Shelby Head

Shelby Head

Providence, RI

My interdisciplinary practice investigates the social and linguistic constructs that shape identity, history, and collective memory in the United States.

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Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Interactive installation, racist laws, policies, and regulations in the United States are printed on wallpaper. Artist's family documents are printed on the backside of the frames. The frames are meant to be taken off the wall so that the backside can be viewed.
Interactive installation, racist laws, policies, and regulations in the United States are printed on wallpaper. Artist's family documents are printed on the backside of the frames. The frames are meant to be taken off the wall so that the backside can be viewed.
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: The back of Dark Wall frames.
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: A Brand New Boston, 22"x24"
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of frame, A brand New Boston
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: 14th Amendment, 8"x 10"
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of frame, 14 Amendment
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: 1921, 10.5" x12"
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of 1921 frame
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: The Creation of African American Slums, 10.5x12
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of frame, The Creation of African American Slums
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Own Your Own Home, 21"x 25"
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of Frame, Own Your Own Home
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Kerner Commission, 25"x 13"
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Detail, Kerner Commission
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of Kerner Commission frame
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Federal Housing Administration 1934, 13"x 16"
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of Federal Housing Administration 1934
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Voting Rights Act, 11x 9.5
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of Voting Rights frame frame
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Jim Crow Rule, 18.5"x16"
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of Jim Crow Rule frame
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: June 2013 US Supreme Court, 28"x 24"
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Back of US Supreme Court frame
Dark Wall by Shelby Head Image: Detail, back of US Supreme Court frame
  • Shelby Head
  • Dark Wall
  • Dark Wall, installation, 10 frames, wallpaper, text of racially explicit laws, regulations, policy, and government practices printed on wallpaper, backside, racist family documents, variable dimentions, 2018
  • 62 x 72 x 3 in
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This interactive installation exposes how racist U.S. laws and policies intertwine with family histories. Ten framed texts rest on shelves against wallpaper printed with discriminatory statutes, creating an oppressive visual field. Viewers lift frames to reveal hidden family documents marked by survival and complicity within white supremacist systems. This act of uncovering transforms observation into participation, forcing confrontation with buried truths, systemic harm, and the generational entanglements of power, racism, and endurance.

Other Work From Shelby Head

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