2021, Calida Rawles, High Tide, Heavy Armor -- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
From the museum label: Rawles has called this painting her "visual elegy" for victims of anti-Black state violence, including Kurt Reinhold, Daunte Wright, and Ma'Khia Bryant. Rawles often situates Black figures in hyperrealistic yet abstract bodies of water that can simultaneously appear tempestuous and protective. The waves in the upper half of the composition constitute a topographic map of cities and states with histories of state-sanctioned violence. Rawles has said the title refers to "the armor I have created to shield myself from this emotional toll, and [l] pray that this cycle of violent police encounters [...] will one day come to an end."
2021, Calida Rawles, High Tide, Heavy Armor -- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
From the museum label: Rawles has called this painting her "visual elegy" for victims of anti-Black state violence, including Kurt Reinhold, Daunte Wright, and Ma'Khia Bryant. Rawles often situates Black figures in hyperrealistic yet abstract bodies of water that can simultaneously appear tempestuous and protective. The waves in the upper half of the composition constitute a topographic map of cities and states with histories of state-sanctioned violence. Rawles has said the title refers to "the armor I have created to shield myself from this emotional toll, and [l] pray that this cycle of violent police encounters [...] will one day come to an end."