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Paul Mpagi Sepuya — Figure (_2100799)
Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Figure (_2100799)

2017

Figure (_2100799) draws viewers into the quietly charged world of Paul Mpagi Sepuya's studio practice, where portraiture becomes an act of sustained intimacy. Made in 2017 and printed as an archival inkjet on generously margined paper, the work belongs to the artist's Figure series, a body of work that has never before been exhibited or published, lending this edition a particular sense of discovery. Sepuya is known for staging photographs with friends, partners, and lovers, using the studio not merely as a neutral setting but as a social space where desire, trust, and looking are negotiated in real time. Mirrors and collage techniques frequently enter his process, folding representation back on itself and complicating the boundary between subject and image. Within this context, Figure (_2100799) carries the concentrated energy characteristic of Sepuya's broader engagement with homoerotic visual culture and Black queer identity. The work is less a document of a person than an exploration of what proximity and the photographic frame do to a body, a relationship, and a room. Offered in an edition of fifty and signed by the artist, the print measures 33 by 25.4 centimeters, with the image set within a larger sheet that gives the composition room to breathe. In excellent condition and shipping from New York, it represents an accessible entry point into the work of an artist whose practice has earned sustained critical attention and institutional recognition across photography, contemporary art, and queer studies.

Medium
Archival inkjet print
Overall
Signed
Yes

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About this work

Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Figure (_2100799), 2017

Figure (_2100799) draws viewers into the quietly charged world of Paul Mpagi Sepuya's studio practice, where portraiture becomes an act of sustained intimacy. Made in 2017 and printed as an archival inkjet on generously margined paper, the work belongs to the artist's Figure series, a body of work that has never before been exhibited or published, lending this edition a particular sense of discovery. Sepuya is known for staging photographs with friends, partners, and lovers, using the studio not merely as a neutral setting but as a social space where desire, trust, and looking are negotiated in real time. Mirrors and collage techniques frequently enter his process, folding representation back on itself and complicating the boundary between subject and image. Within this context, Figure (_2100799) carries the concentrated energy characteristic of Sepuya's broader engagement with homoerotic visual culture and Black queer identity. The work is less a document of a person than an exploration of what proximity and the photographic frame do to a body, a relationship, and a room. Offered in an edition of fifty and signed by the artist, the print measures 33 by 25.4 centimeters, with the image set within a larger sheet that gives the composition room to breathe. In excellent condition and shipping from New York, it represents an accessible entry point into the work of an artist whose practice has earned sustained critical attention and institutional recognition across photography, contemporary art, and queer studies.

Medium
Archival inkjet print
Dimensions
overall: 33 x 25.4 cm
Year
2017
Edition
of 50
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
Artsy Impact Auctions

Related themes

Mohn Art Collective

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Collected by

Gavin Kennedy