The scarred surface of Bloodlines 1993 by Gordon Bennett is similar to the famous image of the ‘scourged back’ of Gordon, or Whipped Peter (suggesting his name was Peter Gordon), circulated as a photographic carte de visite in the 1800s and further popularised as an engraving in Harper’s Weekly. Gordon/Peter was an African American man who had escaped from enslavement on a Louisiana plantation run by a violent overseer. The image of his brutal scars was historically significant not only for the horror it documents, but also for its influence on public opinion toward slavery. The high circulation of Harper’s Weekly meant the image had significant enough exposure to become a rallying point for the Northern US states to intervene in those of the South. Bloodlines, like this historic photograph, is a visceral depiction of violence and asks the viewer to witness the horror in order to ensure that these acts are not repeated.

Bloodlines is not only painted but also cut into, revealing a blood-red wound. This allusion to a bleeding body locates the violence inflicted in the present. On his approach, Bennett stated, ‘In this [gesture] I am drawing on Aboriginal funeral ceremonies in which ritualised public displays of grief and mourning can involve bloodletting and cutting one’s own body’. Bloodlines is an enactment of contemporary solidarity for black bodies both historic and contemporary who have suffered violent injustices.