WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Pope.L

Pope.L

Pope.L

Artist

WA-00033994

PaintingConceptual ArtPerformance ArtInstitutional Critique

Representation

None documented

0

Institutional Exhibitions

343

Works in Collection

680

Assets Indexed

0

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ2547113 ULAN500332876

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/37145
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Pope.L was an American performance and conceptual artist whose practice emerged from African American artistic traditions and legacies of institutional critique. Working across performance, video, installation, and drawing, he created socially engaged works that addressed race, embodiment, and systemic inequality through absurdist humor and unflinching directness. His performances often positioned his own body as a site of interrogation within public space and architectural systems.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Conceptual Art

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (343)

Eating the Wall Street Journal (new version)

2019 · Performance

Museum of Modern Art

Dressing Up for Civil Rights

2019 · Performance

Museum of Modern Art

Flint Water 6 Pack

2017 · Plastic bottles, water obtained from Flint, MI, cardboard box

Overall: 9 3/4 × 9 7/16 × 6 7/8 in. (24.8 × 24 × 17.5 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Flint Water 6 Pack

2017 · Plastic bottles, water obtained from Flint, MI, cardboard box

Overall: 9 3/4 × 9 7/16 × 6 7/8 in. (24.8 × 24 × 17.5 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Flint Water 24 Pack

2017 · Plastic bottles, water obtained from Flint, MI, cardboard box

Overall: 9 5/8 × 18 1/8 × 12 7/8 in. (24.4 × 46 × 32.7 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Flint Water 12 Pack

2017 · Plastic bottles, water obtained from Flint, MI, cardboard box

Overall: 9 3/4 × 13 1/8 × 9 1/2 in. (24.8 × 33.3 × 24.1 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Flint Water 6 Pack

2017 · Plastic bottles, water obtained from Flint, MI, cardboard box

Overall: 9 1/2 × 12 × 8 1/2 in. (24.1 × 30.5 × 21.6 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Finnish Painting

Finnish Painting

2015 · Oil, acrylic, flash paint, marker, pen, collage, thumbtacks and tape on torn paper

214.6 × 151.1 cm (84 1/2 × 59 1/2 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Purple People Bust A Nut In The Gravy And We Learn Something

2012 · Acrylic and brush and ink on paper

Sheet: 11 15/16 × 8 15/16 in. (30.3 × 22.7 cm) Image: 11 15/16 × 8 15/16 in. (30.3 × 22.7 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Orange People Are the Bodies Falling Piece By Piece To The Carpet

2012 · Pen and ink, and colored pencil on paper

Sheet: 12 × 8 7/8 in. (30.5 × 22.5 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Black People Are The Cave Inside An Earthworm

2011 · Ballpoint pen on paper

Sheet: 11 15/16 × 9 in. (30.3 × 22.9 cm) Image: 11 15/16 × 9 in. (30.3 × 22.9 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Intimacy Project

2011 · Lithographic limestone

15 3/4 × 11 13/16 × 2 15/16" (40 × 30 × 7.5 cm);

Museum of Modern Art

Red People Are My Mother When She Sick And Visiting Me In The Hospital

2010 · Fiber-tipped pen, brush and ink and acrylic on paper

Sheet: 11 1/2 × 9 in. (29.2 × 22.9 cm) Image: 11 1/2 × 9 in. (29.2 × 22.9 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

2008 · Printed and torn paper, sweater, thumb tacks and mixed media

55 1/2 x 185 1/2 x 3 5/8" (141 x 471.2 x 9.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Donated Object: Lottery Ticket

2007 · Lottery ticket

Museum of Modern Art

Donated Object: The Berenstain's B Book

Museum of Modern Art

Donated Object: Coffee Beans Not Ground

2007 · Plastic bag, containing coffee beans

Museum of Modern Art

Twice Sold Object: American Apparel Infant One-Piece "The Black Factory"

2007 · Infant one-piece

Museum of Modern Art

Donated Object: Tube of Cream "La Formule"

2007 · Tube of complexion cream

Museum of Modern Art

Twice Sold Object: American Apparel Infant One-Piece "The Black Factory"

2007 · Infant one-piece

Museum of Modern Art

Twice Sold Object: The Brutal Truth about Inflation and Financial Enslavement

2007 · Pamphlet

Museum of Modern Art

Donated Object: Business Card w/ Info from Vicki Watts & Ozzie Jones

2007 · Business card

Museum of Modern Art

Donated Object: Container for Blackness

2007 · Ceramic vase

Museum of Modern Art

Donated Object: Mask

Museum of Modern Art

View all 343 artworks →

Artwork sources (3)

343 published of 678 catalogued · 52 with image

MoMA
327 publishedof 662 catalogued47 img
Whitney
11 published
Art Institute Chicago
5 published5 img

Record

Images

Finnish Painting (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Finnish Painting (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

8

Movements3

Conceptual Art Performance Art Institutional Critique

Collections5

Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago Whitney Museum of American Art Rago Artsy

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet