Open Casket

"Open Casket" is a 2016 Neo-expressionism painting by Dana Schutz that depicts the recently deceased Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy who was brutally lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Using a figurative style, Schutz portrays Till's open casket in a raw and emotionally charged manner. The artwork was featured at the 2017 Whitney Biennial, curated by Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks, but ignited controversy, prompting protests both inside and outside the museum over issues of racial representation and artistic appropriation, with some calling for its destruction.