NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — In 1963, while living in Los Angeles, Melvin Edwards welded “Some Bright Morning” out of different pieces of steel scrap metal, including a heavy chain and a dagger-like fragment extending from a circular, collar-like form. By using scrap metal, Edwards took a different path from his peers, who were making assemblages out of junk. Although he might not have been aware of it at the time, Edwards was both aligning himself with the use of welding and iron that began with Julio Gonzalez and Pablo Picasso, and continued in the work of David Smith and Anthony Caro. However, it seems to me that once this lineage became apparent, he recognized his desire to open it to a history that included blacksmithing, slavery, and the physical pain inflicted by the use of metal instruments.
In an interview with Michael Brenson that is part of “BOMB’s Oral History [documenting] the life stories of New York City’s African American artists,” Edwards made two statements about his sculptures that seem important to mention here:
