Artwork Details
14-3/4 x 22-1/2 in. 18-1/4 x 24-1/4 x 1-3/8 in. (framed)
Accession NumberGift of the Alliance of the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Copyright(Contemporary African Art, New York, New York) given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art 1999
The artist Skunder Boghossian studied and painted in Paris during the 1960s where he interacted with Cheikh Anta Diop, who is considered the father of Afrocentrism. Diop's position on the common ancestry of all Africans and the African nature of ancient Egypt influenced Skunder Boghossian and other intellectuals of the time. The subjects of Skunder Boghossian's art comes from his Ethiopian heritage, ancient Egypt and other African cultures.
In this painting, is a rectangular section with geometric designs, which relate to Ethiopian scrolls and wall paintings. At the top of the next rectangular section is an Egyptian solar disc, a symbol of eternal life. To the right is a seated mummy-like figure within a coffin. Interestingly, the mummy-like figure resembles some wood carving styles of the Dogon people of Mali.
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