Pittsburgh Loves Dogs

In Pittsburgh Loves Dogs, images and text from a range of historical and contemporary sources are hand-torn and combined in a multi-layered collage, highlighting the use of dogs in centuries of violent oppression of Black people in the United States. Mguni pulls from a poster advertising canines trained to hunt fugitive slaves, photographs of police dogs attacking protesters during civil rights actions in the 1960s, and news images of present-day local law enforcement, evoking a traumatic and unresolved history. In response to the tragic death of Bruce Kelley Jr., the artist asks, “Is Black human life worth as much as a dog’s in the ‘Most Livable City in America?’ When will police officers be held accountable for the extra-judicial killing of Black people?”

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website