Tschabalala Self (American, born 1990). <em>Piss</em>, 2019. Painted canvas, fabric, oil, acrylic, flashe, and gouache on canvas, 68 × 50 in. (172.7 × 127.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Dean Collection, 2020.15. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2020.15_view03_PS11.jpg)

Tschabalala Self (American, born 1990). Piss, 2019. Painted canvas, fabric, oil, acrylic, flashe, and gouache on canvas, 68 × 50 in. (172.7 × 127.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Dean Collection, 2020.15. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2020.15_view03_PS11.jpg)

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Piss

Tschabalala Self

Contemporary Art

Piss depicts a moment of lighthearted mischief in which two men keep watch over their friend, who turns his head toward the viewer as he urinates into the blue void. Tschabalala Self conjures a fantastical vision of everyday Harlem, where she grew up, through figures that defy expectations of the human body. The exaggerated forms and painted and sewn fabric scraps imbue the work with a peculiar sense of reality. Throughout her practice, Self engages with the visual languages of Blackness and otherness, allowing the two to exist on their own terms and imagining liberated means of existing in the world.

ARTIST Tschabalala Self, American, born 1990

MEDIUM Painted canvas, fabric, oil, acrylic, flashe, and gouache on canvas

DATES 2019

DIMENSIONS 68 × 50 in. (172.7 × 127.0 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2020.15

CREDIT LINE Gift of The Dean Collection

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Tschabalala Self (American, born 1990). Piss, 2019. Painted canvas, fabric, oil, acrylic, flashe, and gouache on canvas, 68 × 50 in. (172.7 × 127.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Dean Collection, 2020.15. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2020.15_view03_PS11.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 2020.15_view03_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2021

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Piss

Tschabalala Self

Contemporary Art

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