McLoughlin Brothers, "Topsy" (1863). Cardstock, 4 x 2 5/8 in.

February 2009 Field Guide

Roni Horn

"Where in the World?"

Gedi Sibony

Charles Darwin

Dan Graham

"The Dirty Hands"

Yayoi Kusama

Year of Fashion

Isabelle Cornaro

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Sophie Ristelhueber

Santiago Sierra

Glenn Brown

The Face of Our Time

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Besides sparking abolitionist outrage that culminated in the Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, also inspired Topsy, the earliest-known mass-produced black paper doll (and a character from the book). Since then, black paper dolls have studiously reflected the prevailing American political (and racial) fashions. In "Paper Cuts" — an exhibition drawn from the vast collection of writer and aficionado Arabella Grayson — flat, well-wardrobed dolls depicting black slaves and servants, as well as Aunt Jemima, Josephine Baker, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, and Tiger Woods, trace the changing perceptions and realities of African Americans since the 1800s. And up to the present day — the exhibition includes Beyoncé dolls outfitted in two-dimensional couture and a set featuring President Barack Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, accompanied by a "complete wardrobe of authentic outfits worn by the couple on the campaign trail."

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"Paper Cuts: 200 Years of Black Paper Dolls" originally appeared in the February 2009 issue of Modern Painters. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Modern Painters' February 2009 Table of Contents.