Pope.L

The Great White Way: 22 miles, 9 years, 1 street

2001 - 2009

Video (color, sound; 6:34 min.); five inkjet prints; painted wood and metal skateboard; Superman costume; orange wool hat

Not on view

“I get down on my belly and crawl till I’m reality,” Pope.L once said. This video documents a multipart performance during which Pope.L dragged his body along the entire length of Broadway in New York City. For each performance, he dressed in a capeless Superman costume and knit cap, strapped a skateboard to his back, and crawled for as long as he could. When the pain became unbearable, he would turn on his back and roll on the skateboard before starting to crawl again. He characterized these actions as a “response to the steady increase of street people occupying the sidewalks of New York City and the community’s refusal to recognize this calamity.”

Pope.L, whose provocative work took many forms over a career of almost fifty years, died in December 2023.

Gallery label from

2024

Medium Video (color, sound; 6:34 min.); five inkjet prints; painted wood and metal skateboard; Superman costume; orange wool hat
Credit Acquired through the generosity of The Jill and Peter Kraus Media and Performance Acquisition Fund, Jill and Peter Kraus, Anne and Joel S. Ehrenkranz, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, and Jill and Peter Kraus in honor of Michael Lynne
Object number 89.2019.1-9
Department Media and Performance

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Pope.L

Pope.L

American, 1955–2023 33 works online

For five days, Pope.L sat on a toilet situated atop a tall makeshift tower, reading and eating a copy of the Wall Street Journal soaked in milk and ketchup.

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