Looking for a place to observe Black History Month? The Brooklyn Museum galleries are ideal—in Febru

Looking for a place to observe Black History Month? The Brooklyn Museum galleries are ideal—in February or during any other month! Tune in all month as we spotlight African American artists from our collection American, Contemporary and Decorative art collections.Made in the year of Ralph Ellison’s death, Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison) is an homage to the author of Invisible Man that expands the possibilities of painting. It is part of a larger series by Jack Whitten honoring black visionaries in politics and the arts, many of whom (including Ellison) Whitten knew. To create this mosaic-like painting, Whitten made tiles composed of organic materials and acrylic paint and applied them to a canvas. The tiles each have a unique chemistry, with embedded materials that are symbolic. According to Whitten, the figure’s acrylic-encased razor-blade mouth references the “double edge of black identity,” which “cuts both ways.” The illumination radiating from the figure alludes to one of Whitten’s favorite sentences in Invisible Man: “The truth is the light and the light is the truth.”Jack Whitten (American, born 1939). Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison), 1994. Acrylic, molasses, copper, salt, coal, ash, chocolate, onion, herbs, rust, eggshell, razor blade on canvas. Brooklyn Museum © artist or artist’s estate. Image Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates -- source link

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