Infamous

Andres Serrano questions his own and other people’s obsession with subjects that border on the acceptable. He wants to explore things he doesn’t know and encourage people to discuss things they don’t normally talk about – facing the fear of the unknown and the unexpected is how we learn.

“All racial groups have been caricatured in this country, but none have been caricatured as often or in as many ways as have Black Americans. Black people have been portrayed in popular culture as pitiable exotics, cannibalistic savages, hypersexual deviants, childlike buffoons, obedient servants, self-loathing victims, and menaces to society.

These anti-Black depictions were routinely manifested in or on material objects: ashtrays, drinking glasses, banks, games, fishing lures, detergent boxes, and other everyday items. These objects, with racist representations, both reflected and shaped attitudes towards Black Americans.

There is a growing desire among many Americans to forget the past and move forward. “If we just stop talking about historical racism, racism will go away.” It is not that easy.There is a growing desire among many Americans to forget the past and move forward. “If we just stop talking about historical racism, racism will go away.” It is not that easy.” – Dr. David Pilgrim, the founder and curator of the Jim Crow Museum