Mixed-media painting on board depicting Senator Joseph McCarthy; architect of 1950s McCarthyism and American political witch hunts. Rendered expressionistically in acrylic; ink; and marker with vibrant yellows; blues; reds; and whites. Figure emerges through semi-transparent paint passages; present yet elusive; visible yet fragmented.

Title Undocument and reference to R.E.M.s 1987 album Document (R.E.M. No. 5) create deliberate conceptual dialogue with the bands song Exhuming McCarthy. By depicting McCarthy himself; the artist excavates the genealogy of authoritarian control across American history.

McCarthy pioneered modern American political persecution: accusations without evidence; loyalty oaths; character assassination; forced confessions; professional destruction. His tactics created methodology deployed across subsequent decades. Reagan-era neo-conservatism revived McCarthyite persecution against Central American leftists and immigrants. Contemporary immigration enforcement continues this lineage: border militarization; ICE raids; DACA legal challenges; and anti-immigrant rhetoric represent McCarthyisms persistent ghost.

McCarthys legacy did not end with his 1954 censure or 1957 death. His methods were resurrected; refined; and deployed across subsequent American history. The undocumented immigrant occupies same persecuted position as McCarthys accused communist: invisible; criminalized; stripped of rights despite physical presence in nation.

By depicting McCarthy as undocumented - visible yet fragmented through expressionistic layering - artist creates paradox: McCarthy becomes what his victims were; present yet erased. Work positions McCarthy not as settled historical figure but as ongoing threat; his methods continuously recycled against persecuted populations.

INTENTIONALLY UNSIGNED: The artist deliberately chose not to sign this work as a conceptual statement about undocumentation; invisibility; and erasure. The unsigned status reinforces the works central philosophical argument. This is sophisticated artistic intention; not accident or loss of attribution. The form perfectly aligns with the content; demonstrating conceptual rigor characteristic of contemporary political art practice.

For collectors and institutions; this work offers fusion of historical genealogy; conceptual rigor; and immediate political urgency with profound relevance to 2024-2026 immigration policy debates; DACA challenges; and ICE enforcement escalation.

Artist: Unknown; deliberately unsigned.

CONDITION: Good. Very good condition with few signs of use. Frame is structurally sound.

DIMENSIONS: 24 x 20 in.

PROVENANCE: Private collection; Atlanta; Georgia.

• Low Estimate: 4000.00
• High Estimate: 12000.00