WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Lorraine O'Grady

Lorraine O'Grady

Artist

WA-00003156

PhotographyConceptual ArtPerformance Art

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ6681667

MoMA

Field Verification (6 fields)

0 cross-verified · 6 single-source

BiographyMuseum· 80%
Birth yearMuseum· 80%
Death yearMuseum· 80%
NationalityMuseum· 80%
Primary mediumMuseum· 80%
Profile imageMuseum· 80%

Source Registry (2)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/37299
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Aic Exhibitions
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred70%

About

Why this artist matters now

Lorraine O'Grady was an American artist, writer, translator, and critic. Working in conceptual art and performance art that integrates photo and video installation, she explored the cultural construction of identity – particularly that of Black female subjectivity – as shaped by the experience of diaspora and hybridity. O'Grady studied at Wellesley College and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop before becoming an artist at the age of 45. Regarding the purpose of art, O'Grady said in 2016: "I think art's first goal is to remind us that we are human, whatever that is. I suppose the politics in my art could be to remind us that we are all human."

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Conceptual Art

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

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

Canonical record

Artworks (14)

WattsOS

Dracula and the Artist (Dreaming Dracula)

1991 · Diptych, archival pigment print

Image: 101.6 x 127 cm (40 x 50 in.); Framed: 103.8 x 129.2 x 4.4 cm (40 7/8 x 50 7/8 x 1 3/4 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Dracula and the Artist (Dracula Vanquished by Art)

1991 · Diptych, archival pigment print

Image: 101.6 x 127 cm (40 x 50 in.); Framed: 103.8 x 129.2 x 4.4 cm (40 7/8 x 50 7/8 x 1 3/4 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Dracula and the Artist

1991 · Diptych, archival pigment print

Image: 101.6 x 254 cm (40 x 100 in.); Framed: 103.8 x 258.4 x 4.4 cm (40 7/8 x 101 3/4 x 1 3/4 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Rivers, First Draft

1982 · 6 chromogenic prints

Sheet (each): 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) Image (each): 15 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. (40 × 50.2 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

WattsOS

Rivers, First Draft

1982 · 11 chromogenic prints

Sheet: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) Image: 15 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. (40 × 50.2 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

WattsOS

Rivers, First Draft

1982 · 12 chromogenic prints

Sheet (a-e, h-l): 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) Image (a-e, h-l): 15 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. (40 × 50.2 cm) Sheet (f): 20 × 13 1/2 in. (50.8 × 34.3 cm) Image (f): 19 11/16 × 13 1/4 in. (50 × 33.7 cm) Sheet (g): 20 × 13 5/16 in. (50.8 × 33.8 cm) Image (g): 19 11/16 × 13 in. (50 × 33 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

WattsOS

Rivers, First Draft

1982 · 5 chromogenic prints

Sheet (each): 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) Image (each): 15 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. (40 × 50.2 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

WattsOS

Rivers, First Draft

1982 · 7 chromogenic prints

Sheet: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) Image: 15 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. (40 × 50.2 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

WattsOS

Rivers, First Draft

1982 · 7 chromogenic prints

Sheet (a): 20 7/16 × 13 7/16 in. (51.9 × 34.1 cm) Image (a): 19 5/8 × 13 3/16 in. (49.8 × 33.5 cm) Sheet (b-g): 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm) Image (b-g): 15 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. (40 × 50.2 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Miscegenated Family Album

1980 · Sixteen silver dye bleach print diptychs, framed

Each: 67.3 × 95.3 cm (26 1/2 × 37 9/16 in.); 67.4 × 95.3 cm (26 1/2 × 37 1/2 in.); Each frame: 69.3 × 97 × 3.9 cm (27 1/4 × 38 3/16 × 1 1/2 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Miscegenated Family Album (Motherhood), L: Nefertiti; R: Devonia reading to Candace and Edward, Jr.

1980 · Silver dye bleach prints, printed 2008

Each 20 × 16" (50.8 × 40.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Miscegenated Family Album (Ceremonial Occasions I), L: Devonia as Matron of Honor; R: Nefertiti performing a lustration

1980 · Silver dye bleach prints, printed 2008

Each 20 × 16" (50.8 × 40.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Miscegenated Family Album (Worldly Princesses), L: Nefertiti’s daughter, Merytaten; R: Devonia’s daughter, Kimberley

1980 · Silver dye bleach prints, printed 2008

Each 20 × 16" (50.8 × 40.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (Mlle Bourgeoise Noire)

1980 · Fourteen gelatin silver prints, printed 2014

Each, approx. 8 1/2 x 10" (21.6 x 25.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 14 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

14 published of 18 catalogued · 9 with image

Whitney
6 published
MoMA
4 publishedof 8 catalogued8 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
3 published
Art Institute Chicago
1 published1 img

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 3)

3 entries · 1 sources

Dracula and the Artist (Dracula Vanquished by Art)
1991 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Dracula and the Artist (Dreaming Dracula)
1991 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Dracula and the Artist
1991 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record