When painter, sculptor, and installation artist Titus Kaphar's life was upended by his estranged father, he turned to film. First he decided to tell his story in a documentary, but scrapped the project when it felt unsatisfying. His new feature film, Exhibiting Forgiveness, tells his story and brings his paintings to life. Kaphar talked to Tonya Mosley about his journey to healing. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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This is FRESH air.
I'm Tanya Moseley and my guest today, Contemporary painter, sculptor and installation artist Titus Kaphar is known for taking classical forms of art and deconstructing them by cutting, crumbling, shredding, stitching, tarring, twisting and binding to reveal hidden truths that challenge historical narratives.
His art provokes, forcing the viewer to confront the erasure of black Americans from our historical narrative.
Take his 2014 painting behind the Myth of Benevolence, a portrait of Thomas Jefferson peeling away to reveal Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman that Jefferson owned.
His 2020 Time magazine cover, anagalous Colors, depicted a mother holding the silhouette of a child, which Kaphar created by cutting into the canvas.
The image references George Floyd calling out for his mother during his arrest and final moments.
Kaphar, whose paintings and art installations can be found at some of the world's most prestigious museums, has now taken his vision to the big screen, deconstructing his own life with his directorial debut, a raw and deeply personal film titled Exhibiting Forgiveness.
It's about a celebrated painter whose carefully constructed world unravels when his estranged father, a recovering addict seeking redemption, suddenly reappears in his life.
It's a searing exploration of forgiveness, asking us who deserves it, who owes it and at what cost.
Titus, welcome to FRESH air.
Thank you.
If I'm not mistaken, this idea for the film was originally a documentary, right?
How did it turn into a feature film?
The documentary happened because I was going back to Michigan, where I'm from, Kalamazoo, to visit my grandmother.
And when I got to my grandmother's house, my father was sitting on the doorstep and I had my sons with me and my wife was with me, and they'd never seen him before.