Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Lick and Lather
Janine Antoni American, born Bahamas
Not on view
These two self-portrait busts have changed and will continue to change over time. One is made of soap, the other chocolate. After fashioning the sculptures, Antoni licked the chocolate version and bathed with the version in soap, eroding her features. As she once said, "There’s this element of destruction, that we have to kind of unmake in order to make, and that interests me very much." Owing to their materials, the works will age at an accelerated rate. Here, the artist challenges the conventions of the classical portrait bust, premised as it is upon immortality and permanence, not to mention the heroism and authority of the white men such busts typically portray.
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