Melvin Edwards, a contemporary artist and former teacher, firmly states that he is not an illustrator. He is seemingly uninterested in depicting ideologies that define moments, but rather, is interested in the significance found throughout human history.
“I continue to be curious about the world that I live in, and express it through the means that I’ve learned and that I’ve developed,” Edwards says.
Born 1937 in Houston, Texas, Edwards’ rise to prominence started with his first solo exhibition at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in 1965 in California. In 1970, at 32 years old, Edwards would become the first Black sculptor to have a solo show New York City’s Whitney Museum of American Art.
Edwards, who is internationally recognized for his mastery of steel sculpture, painting, and printmaking, creates work that evokes themes of social injustice and race. However, he claims that this is not his intention, but rather the interpretation of the viewer. Edwards isn’t chasing motifs, but expresses his understanding of “being” first and foremost.
“People say my work’s related to the Civil Rights Movement...well, of course, because civil rights is within the realm of human rights, and always was,” Edwards says. “If we want to understand life, we should read, study, [and] get that information.
“If you’re gonna go into the forest looking for something, you have to push a lot of bushes aside to find whatever you’re looking for,” Edwards shares.
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