Revolutionary

Work on Paper

-

DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

Revolutionary

Entry/Object ID

2018.09

Description

Vibrant multicolored image of philosopher and activist Angela Davis made up of words from Davis's speeches.

Artwork Details

Medium

color screenprint on off-white heavy wove paper

Context

Revolutionary exemplifies Wadsworth Jarrell’s approach to combining visually complex patterns and text with representations of people, underscored with messages of Black pride and cultural celebration. The screenprint, based off a painting of the same name, depicts Black Power leader Angela Davis in the middle of a speech. She is surrounded by fragments from speeches she had previously given, including the phrase “I have given my life to the struggle” and the words resist, beautiful, and revolution. Angela wears a suit that was designed by Jarrell’s wife Jae, also a member of AfriCOBRA, that features a symbolic bandolier sewn into the jacket’s edges.

Acquisition

Accession

2018.07-09

Source or Donor

Lusenhop Fine Art

Acquisition Method

Purchase

Credit Line

Courtesy of Lusenhop Fine Art

Made/Created

Artist

Jarrell, Wadsworth

Date made

1972

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Location

BR/R

Transcription

[Artist Name] 1972

Notes

Inscription Type: graphite

Lexicon

Getty AAT

Concept

academia (learning concept), text (layout feature), layout features, information form components, components (objects parts), African American, modern North American, modern American, Americas, The

Hierarchy Name

Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), Components (hierarchy name), Styles and Periods (hierarchy name)

Facet

Associated Concepts Facet, Objects Facet, Styles and Periods Facet

LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

Black power, Free speech, Revolutionists, Patterns

Dimensions

Dimension Description

overall; image

Width

26-1/2 in

Length

34 in

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

The African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists (AfriCOBRA) was founded in 1968 by Jeff Donaldson, Barbara Jones-Hogu, Wadsworth Jarrell and Gerald Williams on the South Side of Chicago as a group of Black artists. The group aimed to create art that celebrated and brought together members of the African diaspora. They strove to create images that expressed the depth of black culture and Pan-Africanism, embracing a family tree with branches stretching beyond the United States, reaching the Caribbean and African ancestral homes.