Miscegenated Family Album
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Object Label
Modern Artists and Ancient Egypt
Lorraine O’Grady uses ancient Egyptian art to explore contemporary issues.
Artists from many times and places have been inspired by the heritage of ancient Egypt to make new works that speak to their own time. Displaying works like this within the Egyptian Galleries allows visitors to participate in the ongoing dialogue that artists have pursued with the ancients, as they have expressed their stake in ancient history and its continuing relevance.
Lorraine O’Grady’s photographs grew out of a 1980 performance called Nefertiti/Devonia Evangeline, which took place in front of a series of projected images similar to the ones seen here. The work examined the troubled relationship between O’Grady and her deceased sister, Devonia Evangeline, through juxtaposed portraits of the Egyptian queens Nefertiti and Mutnedjmet, of a later reign, proposed by some scholars to be Nefertiti’s sister. Though the subject matter is deeply personal, it allows O’Grady to address issues of class, racism, ethnography, and African American art. Thus, as the artist says, her work attempts to “make the historic personal and the personal historic.”
Caption
Lorraine O'Grady American, born 1934. Miscegenated Family Album, 1994. Silver dye bleach print (Cibachrome), 32 prints each: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm) frame (16 frames each): 38 1/8 × 27 1/2 in. (96.8 × 69.9 cm) frame (a's, b's, c's, d's, e's, g's, i's, k's, l's, m's, n's, o's, p's): 27 1/4 × 38 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (69.2 × 97.2 × 3.8 cm) frame (h1-h2): 38 1/4 × 27 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (97.2 × 69.2 × 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by John and Barbara Vogelstein and Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons and bequest of Richard J. Kempe, by exchange, 2008.80. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image courtesy of Gracie Mansion Gallery, CUR.2008.80.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Miscegenated Family Album
Date
1994
Medium
Silver dye bleach print (Cibachrome)
Classification
Dimensions
32 prints each: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm) frame (16 frames each): 38 1/8 × 27 1/2 in. (96.8 × 69.9 cm) frame (a's, b's, c's, d's, e's, g's, i's, k's, l's, m's, n's, o's, p's): 27 1/4 × 38 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (69.2 × 97.2 × 3.8 cm) frame (h1-h2): 38 1/4 × 27 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (97.2 × 69.2 × 3.8 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds given by John and Barbara Vogelstein and Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons and bequest of Richard J. Kempe, by exchange
Accession Number
2008.80
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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Frequent Art Questions
How does this relate to the Egyptian galleries?
This is an interesting project by the artist Lorraine O'Grady, who saw a resemblance between her sister, Devonia, and the imagery of the Egyptian family she chose. Nefertiti’s sister, Mutnedjmet, plays an important role in many of the pictures, and the Egyptian queen disappeared from public life at an age close to Devonia’s at the time of her death.Who is this?
That is Queen Nefertiti, the wife of King Akhenaten. Here, Lorraine O'Grady pairs a sculpture of Nefertiti with a sculpture of Mutnedjmet, Nefertiti's sister. In this series, O'Grady likens herself to Mutnedjmet and her own sister to Nefertiti.Tell me more about Lorraine O'Grady.
O'Grady was born in Boston in 1934 and came to art later in life than many artists, at the age of 46. Beforehand, she studied economics, literature, music, and even worked for the government. Her art practice is multidisciplinary and spans various media. Her best known works are in the realm of performance and the documentation of that performance. Miscegenated Family Album is actually related to a performance from 1980. O'Grady's work frequently addresses race and her personal experiences. This work is built on a comparison of her sister to the famous queen, Nefertiti.Thank youWho is Lorraine O’Grady?
Lorraine O'Grady is a contemporary artist who works mostly in the media of performance and photography. In fact, Miscegenated Family Album was born out of a performance in 1980. She was born in Boston in 1934 to West Indian parents and worked for the US Government before becoming an artist at the age of 46.What is the connection between these two people? (Ceremonial Occasions, 1994)
This pairing and the rest of the photographs on this wall come out of a series by artist Lorraine O'Grady called Miscegenated Family Album. She pairs members of her family with historical figures from ancient Egypt, primarily her sister Devonia with Queen Nefertiti as seen here. O'Grady saw a similarity between her sister and Nefertiti and also made the connection that both died or disappeared in their 30s. In this particular pairing, Devonia and Nefertiti are both wearing, as the title suggests, ceremonial dress. It is also worth noting that the garment Nefertiti is shown wearing would have been white like Devonia's wedding gown.
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