Man of Peace

Object Details

Artist
Pleasant Burke
Date
late 20th Century
Medium
pastel on paper
Dimensions
Frame: 26 1/4 × 22 3/16 × 1 1/4 in. (66.6 × 56.4 × 3.2 cm)
Caption
Saturated colors illuminate an older man with a long white beard wearing a turban, his eyes closed in meditation. The man’s head floats on a dark blue background, giving the pastel drawing a surreal quality. After comedian Richard Pryor performed at Lorton Reformatory, a corrections facility near Washington, DC, an inmate named Pleasant Burke presented this artwork to Pryor, telling the celebrity, “we wish we had more, but we give you our love, and this is a token of it.” Pryor subsequently donated the work to the museum. The peaceful image challenges stereotypical assumptions about corrections facilities, promoting a more nuanced understanding of men like Burke residing at Lorton.
Accession Number
2019.2.4
Type
drawing
See more items in
Anacostia Community Museum Collection
Data Source
Anacostia Community Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dl83b0e7250-3baa-41de-8353-1fa97a1ebe02
Record ID
acm_2019.2.4
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