Second Skin: Josephine Baker and the Modern Surface

Second Skin explores the intimate relationship between the invention of modernist style and the theatricalization of black skin at the turn of the twentieth century, arguing that Josephine Baker's famous nakedness must be understood in the context of larger debates about pure surface and modernist display.

Format: Hardback
Length: 184 pages
Publication date: 22 February 2024
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Through the figure of Josephine Baker, Second Skin tells the story of an unexpected yet enduring intimacy between the invention of a modernist style and the theatricalization of black skin at the turn of the twentieth century. Stepping outside of the platitudes surrounding this iconic figure, Anne A. Cheng argues that Baker's famous nakedness must be understood within larger philosophic and aesthetic debates about, and desire for, pure surface that crystallized at the convergence of modern art, architecture, machinery, and philosophy. Through Cheng's analysis, Baker emerges as a central artist whose work engages with and impacts various modes of modernist display such as film, photography, art, and even the modern house.

Cheng's exploration delves into the complex interplay between Baker's body, performance, and the visual culture of the time, highlighting how her nakedness became a powerful tool for challenging and subverting dominant narratives. She argues that Baker's nakedness was not simply a display of physical beauty but a profound expression of her identity and cultural heritage. By examining the ways in which Baker's body was represented and interpreted in various media, including film, photography, and art, Cheng sheds light on the ways in which modernist aesthetics shaped and influenced the representation of black skin.

Weight: 370g
Dimension: 147 x 220 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197748381
Edition number: 2 Revised edition