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We Mourn Our Loss
April 1, 2007    File under: Memory & Memorial

My friend, Elissa Auther, introduced me today to the work of Kerry James Marshall, of whom my ignorance must be criminal, or at least stupendous, shameful.

Born in Birmingham, transplanted to L.A., and now in Chicago, several years back, he produced a series of memorial works, including these:


"Memento"


"Souvenir II"


Souvenir IV

The revelation has me nearly frantic. I'm eager to receive a copy of Marshall's Mementos, which I ordered earlier today. I recognize in the clouds of angels in many of these works the faces of Emmett Till, Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, and Carole Robertson, as well as Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman. The other faces are more difficult to name for sure, but in one work, it may be Medgar Evers, in another Malcolm X, and in at least one of these the faces are not only wreathed by wings but also float over what appear to be text clippings. The combination of face and wing and inscription suggests the lapidary vocabulary of traditional tombstones, though the memorials are situated in homes rather than in the public spaces of cemeteries, and yet these homes are connected through shared texts and icons into elsewheres that are everywhere and that are connected to the forever they recognize together.

I should have been reading these all along...

Posted by Jake Adam York at April 1, 2007 8:32 PM



COMMENTS

These are incredibly original . . . great work . . . my interpretation is that it's the Kennedy Brothers and MLK in all three . . .

Posted by: JSR at April 3, 2007 7:53 PM




Jason,

It's definitely the Kennedy brothers and MLK in the placard that has the legend "We Mourn Our Loss." It's all the other faces, at the top of each work, I'm interested in right now. These are the people I've been writing most about for the last two years.

I'm expecting my copy of the book tomorrow or Thursday. I'll let you know what it shows.

Posted by: Jake at April 3, 2007 8:23 PM




Hey Jake:

Kerry is very. I wish I had introduced you to his work. Stunning work, no? Check out Michael Ray Charles. Equally important, same terrain -- emotional and otherwise.

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/charles/index.html

Posted by: Major at April 5, 2007 7:12 PM




The followup:

So, after looking at Kerry James Marshall (Abrams, 2000), I see that, in Souvenir II the figures are, from left to right, Medgar Evers, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Andrew Goodman, James Cheney, Michael Schwerner, Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, and Mark Clark, with the faces of Viola Liuzzo and Jimmie Lee Jackson placed just to the left and top of the "We Mourn" placard.

Same sequence (without Liuzzo or Jackson) in Souvenir I, but there there are two blocks to the right of Malcolm X's face that are empty, and they look like they're about the same size as the other faces, which are silk screened.... So there are ghosts among the angels?

More work to do...

Posted by: Jake at April 9, 2007 3:22 PM