© Melvin Edwards / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Currently not on view
Curtain for Friends,
2015
Printed at Brodsky Center at PAFA
This diptych silhouettes two prominent motifs from Edwards’s earlier work: chains and barbed wire. The artist’s use of chains refers both the history of the enslavement of Black people in the United States and the centuries-old blacksmithing tradition in which a well-made chain is the true test of a metalworker’s skill. Edwards reflected that wire “has a history both as obstacle and enclosure but barb-wire has the added capacity of painfully dynamic and aggressive resistance if contacted unintelligently.” This work references Edwards’s massive installation Curtain (for William and Peter), named for William T. Williams and Peter Bradley, two painters with whom he shared a studio in the late 1960s.
More Context
<p>Over the past five decades, Edwards has produced abstract sculptures and installations that address issues of race, labor, and violence. This recent print foregrounds two prominent motifs and materials—chains and barbed wire—used by the artist. The composition recalls his massive <em>Curtain for William and Peter</em>, named for William T. Williams and Peter Bradley, two painters who shared a studio with Edwards in the late 1960s. When first displayed, <em>Curtain</em> had profound historical associations to younger African American artists, including David Hammons, who commented, "this was the first abstract piece of art that I saw that had a cultural value in it for black people. I didn’t think you could make abstract art with a message." </p>
More About This Object
Information
2015
