Join The Collection to save, track, and explore works like this.

Paul Mpagi Sepuya — Draping (_R2A7751)
Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Draping (_R2A7751)

2016

Draping (_R2A7751) draws the viewer into Paul Mpagi Sepuya's signature practice of layered intimacy, where the photographic studio becomes both subject and stage. Made in 2016, the archival pigment print presents fabric, body, and reflected surface in a composition that collapses the boundaries between subject, photographer, and the act of looking itself. Sepuya's deliberate construction of the image foregrounds the conditions under which photographs are made, inviting sustained attention to what is revealed, what is concealed, and what is held in suspension between the two. Sepuya, born in San Bernardino in 1982 and now based in Los Angeles, has built a critically celebrated body of work that situates Black queer embodiment within a rigorous and tender photographic language. His work is held in major institutional contexts, with exhibitions at the Whitney Biennial, the Walker Art Center, the Guggenheim Museum, and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, among others. He also serves as Acting Associate Professor in Media Arts at the University of California San Diego, bringing his conceptual concerns into active dialogue with the next generation of image-makers. Offered at a modest scale of 33 by 25.4 centimeters, this unframed print rewards close, attentive viewing. The intimate dimensions feel appropriate to the work's subject matter, creating a sense of private encounter that mirrors the relational dynamics Sepuya consistently explores. The work ships from Los Angeles, with shipping and handling the responsibility of the winning bidder, and represents an accessible entry point into the practice of one of contemporary photography's most thoughtful and consequential voices.

Medium
Archival pigment print
Overall

Start the Discussion

Request access to join the discussion

Collectors with works by Paul Mpagi Sepuya

About this work

Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Draping (_R2A7751), 2016

Draping (_R2A7751) draws the viewer into Paul Mpagi Sepuya's signature practice of layered intimacy, where the photographic studio becomes both subject and stage. Made in 2016, the archival pigment print presents fabric, body, and reflected surface in a composition that collapses the boundaries between subject, photographer, and the act of looking itself. Sepuya's deliberate construction of the image foregrounds the conditions under which photographs are made, inviting sustained attention to what is revealed, what is concealed, and what is held in suspension between the two. Sepuya, born in San Bernardino in 1982 and now based in Los Angeles, has built a critically celebrated body of work that situates Black queer embodiment within a rigorous and tender photographic language. His work is held in major institutional contexts, with exhibitions at the Whitney Biennial, the Walker Art Center, the Guggenheim Museum, and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, among others. He also serves as Acting Associate Professor in Media Arts at the University of California San Diego, bringing his conceptual concerns into active dialogue with the next generation of image-makers. Offered at a modest scale of 33 by 25.4 centimeters, this unframed print rewards close, attentive viewing. The intimate dimensions feel appropriate to the work's subject matter, creating a sense of private encounter that mirrors the relational dynamics Sepuya consistently explores. The work ships from Los Angeles, with shipping and handling the responsibility of the winning bidder, and represents an accessible entry point into the practice of one of contemporary photography's most thoughtful and consequential voices.

Medium
Archival pigment print
Dimensions
overall: 33 x 25.4 cm
Year
2016
Seen at
Critical Resistance Benefit Auction

Related themes

Mohn Art Collective

More works by Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Collected by

Gavin Kennedy