'TIME' Enlists Titus Kaphar for George Floyd-Honoring Cover
The painting, ‘Analogous Colors,’ is accompanied by a pointed poem.
'TIME' Enlists Titus Kaphar for George Floyd-Honoring Cover
The painting, ‘Analogous Colors,’ is accompanied by a pointed poem.
TIME continues to address contemporary issues with its latest issue, covered by a new piece commissioned from artist Titus Kaphar. Dubbed ‘Analogous Colors,’ the painting is an ode to George Floyd and the black community’s ongoing struggle against oppression; it’s also accompanied by a poem.
The painting’s subject, a black mother, holds a child’s silhouette. Kaphar cut the shape out of the canvas, creating a stark, colorless hole that references George Floyd calling out for his mother while pinned on the ground. Furthermore, it’s surrounded by TIME‘s familiar red band, emblazoned with text for the very first time. Printed on the band are the names of 35 black men and women killed in violent, racist acts, including the names of Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Eric Garner and more.
Kaphar’s poem, I Cannot Sell You This Painting, is equally profound as his painting, a reflection on black injustice. “Are black and loss / analogous colors in America,” he asks. “If Malcolm could not fix it, / if Martin could not fix it, / if Michael, / Sandra, / Trayvon, / Tamir, / Breonna and / Now George Floyd… /can be murdered /and nothing changes / wouldn’t it be foolish to remain hopeful? /Must I accept that this is what it means to be Black / in America?”
Read Kaphar’s entire work on TIME‘s site.
