Melvin Edwards, Stephen Friedman Gallery

New York based artist Melvin Edwards is one of America’s most acclaimed contemporary sculptors, but hasn’t received the praise he should since his rise to stardom in the 1970s. So it’s perhaps not surprising that this exhibition of Edwards’ industrial and brutish sculpture at the Stephen Friedman Gallery, London is his first solo exhibition in Britain.
Who is Melvin Edwards?
You’ll find that all of Melvin Edwards’ sculpture is peppered with themes of racial conflict, the struggle for civil rights and social and political turmoil. Notably Edwards spends a few months each year in Senegal, a place to which he feels a great personal connection, which perpetuates his discussion of universalism and diversity. Nicknamed ‘Grandpa Blacksmith’ from his time in Zimbabwe, African culture is immensely important in his work.
Stephen Friedman Gallery sculpture exhibition London
This retrospective celebrates Edwards’ pioneering work as an African-American artist with works ranging from sculpture to drawing to site-specific installation. Look out for the large-scale sculptural installation made from barbed wire which Edwards first planned in the 1960s, but is making for the first time at the Stephen Friedman Gallery. As strands fall from the ceiling, a single plane is anchored to the wall to create a circular configuration. No points for guessing that the barbed wire is imbued with social and political meaning.
Melvin Edwards Lynch Fragments
The focal point of the exhibition are Edwards’ best known sculptural series Lynch Fragments; gestural and abstract works which assemble found objects like hammers, chains and railroad spikes into new forms. These carefully conceived works draw upon different periods in Edwards’ life from the protests against racial violence in the 1960s, the uprising against the Vietnam War in the 1970s to his most recent explorations into African culture.
You’ll also discover the twisted tangles of barbed wire in Edwards’ Rockers which he claims was inspired by his grandmother Coco sitting in her rocking chair.
These stark, abrasive sculptures refuse to let the dust settle on many social and racial issues from 20^th century America