Sanford Biggers

Sanford Biggers has developed a practice that encourages meaningful dialogue around history and trauma in the United States. Sanford Biggers is the first exhibition focused on his BAM series, begun in 2015, in which the artist seeks to memorialize and honor unarmed black victims of police gun violence in America. 

Through video, sculpture, and paintings, he brings to light the pain these acts have perpetrated upon society, but also points to the wider human condition and a desire to transcend. 52.57 in To create his BAM sculptures, the artist begins with an African figurative sculpture—whether of authentic or dubious origin—acquired during his travels. Each figure is dipped in wax and taken to a shooting range, where Biggers directs the resculpting of each with gunshots. The artist then casts the resculpted figure in bronze—a historically noble and weighty medium. For Biggers, this process bestows honor to the damaged figure, allowing it to become a “power object” worthy of veneration, and the victims to be realized as symbols of power and endurance. 

Through these works, Biggers points toward recent transgressions in American history and elevates the stories of specific individuals in order to combat historical amnesia: in this exhibition sculptures are named after Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Terence Crutcher, and Jordan Edwards. BAM not only brings to light the pain of these individuals, their families, and society, but also aims to create a platform for thoughtful discussion. The multichannel video installation Infinite Tabernacle features images of the original wooden figures being riddled with bullets, as well as the playback of the ballistic sculpting in reverse and at different speeds. As the title suggests, the work serves as a sanctuary for the reconvened figures. The overall eect touches on a theme that Biggers explores throughout his practice: the cycle of life, death, and transcendence. Biggers also acquires and alters antique quilts, calling the resulting artworks paintings. 

Each painting on view includes an image of an African figure—in two instances, directly representing the Seated Warrior sculpture on display at the beginning of the exhibition. In contributing his own imagery to these often encoded patchwork quilts, Biggers collaborates with the unknown quilters and forms a dialogue between them, himself, viewers, the past, and the present. 

Sanford Biggers was organized by the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis by Lisa Melandri, Executive Director. The exhibition and catalog are generously supported by the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Dr. Daniel S. Berger, Hedy Fischer and Randy Shull, and Christy and Bill Gautreaux.

Image: Installation view of Sanford Biggers, Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford. October 8–December 15, 2019.