forehead is a small, braided loop that holds a large round bead in a drop over her forehead. Radiating out from the image of Tyson are four sets of black, yellow, red, and green rays.
place: label: Place made
content: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Actors
label: Topic
content: Art
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: Icons
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2023.81.3
objectType: label: Type
content: works of art
label: Type
content: collages
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Rico Gatson
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: colored pencils with photograph collage on paper with acrylic, plastic, wood and metal
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 25 7/16 × 33 9/16 × 1 15/16 in. (64.6 × 85.3 × 5 cm)