Join us this Saturday, December 7 at 12:00 PM at Alexander Gray Associates, New York for a film screening of Some Bright Morning: The Art of Melvin Edwards, directed by Lydie Diakhaté. The screening is organized on the occasion of Lots of Work to Do, Edwards’s eighth solo exhibition with the Gallery.
A focused survey of nearly sixty years of work, Lots of Work to Do takes its title from Edwards’s 2019 interview with The Museum of Modern Art, in which he outlines his commitment to “… making sculpture … that will remind my human compatriots in the world that we got lots of work to do.” Featuring a selection of freestanding sculptures, wall reliefs, and works on paper, the show highlights Edwards’s ability to weld personal and collective memories into steel—an action that charges his work with a political urgency that resonates today.
Some Bright Morning: The Art of Melvin Edwards celebrates the full breadth of Edwards’s career. Diakhaté centers Edwards’s deep connections to the United States and Africa, tracing his journeys between continents as he welds sculptures in his New York and Senegal studios. Featuring archival footage alongside extensive interviews, the 2016 film centers the cultural, historical, and political forces that have shaped the artist's life and work.
Melvin Edwards is a pioneer in the history of contemporary African American art and sculpture. His practice reflects his engagement with the history of race, labor, and violence, as well as with themes of the African Diaspora. Making welding his preferred medium, his sculptures are studies in abstraction and minimalism. Ranging from colorful painted sculptures that expand on the modernist vocabulary of artists like Alexander Calder to barbed wire installations to tangled amalgamations of agricultural and industrial elements, his work is distinguished by its formal simplicity and powerful materiality.
Lydie Diakhaté is a film producer and director, art critic, and curator for exhibitions and art programs. Her work focuses on producing and disseminating African and African diaspora films and other arts. Her professional path has led her to work regularly on three continents: Europe, Africa, and the United States. She was the co-founder and co-director of the Real Life Documentary Festival in Accra (2006–2011). Diakhaté has written extensively about the arts and cultures and has appeared in numerous publications.
Saturday, December 7, 2024
12:00 PM
Free entry
Please RSVP at rsvp@alexandergray.com
