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

Shikeith — Jesus Pieces
Shikeith — Jesus Pieces
Shikeith — Jesus Pieces
Shikeith

Jesus Pieces

2021

Suspended in a field of deep shadow, "Jesus Pieces" presents a Black male figure whose partially obscured form radiates both vulnerability and transcendence. Shikeith constructs the image with a cinematographic precision, allowing darkness to operate not as absence but as a textured, encompassing presence that shapes the emotional weight of the composition. The title's reference to the iconic diamond-encrusted crucifix pendant, long embedded in Black American cultural identity, introduces a layered meditation on devotion, suffering, material desire, and spiritual longing. These contradictions are held in careful tension rather than resolved, asking the viewer to sit with ambiguity as a form of truth. Shikeith's practice centers on the interiority of Black men at a moment when that interiority is rarely granted space in fine art photography. Working across photography, video, and performance, the Philadelphia-born artist approaches his subjects with a documentary intimacy that resists objectification, positioning the body as a site of feeling rather than spectacle. Printed on Canson Infinity Platine, the archival inkjet surface lends the image a luminous depth, with rich tonal gradations that reward close, sustained looking. The material quality of the print reinforces the work's broader ambition: to render the emotional and psychic life of Black masculinity with the same seriousness and beauty afforded to canonical portraiture. Available through Yossi Milo Gallery as a signed edition of five, this work represents a significant entry point into a practice attracting sustained critical and institutional attention. At 86.4 by 76.2 centimeters, the print commands a wall without overwhelming it, making it equally suited to intimate domestic settings and larger collection environments. Collectors acquiring "Jesus Pieces" are not simply acquiring a photograph but a considered argument about representation, dignity, and the sacred dimensions of Black life.

Medium
Archival Inkjet Print on Canson Infinity Platine
Overall
Signed
Yes
Location
Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, NY

For Sale — $7500

Start the Discussion

Request access to join the discussion

Collectors with works by Shikeith

About this work

Shikeith, Jesus Pieces, 2021

Suspended in a field of deep shadow, "Jesus Pieces" presents a Black male figure whose partially obscured form radiates both vulnerability and transcendence. Shikeith constructs the image with a cinematographic precision, allowing darkness to operate not as absence but as a textured, encompassing presence that shapes the emotional weight of the composition. The title's reference to the iconic diamond-encrusted crucifix pendant, long embedded in Black American cultural identity, introduces a layered meditation on devotion, suffering, material desire, and spiritual longing. These contradictions are held in careful tension rather than resolved, asking the viewer to sit with ambiguity as a form of truth. Shikeith's practice centers on the interiority of Black men at a moment when that interiority is rarely granted space in fine art photography. Working across photography, video, and performance, the Philadelphia-born artist approaches his subjects with a documentary intimacy that resists objectification, positioning the body as a site of feeling rather than spectacle. Printed on Canson Infinity Platine, the archival inkjet surface lends the image a luminous depth, with rich tonal gradations that reward close, sustained looking. The material quality of the print reinforces the work's broader ambition: to render the emotional and psychic life of Black masculinity with the same seriousness and beauty afforded to canonical portraiture. Available through Yossi Milo Gallery as a signed edition of five, this work represents a significant entry point into a practice attracting sustained critical and institutional attention. At 86.4 by 76.2 centimeters, the print commands a wall without overwhelming it, making it equally suited to intimate domestic settings and larger collection environments. Collectors acquiring "Jesus Pieces" are not simply acquiring a photograph but a considered argument about representation, dignity, and the sacred dimensions of Black life.

Medium
Archival Inkjet Print on Canson Infinity Platine
Dimensions
overall: 86.4 x 76.2 cm
Year
2021
Edition
of 5
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, NY

More works by Shikeith

Collected by

Gavin Kennedy