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Reconstruction: 1. An impression, model, or reenactment of a past event formed from the available evidence; 2. The period 1865–77 following the Civil War, during which the states of the Confederacy were controlled by federal government and social legislation; 3. rebuilding.

Titus Kaphar’s Kaphar’s work initiates a contemporary dialogue with history. Present in the work are manifestations of nineteenth-century American portraiture merged with modernist gestures. Meshing historical narratives with his own, Kaphar’s work condenses the activity of decades into single objects. His paintings/sculptures are constructions built from artifacts of art history.Kaphar creates these paintings that he then manipulates using modern and contemporary modes of analysis, deconstruction, and reconstruction, to question the original contexts of the figures and re-present history. By white washing, collaging, crumpling, ripping, cutting, and sewing, Kaphar reconstructs objects from the canon of art history. In some works, paintings are stacked, one on the top of the other. In others, intentionally hidden truths are uncovered by cutting out figures in the canvas and revealing the bare frame beneath.

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Ishmael, His Mother, and His Grandfather, 2009
Velvet, oil on linen, oil on linen on wood panel, gilded frame, andwood crate
74 x 60.25 x 26 in (188 x 153 x 66 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Kennet, 2009
Oil on canvas, thread, and wood structure
60 x 48 x 1.5 in (152.4 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
How They Found Him (Study), 2009
Oil on canvas on wooden stick
7.25 x 4.25 x 3.5 in (18.4 x 10.8 x 8.9 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Robert S. Collins, 2009
Oil on linen and gilded wooden frame
23.25 x 20.18 x 10 in (59.1 x 51.3 x 25.4 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
At Sea, 2009
Oil on canvas and gilded frame
27 x 36 x 32 in (68.6 x 91.4 x 81.3 cm

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Patrick Solomon Phillips, 2009
Oil on linen and gilded wooden frame
20.75 x 18.13 x 10 in (52.7 x 46.1 x 25.4 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Lillian Dandridge, 2009
Oil on canvas with fabric, thread and twine
80 x 78 x 7.5 in (203.2 x 198.1 x 19.1 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
William Edward Buchanan, 2009
Oil on canvas and gilded frame
17.5 x 17 x 10 in (44.5 x 43.2 x 25.4 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Tina Vesper, 2009
Oil on canvas with wood, unstretched canvas, thread and string
25 x 15 x 6 in (63.5 x 38.1 x 15.2 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Abram Vesper, 2009
Oil on canvas
21.8 x 17.8 x 2.25 in (55.4 x 45.2 x 5.7 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
The Narrator, 2009
Tar on paper
52.25 x 41.5 in (132.7 x 105.4 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
The Protagonist, 2009
Tar on paper
52.25 x 41.5 in (132.7 x 105.4 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 1, 2009
Mixed media on paper
12.69 x 9 in (32.2 x 22.9 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 2, 2009
Bookpages, cut out, mounted on cardstock
8.5 x 6.75 x .75 in (21.6 x 17.1 x 1.9 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 3, 2009
Two parts: gouache on book page and book page
6 x 5.88 and 2.75 x 4.38 in (15.2 x 14.9 and 6.9 x 11.1 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 4, 2009
Mixed media on paper
10.25 x 7.12 in (26.0 x 18.1 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 5, 2009
Gold leaf and collage laid on cardstock
6 x 5 in (15.2 x 12.7 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 6, 2009
Collage and adhesive
9 x 7 x 1 in (22.9 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Lillian Dandridge (Study), 2009
Collage and thread laid on card stock
6.5 x 4.25 in (16.5 x 10.8 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 7, 2009
Book page and thread mounted on book page
6.38 x 4.75 x 2 in (16.2 x 12.1 x 5.1 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 8, 2009
Gouache on book paper and collage
8.25 x 7.63 in (21.0 x 19.4 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 9, 2009
Collage
11.5 x 9.63 in (29.2 x 24.5 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Ishamel, His Mother, and His Father (Study 2), 2009
Collage on cardboard
2 x 1.63 in (5.1 x 4.1 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 10, 2009
Paint and gold leaf on book page
7.13 x 8 in (18.1 x 20.3 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 11, 2009
Gouache on book page
5.5 x 4.38 in (14.0 x 11.1 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 12, 2009
Mixed media on paper
10.37 x 7.25 in (26.3 x 18.4 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 13, 2009
Collage
10.5 x 8.5 in (26.7 x 21.6 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Ishamel, His Mother, and His Father (Study 1), 2009
Gouache on book page, mounted on photo paper and cut out
5.75 x 4.63 x 1 in (14.6 x 11.7 x 2.5 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 14, 2009
Collage and cut out
9.13 x 8.25 x .5 in (23.2 x 21.0 x 1.3 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 15, 2009
Mixed media on paper
12.69 x 9 in (32.2 x 22.9 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Push Yuh Own Damn Boat (Study), 2009
Mixed media on paper
7.12 x 10.8 in (18.1 x 27.4 cm)

Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar
Untitled 16, 2009
Marble dust and adhesive on book page
10.06 x 6.625 in (25.6 x 16.8 cm)