Wadsworth Jarrell

Heritage, 1973. Wadsworth A. Jarrell (American, b. 1929)
Acrylic, metal foil, cotton canvas, 120.6 x 76.2 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2016.268.
© Wadsworth Jarrell

n this painting, dense patterns in vivid colors comprise the figures of two jazz musicians. Phrases including “African Rhythm,” “Our Heritage,” and “Black Funk” emerge from the dynamic composition. The subjects and visual traits of this work are rooted in the priorities of the artist collective AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists), of which Wadsworth Jarrell was a cofounder. Formed on the South Side of Chicago in 1968, AfriCOBRA was foundational to the Black Arts Movement—the aesthetic branch of the Black Power Movement that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s. After leaving Chicago, Jarrell settled in Cleveland, where he now lives and works.