Name/Title
Crazy N*gger (for Julius Eastman)Entry/Object ID
2021.17Description
Overlapping black words, made to look spraypainted on a white background.Artwork Details
Medium
Silkscreen ink on paperContext
Crazy N*gger (for Julius Eastman) was produced in 2018 to accompany an exhibition and concert series at The Kitchen dedicated to Julius Eastman (1940–90). Eastman—a pioneering composer and musician whose work is currently undergoing a much-needed renaissance—is known for his experimental, minimalist compositions often featuring provocative titles as well as his celebrated 1973 vocal performance on Peter Maxwell Davies’s Eight Songs for a Mad King. In a 1980 performance at Northwestern University, Eastman explains that his titles refer to “that thing which is fundamental,” providing the example of African slaves as foundational to American economic prosperity. This print appropriates the theoretical aspect of Eastman’s work by taking Eastman himself—an openly gay, Black artist—and his compositions as a fundamental reference and inspiration for Pendleton’s signature collage-like, spray paint-style works on paper. Like the four pianos in Eastman’s composition of the same name, Pendleton’s print swirls with overlapping letters and barely legible lines of text, creating an increasingly dense and abstract surface.Acquisition
Accession
2021.17-19Source or Donor
Julie Campbell, Shane CampbellAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Julie and Shane CampbellLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
SilkscreenNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic EquipmentNomenclature Class
Printing T&ENomenclature Category
Category 06: Tools & Equipment for CommunicationGetty AAT
Concept
screen printing, printing (process)Hierarchy Name
Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name)Facet
Activities FacetLOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Civil rightsSearch Terms
Dadaism, Black Lives Matter