Fragments of a Crucifixion
Featured images

Titus Kaphar, Ascension, 2016. Oil on canvas with brass nails. 108 x 84 x 1 ½ in. Collection of Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, 21c Museum Hotel.
Image courtesy of the artist
Ana Mendieta, Untitled from the Silueta series, 1973–77. Silver dye-bleach print Sheet for parts 1, 6, 9, 10: 15 7/8 × 19 7/8 in. (40.3 × 50.5 cm); sheet for parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12: 19 7/8 × 15 7/8 in. (50.5 × 40.3 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift from The Howard and Donna Stone Collection, 2002.46.10. © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection. Courtesy of Galerie Lelong, New York.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Paul Pfeiffer, Fragment of a Crucifixion (After Francis Bacon), 1999. Digital video loop, projector, metal armature. 5 min.; 20 x 5 x 15 in. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, restricted gift of Kenneth C. Griffin, 2000.8
© Paul Pfeiffer. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Andres Serrano, Untitled (Knifed to Death I and II), 1992. Cibachrome. Two parts, each: 49 × 59 1/2 in. (124.5 × 151.1 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, restricted gift of Carol and Douglas Cohen, Lynn and Allen Turner, Ruth Horwich, H. Gael Neeson and Stefan T. Edlis, and Gerald S. Elliott by exchange, 1996.4.a-b. Courtesy of the artist and Nathalie Obadia gallery.
Photo: James Isberner, © MCA Chicago
Adrian Piper, Imagine [Trayvon Martin] 2013. Digital PNG formatted image; 10.76" x 10.43" (27.33 cm x 26.49), 300 dpi. Available for free download. Collection of the Adrian Piper Research Archive Foundation Berlin
© Adrian Piper Research Archive Foundation BerlinArtists have used the crucifixion of Christ as a powerful symbol to address suffering and redemption in the history of racial violence in the United States. Fragments of a Crucifixion explores the continuing relevance of the crucifixion, even as our society becomes increasingly diverse in its religious beliefs. Rather than depict the image of the crucifixion itself, artworks in this exhibition offer only fragments—incomplete images and narratives. These works invoke agony and ecstasy through bodily traces and scenes of absence and loss. Featuring works in the MCA Collection, this show is dedicated to the spiritual in art, and to art's capacity to evoke life and love in the face of brutality.
The exhibition is organized by Chanon Kenji Praepipatmongkol, Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow. It is presented in the McCormick Tribune Orientation Gallery on the museum's second floor.
Installation Images

Installation view, Fragments of a Crucifixion, MCA Chicago. May 25 – November 3, 2019.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Fragments of a Crucifixion, MCA Chicago. May 25 – November 3, 2019.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Fragments of a Crucifixion, MCA Chicago. May 25 – November 3, 2019.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Fragments of a Crucifixion, MCA Chicago. May 25 – November 3, 2019.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Fragments of a Crucifixion, MCA Chicago. May 25 – November 3, 2019.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Fragments of a Crucifixion, MCA Chicago. May 25 – November 3, 2019.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago