Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now

Washington DC: National Portrait Gallery/Princeton University Press, 2018. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, Accompanied exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Illustrated. First major publication to focus on the development of silhouettes, gathers leading experts to shed light on the surprisingly complex historical, political, and social underpinnings of this ostensibly simple art form. This richly illustrated volume explores likenesses of everyone from presidents and celebrities to everyday citizens and enslaved people. Ultimately, the book reveals how silhouettes registered the paradoxes of the unstable young nation, roiling with tensions over slavery and political independence. Primarily tracing the rise of the silhouette in the decades leading up to the Civil War, Black Out also considers the ubiquity of the genre today, particularly in contemporary art. Historical research and four contemporary artists: Kara Walker, Kristi Malakoff, Kumi Yamashita, and Camille Utterback. Still in publisher's shrinkwrap. Record # 385760