Titus Kaphar: Exhibiting Forgiveness

Titus Kaphar’s moving screenplay Exhibiting Forgiveness (2024) tells the story of a father and son who reunite after years of estrangement, and follows their choices as to how to make peace with the past. Featuring hundreds of film stills and paintings, this book documents the development of Kaphar’s movie from script to screen.

This book provides a behind-the-scenes view of the debut feature film, Exhibiting Forgiveness, by renowned artist and director, Titus Kaphar. The film follows Tarrell, a successful Black painter, who reunites with his estranged father, La’Ron. Having endured years of La’Ron’s addiction and abuse as a child, the trauma of Tarrell’s past reverberates throughout his life and art. Facing his newly sober father, Tarrell must reconcile himself with his childhood and determine how to move forward. With poignant performances by André Holland, Andra Day, John Earl Jelks, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Exhibiting Forgiveness masterfully depicts the cycle of abuse and comments on the power dynamics of the contemporary art world.

Juxtaposing a marked-up script with film stills, this publication captures the transformation of Exhibiting Forgiveness into a feature film. It also illustrates fifteen paintings that Kaphar created for the movie to showcase Tarrell’s vibrant artistic practice.

Titus Kaphar is a painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and installation artist who confronts history by dismantling styles of visual representation in Western art in order to subvert them. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, amongst others. He is also the founder of NXTHVN, a national arts model that empowers emerging artists and curators of color through education and access.