In Eight Verses for Lorraine O’Grady, Camille Bacon honors the artist’s irreducible spirit and transformative impact on Black feminist art. Blending poetry and reflection, Bacon celebrates O’Grady’s boundary-defying practice—from Mlle Bourgeoise Noire to her curatorial work—affirming her lasting influence on future generations of artists and thinkers.
Lorraine O’Grady (1934–2024), the conceptual and performance artist who transformed how audiences understand race, gender, and identity, died at 90. Beginning her art career at 45, she created groundbreaking works like Cutting Out The New York Times and championed Black female subjectivity, while her incisive writing and performances challenged systemic erasure and segregation in the art world.
Lorraine O’Grady (1934–2024), the trailblazing conceptual artist, used performance, collage, and writing to confront the art world’s racial and gender hierarchies. From her first collages in Cutting Out the New York Times to the fearless persona Mademoiselle Bourgeoise Noire, O’Grady challenged Black artists and institutions alike, blending wit, audacity, and Black feminist insight to transform how audiences see identity, creativity, and self-expression.