DNA Etching I

DNA Etching I is a visual and conceptual consideration of McArthur Binion’s personal identity, both as an artist and as an African American. The print is part of his iconic DNA series of paintings, collages, and editioned prints he first began making in the 1970s. Within the strongly geometric composition lies printed and handwritten names and numbers from Binion’s address book as well as text from his birth certificate. In a published interview, Binion explained his use of these text elements: “I call it my phonebook….In the early 1970s, you only communicated three ways: eye-to-eye, telephone, or the United States mail. I was a full-time painter in New York without a teaching job. I sold work on my own. Everybody you know would be in your address book, because it was the source. That’s how I started these paintings….And they were based on my phone book. Between my phonebook and my birth certificate, that’s my entire life. That’s what we got.”