Tuffy Made Safe, 2021
MALCOLM MOBUTU SMITH
Tuffy Made Safe, 2021
Stoneware, slip and glaze
16 x 19 x 7 in
Li’l Tuffy is a recurrent motif in Smith’s work A black child in a red, green, and black jumpsuit. The character was created by Smith’s mother Jean Pajot Smith, and featured in two children’s books 1st published by Johnson publishing/Ebony Jr! in the 1970s. The character was created in the image of her multiracial children. In Tuffy Made Safe, Li’l Tuffy with raised hands appears to be being shot in the back.
