ticketsMember | Make a donation

The Enemy Amongst Us

1995
Not on view
Lockett was the youngest artist working in the Birmingham-Bessemer group, which included Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, and Joe Minter. Like Dial, his cousin and artistic mentor, Lockett often responded to current events in his work. The Enemy Amongst Us is one of six pieces Lockett created in memorial of the Oklahoma City bombing (1995). A portion of the work is totally nonrepresentational—a visual approach he considered most appropriate when grappling with the loss of life. Rather than literally representing the event, the exposed grate, ripped sheets of metal, and splattered paint evoke the facade of a blasted building. The title refers to the fact that the perpetrators of this act of domestic terrorism were American (and veterans).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Enemy Amongst Us
  • Artist: Ronald Lockett (American, Bessemer, Alabama 1965–1998 Bessemer, Alabama)
  • Date: 1995
  • Medium: Commercial paint, pine needles, metal, and nails on plywood
  • Dimensions: 50 × 53 × 3 in. (127 × 134.6 × 7.6 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Gift of Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.548.10
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Wallowa Mountains Memory, Variation, Kay WalkingStick American and Citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Oil and gold leaf on wood panel
Wallowa Mountains Memory, Variation
Kay WalkingStick
2004
Untitled, Robert Gober American, Bronze, shoe polish, plaster and painted resin
Untitled
Robert Gober
1994–2001
The Mete of the Muse, Fred Wilson American, Bronze, patina, paint
The Mete of the Muse
Fred Wilson
2006
America Today, Thomas Hart Benton American, Ten panels: Egg tempera with oil glazing over Permalba on a gesso ground on linen mounted to wood panels with a honeycomb interior
America Today
Thomas Hart Benton
1930–31
I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, Charles Demuth American, Oil, graphite, ink, and gold leaf on paperboard (Upson board)
I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
Charles Demuth
1928

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.