Bought and Paid For 2

Bought and Paid For 2, by Lisa Myers Bulmash, artist's website

Bought and Paid For 2, by Lisa Myers Bulmash, artist's website

Name/Title

Bought and Paid For 2

Entry/Object ID

2023.1.46

Description

Assemblage of altered books triptych, mounted on antique washboards, with hand torn niches framed with rope. The repeating photo is a family photo of the artist's brother running into their childhood home.

Type of Sculpture

Assemblage

Artwork Details

Medium

Paper, Wood

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Lisa Myers Bulmash

Role

Mixed Media Artist

Date made

2016

Dimensions

Height

24 in

Width

39 in

Depth

2 in

Copyright

Copyright Holder

Lisa Myers Bulmash

Interpretative Labels

Label

Inspired by a Maya Angelou quote: Your crown has been bought and paid for. Put it on your head and wear it. Bulmash uses the image of a house to reflect the American dream of home ownership and the hard-won achievements of Black Americans in the face of overt anti-black racism. The carefree child evokes a half-century's achievements in civil rights.

Label

Featured in the 2017-2018 NAAM museum exhibit You’re Not From Around Here, Are You? (Read the backstory of this series here.) This second triptych of altered books is mounted on antique washboards, exploring the American Dream as filtered through a Black and female lens. The series centers on the heart of that complicated dream: owning a home of one’s own. A repeating image in the center niche unites the three books: a family photo of the artist’s brother, running into their childhood home. This image is layered over other buildings significant in the African American experience.