GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Little Egypt Condo/New York City attests to Jean Lacy's serious interest in Egyptian culture. She developed her own system of African iconography based upon her studies of Egyptian hieroglyphs and West African architectural symbols. Collage, xerography, and gold leaf application are techniques which Lacy deftly combines to create this richly visual urban scene. In this collage, the migration reference suggests not only the movement by blacks from the rural South to the urban North, but also the more ancient passage from east to west Africa and across the Atlantic to a younger western culture.
Born in Washington, D.C., Jean Lacy was educated at Southern University in Baton Rouge, the Art Students League in New York, and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. A longtime resident of Dallas, her works decorate many area collections. She has also served as the director of the African American Cultural Heritage Center for the Dallas Independent School District.
Adapted from
- Charles Wylie, DMA Label copy (1989.129), August 2008.
- Alvia J. Wardlaw, "Jean Lacy," in Black Art, Ancestral Legacy: The African Impulse in African-American Art, eds. Robert V. Rozelle, Alvia J. Wardlaw and Maureen A. McKenna (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989), 198-199.
NOTES
Used as the cover illustration for the catalogue- Black Arts- Ancestral Legacy.
The elaborate combination of different materials and art-making processes in this work overlays contemporary late 20th-century life with ancient Egyptian motifs. Figures suggestive of ancient Egyptian profile figures, accompanied by hieroglyphic writing, decorate and transform a New York City apartment building, reminding the viewer of the deep links between the art, culture, and philosophy of ancient Egypt and its diffusion through the African diaspora. As the artist wrote, "I am claiming this building in the name of my history, in the name of my people and their culture." Excerpt from Wylie label text which I decided to cut in favor of Wardlaw's description. CLC
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Lacy_Jean: ULAN: 500336595
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
collages (visual works): AAT: 300033963
mixed media (artists' materials): AAT: 300163347
painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618
gold leaf: AAT: 300264831
Historical periods
twentieth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404514
Individuals
Subject terms
African American: AAT: 300018125
apartments: AAT: 300004063
appropriation (imagery): AAT: 300180375
architecture (object genre): AAT: 300263552
abstraction: AAT: 300056508
collage (technique): AAT: 300138699
Egypt (ancient): TGN: 7014986
migrations (events / journeys): AAT: 300263931
New York (New York/United States): TGN: 7007567
race (group of people): AAT: 300256475
urban (culture related concepts): AAT: 300379515
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1989: Jean Lacy (b. 1933) [1]
1989: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Dallas Chapter of the Links, Inc. [2]
The main source for this provenance is the object summary dated February 6, 2003, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records object file. Exceptions and supporting documentation are noted.
[1] See the invoice from Laura J. Lacy (Jean Lacy) of Dallas, Texas to the Dallas Museum of Art, dated September 2, 1989.
[2] See the letter from Excella R. Dillard of the Links, Incorporated to Robert K. Hoffman of the Dallas Museum of Art dated January 13, 1990.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1989.129
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
Little Egypt Condo/New York City attests to Jean Lacy's serious interest in Egyptian culture. She developed her own system of African iconography based upon her studies of Egyptian hieroglyphs and West African architectural symbols. Collage, xerography, and gold leaf application are techniques which Lacy deftly combines to create this richly visual urban scene. In this collage, the migration reference suggests not only the movement by blacks from the rural South to the urban North, but also the more ancient passage from east to west Africa and across the Atlantic to a younger western culture.
Born in Washington, D.C., Jean Lacy was educated at Southern University in Baton Rouge, the Art Students League in New York, and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. A longtime resident of Dallas, her works decorate many area collections. She has also served as the director of the African American Cultural Heritage Center for the Dallas Independent School District.
Adapted from
- Charles Wylie, DMA Label copy (1989.129), August 2008.
- Alvia J. Wardlaw, "Jean Lacy," in Black Art, Ancestral Legacy: The African Impulse in African-American Art, eds. Robert V. Rozelle, Alvia J. Wardlaw and Maureen A. McKenna (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989), 198-199.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Used as the cover illustration for the catalogue- Black Arts- Ancestral Legacy.
The elaborate combination of different materials and art-making processes in this work overlays contemporary late 20th-century life with ancient Egyptian motifs. Figures suggestive of ancient Egyptian profile figures, accompanied by hieroglyphic writing, decorate and transform a New York City apartment building, reminding the viewer of the deep links between the art, culture, and philosophy of ancient Egypt and its diffusion through the African diaspora. As the artist wrote, "I am claiming this building in the name of my history, in the name of my people and their culture." Excerpt from Wylie label text which I decided to cut in favor of Wardlaw's description. CLC
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Lacy_Jean: ULAN: 500336595
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
collages (visual works): AAT: 300033963
mixed media (artists' materials): AAT: 300163347
painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618
gold leaf: AAT: 300264831
Historical periods
twentieth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404514
Individuals
Subject terms
African American: AAT: 300018125
apartments: AAT: 300004063
appropriation (imagery): AAT: 300180375
architecture (object genre): AAT: 300263552
abstraction: AAT: 300056508
collage (technique): AAT: 300138699
Egypt (ancient): TGN: 7014986
migrations (events / journeys): AAT: 300263931
New York (New York/United States): TGN: 7007567
race (group of people): AAT: 300256475
urban (culture related concepts): AAT: 300379515
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1989: Jean Lacy (b. 1933) [1]
1989: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Dallas Chapter of the Links, Inc. [2]
The main source for this provenance is the object summary dated February 6, 2003, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records object file. Exceptions and supporting documentation are noted.
[1] See the invoice from Laura J. Lacy (Jean Lacy) of Dallas, Texas to the Dallas Museum of Art, dated September 2, 1989.
[2] See the letter from Excella R. Dillard of the Links, Incorporated to Robert K. Hoffman of the Dallas Museum of Art dated January 13, 1990.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1989.129
source file
object_notes_1_d-0117.xml.nores