Melvin Edwards (1937 - )

Melvin Edwards is a pioneer in the contemporary art scene. Edwards is best known for his welded sculptures and his belief in abstract art as a vehicle for social change. The artist was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in both Houston and Dayton, Ohio; He then settled in Los Angeles, where he still lives and works today. Throughout his childhood, Edwards balanced his interest in art and sports, and played football during high school and college. Ultimately, his interest in art was prioritized, and Edwards graduated with a BFA from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1965. While beginning as a painter, Edwards then turn his focus to sculpture once he received critical acclaim for his Lynch Fragment series (1963 –present). Combining found industrial objects such as barbed wire, chains, and machine parts, Edwards welded dense, abstract forms that allude to the lived experiences and brutality faced by Black community. During his decades-long career, Edwards has produced sculptures that address complex themes such as the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and African culture.

In 1970, Edwards became one of the first African American sculptors to be featured in an exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where he displayed a series of delicate, barbed wire sculptures. Melvin Edwards’ work is included in the renowned public collections of the Modern Museum of Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; among many others.

Yellow Way is an excellent example of a contrasting diversion from his early series. The bright yellow and flat geometrical shapes introduce light, optimism, and a sense of carefree, childlike playfulness, to this work. This medium-sized welded sculpture of painted steel is a striking geometric assembly of circles, rectangles, and squares, fully coated in crisp, canary yellow paint, the same shade Edwards applies to many of his painted sculptures. The exuberant monochromatic primary color adds visual dynamism to this work and plays a vital role in abstracting the materiality of the underlying steel structure. Edwards’ choice to thoroughly coat the surface imbues the work with a sense of cohesive and congruous spatial design, bringing attention to its form. The aesthetics and dynamics of sports thinking are evident in how he positions its elements relative to one another. Edwards has incorporated a yellow motif into a number of his painted sculptures, exploring the vibrant primary color’s visual dynamism in both large- and small-scale works. The contrast between the rhythmic curves of the circles and their bisected, adjacent rectangular forms amplifies the formal, yet playful nature of the sculpture. Edwards often takes a process-oriented approach, where a spark of idea enlightened his creation. He works on his sculptures without any particular plans; therefore, allowing the sculptures to speak of themselves.

Exhibition History

Recent Acquisitions, 11 September – 13 October 2007, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

African American Master Artists, 6 March – 26 April 2008, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

A Collaborative Effort, 1 May – 31 May 2008, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

What’s on the Wall II, 24 June – 5 July 2008, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

The Summer Exhibition, 8 July – 30 August 2008, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Selections From the Collection, 2 December 2009 – 10 January 2010, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Preview for the National Black Fine Art Show, 15 January – 10 February 2009, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Preview of US Art Fair, 13 September – 20 September 2011, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Selections from the Collection, 29 September – 5 November 2011, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Selections from the Collection, 15 April – 29 May 2021, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Masters of Sculpture, 12 May – 31 August 2022, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Literature

Bill Hodges Gallery. Norman W. Lewis, et al. New York, 2017. p. 49

Bill Hodges Gallery, Masters of Sculpture, African Americans, et. al., New York, NY, 2022, illus. p. 23