Lorraine O'Grady

In an ongoing series involving both photography and performance, O'Grady maps out the correspondences between the women of her own family and the women in Egyptian Queen Nefertiti's dynastic line. Nerfertiti/Devonia Evangeline, first performed in 1980, uses her own family to trace the African American diaspora through both contemporary American culture and ancient Egyptian art and mythology. From this performance evolved the Miscegenated Family Album series of 1980-88. In this work are formed sisterhoods linking, not just generations, but centuries of mixed-race women. O'Grady juxtaposes images of her sister, Devonia Evangeline, with images of Queen Nerfertiti; images of herself with ones of Nerfetiti's younger sister, Mutnedjmet; and images of Devonia Evangeline's tow daughters, creating a sense of an ancient and ongoing sisterhood based upon uncanny physical resemblance as well as similarities in family history.

Lorraine O'Grady received a B.A. from Wellesley College and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. She was a recipient of Mary Ingraham Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe College for 1995-96. Her "Miscegenated Family Album" was exhibited in 1996 at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. She lives and works in New York City.

Introductory Essay by Jo Anna Isaak / Pictures from the Exhibition / List of Works / Excerpts of Essays included in the Catalog / History of the Exhibition / How to order a print copy of the catalog / About the Curator / Website Credits