© Demetri Broxton
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Save Me, Joe Louis
2019-2020
Demetri Broxton
Not on view
Demetri Broxton sees his work as an ongoing investigation into cultural continuities from Africa to America. Emphasizing traditions of the people of Yoruba, Nigeria, and the ancient kingdom of
Kongo, Save Me, Joe Louis features boxing gloves that hang from steel chains adorned with shells, beads, and threads evocative of dripping blood. The embroidered words on the gloves refer
to a story made known by Martin Luther King Jr. of a Black man on death row who invoked the power of the legendary African American boxer as he drew his last breath. Evoking the textile
traditions of New Orleans’s Black Maskers, this work represents the artist’s liberatory approach to history and materials.
- Artist
- Demetri Broxton
- Title
- Save Me, Joe Louis
- Date
- 2019-2020
- Place of Creation
- California
- Object Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- Everlast boxing gloves, redwood, cowrie shells, Japanese and Czech seed beads, cotton, silver wire, stainless steel chain and hardware, frankensense, nylon thread, mirrors
- Dimensions
- 50 x 30 x 7 in. (127 x 76.2 x 17.78 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, a gift from The Svane Family Foundation
- Accession Number
- 2022.26.29
