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Melvin Edwards

Stephen Friedman Gallery

November 25, 2014–January 17, 2015

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Melvin Edwards, Installation View, Stephen Friedman Gallery (2014)

Then There Here And Now - Circle Today (1970/2014)

Then There Here And Now - Circle Today (1970/2014)
Barbed wire

Modie (1973) Stainless steel

Modie (1973)
Stainless steel
16.25h x 22.38w x 19.25d in (41.3h x 56.8w x 48.9d cm)

Untitled (c. 1971)

Untitled (c. 1971)
Stainless steel
14.38h x 19.63w x 16d in (36.5h x 49.9w x 40.6d cm)

Level (1973) Welded steel and barbed wire

Level (1973)
Welded steel and barbed wire
12.8h x 13.6w x 6d in (32.5h x 34.5w x 15.2d cm)

Untitled Rocker (1976)

Untitled Rocker (1976)
Welded Steel
6.13h x 9.75w x 8.88d in (15.6h x 24.8w x 22.6d cm)

Untitled Rocker (c. 1990)

Untitled Rocker (c. 1990)
Welded steel
11.5h x 16.5w x 17.5d in (29.2h x 41.9w x 44.5d cm)

Untitled Rocker (1976)

Untitled Rocker (1976)
Welded Steel
6.75h x 11.25w x 9.75d in (17.1h x 28.6w x 24.8d cm)

Maquette for Before Words (1990-1991)

Maquette for Before Words (1990-1991)
Welded steel
9.8h x 7.3w x 9.8d in (24.9h x 18.5w x 24.9d cm)

Double Info (1984)

Double Info (1984)
Welded steel
13h x 13w x 7.8d in (33h x 33w x 19.8d cm)

Zim OK (Working in Zimbabwe) (1996)

Zim OK (Working in Zimbabwe) (1996)
Stainless steel
41.25h x 20w x 11d in (104.8h x 50.8w x 27.9d cm)

Memphis (1991) Welded steel

Memphis (1991)
Welded steel
15h x 11.3w x 10.3d in (38.1h x 28.7w x 26.2d cm)

Festac 77 Lagos Reunion (1985)

Festac 77 Lagos Reunion (1985)
Welded steel
8.3h x 7.5w x 11.8d in (21.1h x 19.1w x 30d cm)

By Hand (1992)

By Hand (1992)
Welded steel
15.5h x 14w x 10d in (39.4h x 35.6w x 25.4d cm)

Amandla (1981) Welded Steel

Amandla (1981)
Welded Steel
22.75h x 7.63w x 10.5d in (57.8h x 19.4w x 26.7d cm)

Monochromo (c. 1965)

Monochromo (c. 1965)
Welded Steel
19.69h x 26.38w x 9.84d in (50h x 67w x 25d cm)

Siempre Gilberto de la Nuez (1994)

Siempre Gilberto de la Nuez (1994)
Welded Steel
13.5h x 12.5w x 7d in (34.3h x 31.8w x 17.8d cm)

Edo (1978) Welded steel

Edo (1978)
Welded steel
11.5h x 8.8w x 5.6d in (29.2h x 22.4w x 14.2d cm)

UNKNOWN (Anvil Gear) (1979)

UNKNOWN (Anvil Gear) (1979)
Welded steel
9.8h x 4.3w x 3d in (24.9h x 10.9w x 7.6d cm)

Night Talk (1986)

Night Talk (1986)
Welded Steel
13.5h x 6w x 6.75d in (34.3h x 15.2w x 17.1d cm)

The Way It Is (1992)

The Way It Is (1992)
Welded steel
18.25h x 21w x 16.5d in (46.4h x 53.3w x 41.9d cm)

Untitled (Wall Hanging) (1982)

Untitled (Wall Hanging) (1982)
Welded steel
16h x 11.3w x 2.3d in (40.6h x 28.7w x 5.8d cm)

Yene (2004) Welded steel

Yene (2004)
Welded steel
19.75h x 19.75w x 6.25d in (50.2h x 50.2w x 15.9d cm)

Untitled (1998) Ink on paper

Untitled (1998)
Ink on paper
22h x 29.88w in (55.9h x 75.9w cm)

Untitled (1998) Ink on paper

Untitled (1998)
Ink on paper
22h x 29.88w in (55.9h x 75.9w cm)

Standing Hang-up #1 (1965)

Standing Hang-up #1 (1965)
Welded steel, 65.5h x 16w x 22d in (166.4h x 40.6w x 55.9d cm)
Collection of Ethan Chapman-Ames, London

Untitled (1998) Ink on paper

Untitled (1998)
Ink on paper
22h x 29.88w in (55.9h x 75.9w cm)

Press Release

Private View Tuesday, November 24, 2014, 6-8pm

Stephen Friedman Gallery
London

Stephen Friedman Gallery presents the first UK solo exhibition of Melvin Edwards. Spanning five decades, the exhibition brings together a body of work including large and small-scale sculptures, drawings and a site-specific installation.

The exhibition features a large-scale sculptural installation made from barbed wire and conceived in the 1960s. Realized at the Gallery for the first time, its many strands cascade from the ceiling and create a single plane anchored to the wall in a circular configuration. Sharing an affinity with other conceptual minimalist installations of the 1960s, Edwards' choice of barbed wire as material imbues this sculpture with social and political meaning.

Edwards' best known sculptural series, Lynch Fragments, makes up a significant part of this exhibition. They cover three distinct periods in his personal history; the 1960s, where they evolved out of Edwards' response to racial violence in America; the 1970s, out of his protest against the Vietnam War; and from 1978 to the present, where they became a vehicle to honor individuals, to explore nostalgia, and to investigate his interest in African culture.

The exhibition also includes a number of kinetic Rockers. Inspired by the memory of his grandmother Coco sitting in her rocking chair, they vary in shape, scale and configuration. Level, a small work, articulates the tension and struggle epitomized in Edwards' art; an open, linear pair of C-shapes is linked by twisting tangles of barbed wire. Like all Edwards' sculptures, the Rockers are welded together in compositions of visual and structural energy. The exhibition concludes with a room dedicated to Edwards' drawings.