Jeb Stuart Monument, Richmond, Virginia 2020

Kris Graves made this photograph of the Jeb Stuart Monument in Richmond, Virginia. The statue itself, erected in 1907, romanticized the Confederacy and perpetuated white supremacist ideology through public art. But here, Graves captures the monument post-vandalism; the pedestal covered in graffiti reading “The Revolution is Here.” In this image, the statue acts as a palimpsest, or an object with layers of meaning and history inscribed upon it. Graves highlights the monument's contentious role in contemporary debates about race, history, and public memory. To understand this image fully, we need to consider the history of Confederate monuments and the social context in which they were erected and later defaced. Researching the history of Richmond, Virginia, the Lost Cause mythology, and the Black Lives Matter movement can illuminate the complex layers of meaning embedded in this photograph.