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Duck Walk

Mark Bradford American
2016
Not on view
Bradford rarely creates his works with paint. Rather, he often binds together layers of found and store-bought papers with materials like string and glue, and then sands down the collages to reveal different colors in irregular configurations. In Duck Walk, Bradford used bleach and water to transform some of his black and white paper stocks into yellow and tan tones. The reduced color palette, monumental size, and jagged contours reference Abstract Expressionism, and particularly the paintings of Clyfford Still. Whereas Still argued that his paintings made no reference to everyday life, Bradford’s piece, which takes its title from a dance move associated with the musician Chuck Berry and later adapted by the ballroom voguing community, resonates with African American history and culture.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Duck Walk
  • Artist: Mark Bradford (American, born Los Angeles, California, 1961)
  • Date: 2016
  • Medium: Mixed media on canvas
  • Dimensions: Overall: 9 ft. 5/8 in. × 14 ft. 2 1/4 in. × 2 1/2 in. (275.9 × 432.4 × 6.4 cm)
    a - left panel: 9 ft. 5/8 in. × 84 3/4 in. × 2 1/2 in. (275.9 × 215.3 × 6.4 cm)
    b - right panel: 9 ft. 1/4 in. × 85 1/2 in. × 2 1/2 in. (275 × 217.2 × 6.4 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Anonymous Gift, 2017
  • Object Number: 2017.291a, b
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Mark Bradford
    Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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Untitled, Mark Bradford American, Etching, photogravure, and chine collé
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Crack Between the Floorboards, Mark Bradford American, Printed and painted paper, masking tape, and acrylic media on canvas
Crack Between the Floorboards
Mark Bradford
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Black Abstraction, Georgia O'Keeffe American, Oil on canvas
Black Abstraction
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1927
Self-Portrait as a Photographer, Yasuo Kuniyoshi American, born Japan, Oil on canvas
Self-Portrait as a Photographer
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Tables for Ladies, Edward Hopper American, Oil on canvas
Tables for Ladies
Edward Hopper
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