Verbal Description: Denyse Thomasos’ Displaced Burial / Burial at Gorée

Denyse Thomasos’ Displaced Burial / Burial at Gorée (1993) is an acrylic on canvas and measures 108 × 216 in. (274.3 × 548.6 cm). 

This mural-sized painting by Denyse Thomasos is composed of black and white paint strokes, linear and slash-like that range across the entirety of the canvas’ surface. Varying in length and width, moving in different directions, these lines form a monumental abstract painting. Crisscrossing black lines loom in the top half of the painting, suggesting the binding web of netting. Thick black lines are scattered throughout the canvas as if they are the remains of a shattered structure. Angling slightly below the horizon line towards the right corner of the painting are white lines that reference multiple platforms. Throughout the painting, black and white lines weave in and out of each other referencing architectural fragments. Box-like structures, broken and ghostly, conjure images of prisons. The scale of this work and the kinetic motion of the mark making contribute to the experiential nature of the work. The island of Gorée lies off the coast of Senegal, and from the 15th to the 19th century, was instrumental in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Over twenty million enslaved Africans passed through the island after they were captured on the continent. Thomasos explained: “I used lines in deep space to re-create these claustrophobic conditions, leaving no room to breathe.”