Collection 1980s–Present

Pope.L (American, born 1955). _The Great White Way: 22 miles, 9 years, 1 street, Broadway, New York_. 2001-09. Inkjet print, 10 × 15" (25.4 × 38.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired in part through the generosity of Jill and Peter Kraus, Anne and Joel S. Ehrenkranz, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, The Jill and Peter Kraus Media and Performance Acquisition Fund, and Jill and Peter Kraus in honor of Michael Lynne. © Pope.L, courtesy the artist

Pope.L. The Great White Way. 2001-09

Pope.L (American, born 1955). The Great White Way: 22 miles, 9 years, 1 street, Broadway, New York. 2001-09. Inkjet print, 10 × 15" (25.4 × 38.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired in part through the generosity of Jill and Peter Kraus, Anne and Joel S. Ehrenkranz, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, The Jill and Peter Kraus Media and Performance Acquisition Fund, and Jill and Peter Kraus in honor of Michael Lynne. © Pope.L, courtesy the artist

Pope.L: I think costumes are a way to project yourself into the world and at the same time conceal yourself. And I think that's necessary for the performances I'm trying to do.

Superman was introduced to me by my Aunt Jenny. She used to watch the TV version of Superman in the 50s with George Reeves. Every single day. I'd say that there were two main religious things in my Aunt Jenny's life, one was Church and the other one was Superman. She loved that white guy. And it stayed with me.

So when I was trying to figure out what the next step of a crawl figure would be, I said, “Well, you know, what is more manly than that guy?” So somehow I landed on this, this next step of success, if you will. Instead of the suit, it would be the super suit.

At one point I realized that talking to people when you're laying down on the street is a moment, you don't get to do that very much. And people, they'll talk to you differently when they're standing up over the top of you. They think they're like instant superiority. Except in this case, I have the super suit.