Mark Bradford

in which he shall be

in which he shall be presents excerpts from the preamble and first article of the Constitution of the United States. These iconic phrases refer tothe counting and appointment processes for Congress. The work’s title references congressional selection and eligibility requirements, underscoringthe critical role of representation in American politics. The golden slash of paint, which breaks the surface, speaks to an imbalance that continues to have repercussions for citizens of this country. Bradford originally created in which he shall be as a prototype for the London Embassy commission of We The People (2017), a site-specific painting comprised of 32 ten-foot panels. This work builds upon Bradford’s practice of engaging with themes of identity and representation through his signature technique of building, scraping, and layering materials onto the canvas. in which he shall be both obscures and reveals the words of the Constitution to infer that it is at once a symbol for peace and a flawed document of its time.