Lorraine O’Grady, whose groundbreaking conceptual art challenged conventional notions of identity and cultural boundaries, has died of natural causes in New York at age 90, her gallery Mariane Ibrahim confirmed.
O’Grady emerged as an artist in her forties after an eclectic career path that included roles as a government worker, translator, and rock music critic. Though she worked in relative obscurity for decades, her influence gained widespread recognition in the 2000s, culminating in a major retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum in 2021.
Her most iconic work included the performance persona Mlle Bourgeoise Noire, who appeared at gallery openings wearing a dress made from 180 white gloves, and her 1983 “Art Is…” project, where she entered a float in Harlem’s African American Day Parade featuring performers with gilded frames. These performances challenged institutional boundaries and explored questions of identity and representation.
Born to Jamaican immigrants in Boston in 1934, O’Grady’s background informed her perspective on class and racial dynamics in American society. Her path to art was unconventional, including studies in Spanish literature and economics at Wellesley College, a stint at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and work as a translator for publications including Encyclopedia Britannica and Playboy.
Her artistic breakthrough came in the mid-1970s while teaching at the School of Visual Arts, when she began creating collages from New York Times clippings. This marked the beginning of a diverse artistic practice that would grow to encompass performance, photography, writing, and installation work.
Despite finding recognition later in life, O’Grady remained prolific into her final years. She recently joined Mariane Ibrahim gallery and was preparing for a solo exhibition in Paris scheduled for spring 2025. In April, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship to support a new performance piece.
Gallery owner Mariane Ibrahim celebrated O’Grady as someone who “refused to be labeled or limited,” noting her crucial role in creating pathways for artists and women artists of color. O’Grady’s legacy encompasses not only her artistic output but also her influential writings and her impact on subsequent generations of artists through her teaching at institutions like the University of California, Irvine.
