Melvin Edwards (American, born 1937). <em>Takawira - J</em>, 1989. Welded steel, 14 x 10 x 9 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Edward A. Bragaline, by exchange, 1990.104. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.104_edited_PS9.jpg)

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Melvin Edwards (American, born 1937). Takawira - J, 1989. Welded steel, 14 x 10 x 9 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Edward A. Bragaline, by exchange, 1990.104. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.104_edited_PS9.jpg)

Takawira - J

Melvin Edwards

Contemporary Art

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Counterparts

Melvin Edwards’s weighty sculptures combine nails, tools, gears, and other metal objects to create abstract compositions. This work belongs to his extensive series Lynch Fragments, begun in the 1960s and inspired by Ralph Ginzburg’s 100 Years of Lynching (1962), a collection of newspaper reports of lynchings that was published to commemorate the centennial of the Civil War. The Lynch Fragments sculptures, generally shown suspended at eye level, evoke this history of violence through their jarring forms and rough welding.

ARTIST Melvin Edwards, American, born 1937

MEDIUM Welded steel

DATES 1989

DIMENSIONS 14 x 10 x 9 in. (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 1990.104

CREDIT LINE Gift of Edward A. Bragaline, by exchange

PROVENANCE By 1990, acquired by CDS Gallery, New York, NY; 1990, purchased from CDS Gallery by the Brooklyn Museum.

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MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Counterparts

CAPTION Melvin Edwards (American, born 1937). Takawira - J, 1989. Welded steel, 14 x 10 x 9 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Edward A. Bragaline, by exchange, 1990.104. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.104_edited_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 1990.104_edited_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2017

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