Works on Paper: 1970s–present

Melvin Edwards’s works on paper feature traces of barbed wire, chain, and metal grating. Rendered in brightly colored spray paint or watercolor, the resulting images resemble the gestural lines of a delicate drawing. At the same time, there is a destabilizing disjunction between the ephemeral quality of the pictured implements and their real-world uses. Chains, for example, while symbolizing human connections, are also tools of bondage and oppression; similarly, barbed wire and metal grating are frequently used to imprison and separate populations. By transforming these objects into fanciful garlands, Edwards ultimately draws attention to his materials' most foreboding aspects.