Images(4)

Installation view of Museum as Classroom (Spring 2021) at the Smart Museum of Art, April 9 - Ju…

Revolutionary

Maker Wadsworth Jarrell (American, b. 1929)

Date1972

MediumColor screenprint on wove paper

Dimensions33 × 26 5/8 in. (83.8 × 67.6 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, The Paul and Mirifam Kirkley Fund for Acquisitions

Collections

Chicago (of and by)

Object number2012.29

Status

Not on view

Description

Website Text

Wadsworth Jarrell is a member of the AfriCOBRA group founded in 1968. In their explicitly political and revolutionary work, the AfriCOBRA artists advocated a potent, unified, and distinctly African American aesthetic philosophy. Their approach to image making combined vibrant colors and dynamic compositions with political subject matter to boldly address the social and political concerns facing the African American community.

This screenprint made from the related painting Revolutionary is an icon of the Black Arts Movement. It depicts the feminist and Black Power activist Angela Davis. Her face is painted with numerous B’s, which stand for both “Black” and “Beauty.” Words including “Love,” “Black,” and “Revolution,” radiate from her head and a quotation runs down her clothing. Revolutionary is a technically accomplished painting, an engaging portrait, and a dense collection of political messages.