We’d like to thank Mary Savig, the Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, for her support of Demetri Broxton and for guiding the accession of Bombs Over Baghdad. We’d also like to thank Curatorial Assistant Elizabeth Routhier for providing updates at each step of the process. And of course our sincere gratitude to collector Amy Madsen of Los Altos, whose steadfast support of Demetri Broxton provided this generous donation to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. We’re excited to view Bombs Over Baghdad in an upcoming 2026 exhibition at the Renwick Gallery.
The lyrics from Bombs Over Bahgdad (Don’t Pull the Thang Out) come from rapper duo OutKast’s 2000 track B.O.B. Forward three years, after the start of the United States’ second war with Iraq, the song became an anthem representing the nation’s failed war in the Middle East. However, the original intent of the song had more to do with life for African Americans living in the ghettos of America. Andre 3000 and Big Boi paint pictures of the complexities of living in the ‘hood’ – a place with well-known institutional problems but also a place with daily joys for those who call it home. The lyrics mirror a common African American phrase, “don’t start no stuff, won’t be no stuff” – a colloquial interpretation of Proverbs 17:28. The huge ‘chocolate’, aka “humpback’ cowrie shells used on this piece render them completely unusable for their original intent to protect both the hands of the boxer and face of the opponent during a boxing match. These shells are only found in the Indo-Pacific region of the world, with the batch used by Broxton specifically originating in the Philippines, where his maternal grandmother was born.
Demetri Broxton | Bombs Over Baghdad (Don’t Pull the Thang Out) | 2022 | Boxing glove, hand cut Cypraea mauritiana cowrie shells, glass beads, red coral, inert rifle bullets, labradorite, cotton, brass wire, stainless steel chain & hardware, frankincense, nylon thread, metaphysical elements |48 x 34 x 14 inches | Collection of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC