Titus Kaphar’s unique ability to bridge sculpture, film, assemblage and painting has firmly positioned him as a leading figure in the contemporary art arena. By using historical Western paintings and deconstructing their narrative, Kaphar creates new dimensions within which his works exist. Both King and Accomplice, executed in 2008, is a prime example of the artist’s ability to transform, deface and reclaim classical Western portraiture to interrogate the racial traditions of his practice.
“That’s the nature of representation; every time we represent something we alter it and slightly change it. […] I give myself a certain freedom to really explore and ask myself questions. What might not have been understood at that time? What might have been hidden at that time? What narrative in this particular image wasn’t the primary image, but is really important?”
—Titus Kaphar
The relationship between the seen and unseen in Both King and Accomplice is central to Kaphar’s oeuvre in creating a reimagined history. Akin to the artist’s celebrated paintings that coat the canvas with a thick black impasto the present work brings the painting off the wall, and physically submerges the subject in tar. The life-size scale is an exquisite exploration of materiality and the power to rewrite history. The imposing nature of Both King and Accomplice, in conjunction with the figure’s hidden features, allude to a much larger theme of the absence of Black figures in art history.
“They were never intended to be accurate or truthful reproductions of individuals. This whole genre of ‘portraiture’ is about mythology, and attempts to magnify the sitter. After a lifetime of seeing these images from one perspective, it seems important to take them apart to get closer to something that could accurately be called a portrait.”
—Titus Kaphar
