Melvin Edwards
Sculpture
1964–2005
A pioneer in contemporary sculpture and African American art, for more than five decades Melvin Edwards has explored the history of race, labor, violence, and the African Diaspora. Distinguished by their formal simplicity and powerful materiality, his works infuse content into the reductive language of Minimalism. Amalgamations of scrap metal, chain, barbed wire, and industrial elements, Edwards’ sculptures reference his Texas childhood; memorialize civil rights and anti-colonial struggles and activists; pay homage to artists, writers, and musicians; commemorate friends and family members; and allude to his extensive travels in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Capitalizing on what the curator Catherine Craft calls the “the multivalent practical possibilities of … material,” the conceptually and formally rich structure of these works welcomes viewers to construct narratives around history, place, and social injustice.