Lempertz · Lot 516
I know why the caged bird sings (Forever Free)
Acryl-Latexfarbe und marble stain auf Karton
Auction date : 2023-12-02
Published result : 11340 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 10000
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Michael Ray Charles
Documented citizenships : United States
Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1967, Michael Ray Charles graduated from McNeese State University in 1989 and received an MFA from the University of Houston in 1993. His training in advertising and design informs paintings concerned with the circulation of images throughout American culture.
Charles reworks racial stereotypes disseminated through packaging, posters, entertainment and the media. By transforming these images, he exposes connections between historical caricatures and contemporary representations of African Americans. The familiar appearance of advertising thus becomes a vehicle for critically examining racism. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Forever Free), from 1995, his painting on cardboard combines materials including acrylic, latex, marble stain and a copper penny, extending this attention to the physical supports through which images are presented and circulated.
This profile brings together identity references for Michael Ray Charles and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Documented auction references
3auction references
1auction house
3documented results with prices
Lempertz
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Works recorded at auction
Lempertz · Lot 450
Capable Shit Happens (Forever Free)
Acryl-Latexfarbe und marble stain auf Karton
Auction date : 2023-06-07
Published result : 16380 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 10000
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Lempertz · Lot 451
Havin' a Ball (Forever Free)
Acryl-Latexfarbe und marble stain auf Karton
Auction date : 2023-06-07
Published result : 13860 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 10000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Sources and references
- Reference record
- LoC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
- Documentary source
- Documentary source
- Documentary source
SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated :
Do you own a work by this artist?
Contact SwissArtGalleryContinue exploring
Documented profiles →Recently enriched profiles
Wolf Kahn
Wolf Kahn (1927–2020), born in Stuttgart, left Germany as a child, reached England and joined his family in New York in 1940. After studying with Stuart Davis and Hans Hofmann, becom…
3 auction referencesHeinrich Hoerle
Heinrich Hoerle was born in Cologne in 1895 and died there in 1936. Following beginnings shaped by Expressionism, he participated in the city's Dada activity and developed a close as…
3 auction referencesMark Kostabi
Mark Kostabi, born in Los Angeles in 1960 to Estonian parents, studied drawing and painting at California State University, Fullerton. Moving to New York in 1982, he joined the East…
4 auction references