Tasanee Durrett, American
Don’t Redline Me, 2020
Durrett’s painting depicts a young African American woman juxtaposed between maps showing the historical redlining of neighborhoods. Although redlining was made illegal over 50 years ago, its impact is severe, as the subject of this painting conveys through her somber expression. She bears a pendant holding the continent of Africa with red lines streaming from it, symbolizing the journey that was forcefully brought upon millions of people over centuries through slow, systemic violence. The maps are extending from her, representing how the damage brought by those red lines lives on structurally and burdens all those affected. She has her eyes closed, possibly hoping for a reality free from the inequalities that have snowballed throughout generations. Label by Jackson Schiminger