The Resume is the latest installment in my 'Plantation' series. The goal is to have about 20 pieces of art for exhibition that tells the story of the enslaved through the use of modern iconography and concepts to form a connection with the past. The resume is obviously based on the fugitive slave ads placed by many slave owners to secure their property. When I see them, I see a disgruntled worker fed up with his working conditions and without notice decided it was time to move on. Happens all the time with only one exception, we secretly send out resumes ahead of time and try to find another job to transition into. Why shouldn't a slave have done the same thing if it was available to them? Makes sense to me.
Just in case someone thinks I was being funny and mean, the text used on the art is taken directly from fugitive slave ads. I downloaded a huge file of ads and compiled many of the descriptions into each resume. It was against the law to teach a slave to read or write so it makes sense that they would use their owners descriptions of themselves as reference in their fictitious resumes. The only thing I changed was the pronoun usage.
The Resume for Freeman the Shoemaker
35" x 49"
(select to enlarge)
The Resume for Emily the Seamstress
35" x 49"
(select to enlarge)
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