“The proof that one truly believes is in action.” – Bayard Rustin
“Equality. Blackness. Power. Fetishism. America. Wisdom. Martyr. Integration. Injustice. Strength. Knowledge. Race. Freedom. Segregation. Courage. Shootings. Humanity. Determination. Inequality. Lynching. Resilience. Homophobia. Enlightenment. Oppression. Hope. Man. Beauty. Other. Revolution. Woman. Identity. Child. Violence. Love. Inferiority. Unity. Me. You & Us.
This painting depicts the truth of the United States of America and the systemic conditions imposed on people of a darker complexion that Bayard Rustin dedicated his life to change.” – Sissòn
(b. 1986) Sissòn is a non-binary, self-taught American artist. Their work reveals and questions the experience and social constructs of race, identity, and power. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Glendale, Arizona, Sissòn began their creative curriculum at age seven under the tutelage of their mother, Kimberlin. When she passed away in 2006, Sissòn abandoned their practice for almost a decade. They returned in 2015, creating work that would form the basis of their first solo show, Ivory, Gold, Slaves. Sissòn continues to eschew the gallery system, showing independently in New York and Los Angeles where they live and work.
Bayard Rustin, 1963. Orlando Fernandez. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, NYWT&S Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-35538.