A wall can be a ledger. Nine Names finds a large marigold-yellow wall in St. Louis lettered in black and white: BLACK BODIES in heavy black block capitals, ARE NOT in smaller white letters, STRANGE in black, and FRUIT in white. Scattered across the surface are nine small black-ringed circles with green leaf stems, each one holding a handwritten name and an age. The mural is signed by the artist, Kris Blackmon, at the left.
The eye lands first on the large lettering, reads down through the four words, and then drifts out to the circles, where the scale changes from slogan to individual. The names are small enough that you have to step closer to read them, which is the point. At left, a pipe conduit and the long shadow of a pole fall across the panel, a vertical line that gives the flat wall depth without competing with it.
This is documentary work in the plainest sense, in the tradition of Walker Evans' frontal records of hand-painted signs and walls: the photographer's job is to record the wall faithfully, in clean light, without styling or comment.
Design & Styling
Nine Names is a piece for civic and institutional settings: libraries and universities, museums and cultural centers, community foundations, law offices, newsrooms, and the homes of collectors engaged with social history. It is not a decor piece in the usual sense and is best placed where it can be read and discussed.
Curated Pairings
To build a wall around this piece, consider these companion pieces:
For the wall that speaks: Pair with Where the Shadow Falls, a St. Louis mural where lettering carries the message, with PREACHER set at the figure's feet.
For the same idea: Pair with The Weight of Names, a single visitor standing before a vast wall of names in Prague, the same act of reading individual names off a public wall.
For the same quiet memorial: Pair with The Stones They Leave Behind, a visitor among centuries of tombstones in Prague's Jewish Cemetery, another image about the traces people leave and the people who stop to read them.
Fine Art Presentation
Available as an open edition print, unsigned and unnumbered, in ChromaLuxe® Metal (gloss, semi-gloss, or matte), Glossy Anti-Glare Acrylic (TruLife), canvas, wood, and archival paper (framed or unframed). Framed archival paper is the recommended presentation: it gives the flat painted surface a quiet, document-like read that suits the subject, and the framing makes it feel placed rather than decorative. ChromaLuxe® Metal (matte) is the alternative for a crisper, more contemporary hang.
Note: This is an open edition print, unsigned and unnumbered, available in the sizes and materials listed above.
A wall can be a ledger. Nine Names finds a large marigold-yellow wall in St. Louis lettered in black and white: BLACK BODIES in heavy black block capitals, ARE NOT in smaller white letters, STRANGE in black, and FRUIT in white. Scattered across the surface are nine small black-ringed circles with green leaf stems, each one holding a handwritten name and an age. The mural is signed by the artist, Kris Blackmon, at the left.
The eye lands first on the large lettering, reads down through the four words, and then drifts out to the circles, where the scale changes from slogan to individual. The names are small enough that you have to step closer to read them, which is the point. At left, a pipe conduit and the long shadow of a pole fall across the panel, a vertical line that gives the flat wall depth without competing with it.
This is documentary work in the plainest sense, in the tradition of Walker Evans' frontal records of hand-painted signs and walls: the photographer's job is to record the wall faithfully, in clean light, without styling or comment.
Design & Styling
Nine Names is a piece for civic and institutional settings: libraries and universities, museums and cultural centers, community foundations, law offices, newsrooms, and the homes of collectors engaged with social history. It is not a decor piece in the usual sense and is best placed where it can be read and discussed.
Curated Pairings
To build a wall around this piece, consider these companion pieces:
For the wall that speaks: Pair with Where the Shadow Falls, a St. Louis mural where lettering carries the message, with PREACHER set at the figure's feet.
For the same idea: Pair with The Weight of Names, a single visitor standing before a vast wall of names in Prague, the same act of reading individual names off a public wall.
For the same quiet memorial: Pair with The Stones They Leave Behind, a visitor among centuries of tombstones in Prague's Jewish Cemetery, another image about the traces people leave and the people who stop to read them.
Fine Art Presentation
Available as an open edition print, unsigned and unnumbered, in ChromaLuxe® Metal (gloss, semi-gloss, or matte), Glossy Anti-Glare Acrylic (TruLife), canvas, wood, and archival paper (framed or unframed). Framed archival paper is the recommended presentation: it gives the flat painted surface a quiet, document-like read that suits the subject, and the framing makes it feel placed rather than decorative. ChromaLuxe® Metal (matte) is the alternative for a crisper, more contemporary hang.
Note: This is an open edition print, unsigned and unnumbered, available in the sizes and materials listed above.
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