Winner Takes It All

IN THE EARLY 1990S, Donald Rodney assembled a collection of more than 100 cheap sporting and academic trophies, such as those typically available in local shops, and displayed them on shelves that ran the length of the gallery wall, and in purpose-made glazed and mirrored cabinets.

- Eddie Chambers

The trophies were embellished with engraved plaques that represented half-truths and ‘half-lies’ about Black people’s history, culture, familial relationships and so on. These labels – featuring both upper- and lower-case type – had pronounced sociological resonances, as if the reader was encountering certifiable ‘truths’ as much as they might be encountering questionable myths, caricatures and prejudices related to Black people. Titled Doublethink (1992), this formidable work made for uncomfortable viewing, on account of the grotesque caricatures and pathologies communicated in the plaques.