Melvin Edwards: Five Decades

Born in Houston, Texas, in 1937, the sculptor Melvin Edwards divides his time between his studio in Plainfield, New Jersey, and residences, with studios, in Accord, New York, and Dakar, Senegal.  Edwards was the first African-American sculptor to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1970, which is recreated here. He was also a professor of sculpture at Rutgers University from 1972 to 2002. This exhibition is the first retrospective of the artist’s career in more than twenty years. 

A truly international artist well before the advent of today’s global art world, Edwards has brought his experiences of other cultures and languages, particularly those of Africa, into his work, to explore the varied ways that art can forge bonds of connection and kinship.

The exhibition includes a broad selection of Lynch Fragments, the series for which Edwards is best known. He began the small-scale reliefs in Los Angeles in the early 1960s, out of the social and political turmoil of the civil rights movement, and has continued through his career. Incorporating tools and other familiar objects, they are abstract, yet evocative, summoning a range of artistic, cultural, and historical references.

Major large-scale sculptures of the 1960s, such as Chaino, The Lifted X, and August the Squared Fire, as well as his Rockers of the 1970s, which incorporate movement and sound, are included in the exhibition. Also on view are sculptures Edwards has made in Senegal, as well as a selection of prototypes reflecting his public sculpture, and rarely exhibited works on paper, including collaborations with his late wife, celebrated poet and performer Jayne Cortez.

Melvin Edwards: Five Decades is organized by the Nasher Sculpture Center and its Associate Curator, Catherine Craft. The exhibition is made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation. Additional major support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The presentation at the Zimmerli is coordinated by Donna Gustafson, Curator of American Art and Mellon Director of Academic Programs. It is supported by the Estate of Ralph Voorhees and donors to the Zimmerli's Major Exhibition Fund: James and Kathrin Bergin; Alvin and Joyce Glasgold; Charles and Caryl Sills; Voorhees Family Endowment; and the Jerome A. Yavitz Charitable Foundation, Inc.-Stephen Cypen, President. Additional support is provided by the Office of Institutional Diversity and Improvement at Rutgers.

This exhibition is organized in honor of the Rutgers 250 yearlong celebration of the university’s founding on November 10, 1766.