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A photo portrait, cut horizontally into shifting sections, printed on a striped background with lines of text at top and bottom

A high contrast photo portrait of a dark skinned woman with close cropped hair, is sliced horizontally into strips of different widths, shifted slightly out of place, and superimposed over a striped background. Horizontal bands formed by light blue hash marks alternate with bands of small printed gray dots. Across the top, in blank space above the stripes, the words, “My country needs me, and if I were not here” are printed. Across the bottom, below the stripes, the words continue, “I would have to be invented.” The name “Hortense Spillers” follows in smaller type. The image is bordered on all four sides by bands of red hash marks.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2018.33.8
People
Rodney Ewing
Title
My Country Needs Me
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1996
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/361187

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Offset lithograph on white wove paper
Technique
Offset print
Dimensions
54.6 × 76.2 cm (21 1/2 × 30 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.r. in graphite: Rodney Ewing 96

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Rodney Ewing, created 1996; [Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, PA], sold; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2018.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Edition
24/80

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund
Copyright
© Rodney Ewing
Accession Year
2018
Object Number
2018.33.8
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu