Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Sanford Biggers. It dates from 2005 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
The image shows a silhouette of a face, but it’s chopped up into sharp, angular shapes.
Sanford Biggers carved this woodcut in 2005. It’s a tall, narrow print—almost six feet high—with an irregular, jagged edge. The image shows a silhouette of a face, but it’s chopped up into sharp, angular shapes.
This isn’t just a portrait. Biggers used a method called woodcut, where ink rolls over a carved block of wood. The cut-out sections leave the face raw and unpolished, making it feel raw and modern.
The uneven edges make the face look like it’s breaking apart. See how the lines jump and split? It feels alive.
Look up more prints by Sanford Biggers.
Overview
Sanford Biggers created this woodcut in 2005, a tall, vertical print measuring nearly six feet in height. The work is part of The Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. As a multidisciplinary artist based in New York since 1999, Biggers frequently engages with historical imagery and material processes. This piece exemplifies his interest in transforming traditional print techniques to explore identity and fragmentation.
Subject & Meaning
The image presents a human face rendered as a fractured silhouette, its features broken into sharp, geometric shards. Rather than a conventional portrait, the face appears disassembled, as if deconstructed by force or time. The abstraction suggests the instability of representation, particularly in how Black identity has been historically mediated and distorted in visual culture.
Technique & Style
Biggers employed the woodcut method, carving directly into a wooden block to create raised areas that hold ink. The resulting print retains the raw texture of the carved surface, with uneven, jagged edges that interrupt the form’s continuity. The deliberate roughness of the lines and the absence of smooth contours emphasize imperfection, rejecting polished realism in favor of a visceral, tactile presence.
History & Provenance
Created in 2005, the work entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly after its production. It reflects Biggers’s early engagement with printmaking as a medium for conceptual inquiry. While specific details of its exhibition history prior to acquisition are not widely documented, its inclusion in MoMA’s holdings situates it within a broader discourse on contemporary print practices and racial representation.
Context
This piece emerged during a period when Biggers was increasingly integrating African and African diasporic motifs into his work. The fragmented face resonates with themes of cultural erasure and reclamation, echoing broader conversations in early 2000s art about the legacy of colonial imagery and the politics of visibility. The woodcut’s physicality aligns with a resurgence of handcrafted methods in contemporary art as a counter to digital reproduction.
Legacy
Untitled contributes to Biggers’s ongoing exploration of how historical forms can be reactivated to question present-day narratives. Its inclusion in a major institution underscores the significance of printmaking in contemporary conceptual practice. The work continues to inform discussions around materiality, race, and the body in art, influencing younger artists who engage with similar themes of disruption and memory.
Artist & collection
Artist
Sanford Biggers is an American interdisciplinary artist who works in film and video, installation, sculpture, music, and performance. A Los Angeles native, he has lived and worked in New York City since 1999.
