Notorious
1990
Direct confrontation with the unfaltering gaze of black men is the signature of one of Joseph Norman's graphic series. He arranges faces up close to the surface to allow viewers a long hard look. Some are of familiar cultural heroes, like James Baldwin or Miles Davis. Some are not-as in the series entitled Notorious, with faces drawn from mugshots of young gang leaders in Chicago. The icy hard spirit of a young criminal also bears the marks of the struggle with the lithographic process, as slashes cut across the face and neck. Mr. Norman said he wanted viewers to recognize that "You do in a sense have pity on those boys, because you are looking directly into their eyes, and you see emptiness at times. You see that these are children."
Lithograph
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Chazan
99.152
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
