Artwork Description
Clarence Heyward – Looking for Terry 25.1
Dimensions: 25 x 25″ framed
Year: 2024
Looking For Terry is a series of paintings named after the “Terry Stop, also known as a stop-and-frisk, which is defined as a brief non-intrusive police stop of a suspect. The Fourth Amendment requires that before stopping the suspect, the police must have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed by the suspect. “Looking for Terry” refers to how this tactic is used to lawfully/unlawfully target people of color.
For example, in the case of Floyd v. City of New York 813 F. Supp.2d 417 (2011), the court held the New York stop-and-frisk policy violated the Fourth Amendment because it rendered stop and frisks more frequent for Black and Hispanic individuals.
The portraits profile positioning serves as reference to the racial profiling that people of color have historically been subjugated to. An octagonal red plane mirrors a traffic stop sign to reference the dangers of a potential stop by law enforcement. The green skin as in all of my work references the perception of Black culture.