Wadsworth Jarrell
Jarrell eventually lost interest in commercial art and focused on classes about painting and drawing, gaining inspiration from instructor Laura McKinnon and her ideas about spatial relationship theory.
Struggling to fit in at Howard, unable to make tenure,[16] and with concerns about the increasing crime rates in Washington, the family decided to move once again in 1977,[17] this time to Athens, Georgia.
That year, Jae and daughter Jennifer moved to New York to find a place to live, settling in SoHo, where they were joined by Jarrell a few months later.
His early works display the "two-dimensional illusionism" he learned in school: linear and geometric perspective with overlapping objects receding to a vanishing point on the horizon.
He moved to a large studio in the Hyde Park neighborhood and continued expanding on his work and focusing on musical and sport related themes.
The meetings would consist of artists bringing their work to be critiqued and reflect on ideas of the black experience in art, leading to the concept behind Wall of Respect.
The Artists' Workshop would sour towards the end of the project: there were controversies stemming from the painting in Norman Parish's section, conflicts regarding copyrights being sold without permission, disagreements on law enforcement involvement, as well as deceit.
Jarrell's love for blues and jazz music made it easy for him to access the city's talent and his involvement with OCAC provided him with contacts in the poetry world.
Artists such as Muhal Richard Abrams, John Stubblefield, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton and the Art Ensemble of Chicago would perform at the space.
[27] The gallery also served as a gathering place for the likes of Jeff Donaldson, Barbara Jones-Hogu, Gerald Williams and others, who would come to discuss concepts of a relevant black art aesthetic.
"[28] Eventually, the group made a breakthrough while listing principles and ideas regarding the concept of black art; the term "coolade colors" was contributed by a fabric designer.
The term covered the bright fashion of stylish African American men of the time, which Jarrell described as "loud lime, pimp yellows, hot pinks, high-key color clothing."
This technique allowed Jarrell to create what he described as an "intuitive space," drawing the viewer's attention towards the family on the canvas: a caring mother, protective father and two relaxed children.
With a father depicting strength and honesty, and what Robert Douglas describes as a "heroic quality," to the painting, Jarrell expresses important aspects of the COBRA ideal.
The group decided to go from focusing on themed exhibitions to encouraging artworks that "portray the general problems of black people or attempt to visualize some solutions to them.
They present to us an iconography bestowed on them by the pressing and always exciting culture of the African American.In 1969, COBRA revised their philosophy and artistic concept to expand their concern for black liberation and civil rights on an international level.
These two portraits are described by art historian Robert Douglas as displaying "Jarrell's masterful understanding of portraiture, rendered through a chiaroscuro technique employing a multitude of meticulously painted B's in different sizes and coolade hues."
"[33] Revolutionary was reviewed by Nancy Tobin Willig as "a portrait of a young black woman screaming slogans – with a bandoleer loaded with real bullets slung over her shoulder.
"[34] Despite the offers for a position he received from Jeff Donaldson, who was running Howard University's art department, Jarrell sought to remain independent and the family moved to New York.
In the triptych Prophecy Jarrell shows African women as Senufo figures holding sculptures of the Yoruba deity Shango, and is described as "jam-packed"[35] with imagery, making it hard to decipher in a short time.
[36] In winter of 1977 Jarrell and Jae visited Lagos, Nigeria, as part of the American delegation to FESTAC '77, the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, making this the couple's first international exhibition.
Jarrell was influenced heavily by the bronze lost-wax castings of Benin and the woodcarving and textile arts of Oshogbo, which he believed solidified the mission of AFRI-COBRA's symbolic work through "intuitive space."
[37] The exhibit, at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, featured two works by Jarrell created as a response to his journey to Africa: Mojo Workin and Soweto (both 1977).
The move to Atlanta provided more income for the family while allowing Jarrell to sell more work and spark relationships with potential customers, galleries and museums in the region.
Robert Douglas compared the piece to Chicken Shack by Archibald Motley, stating "both artists have fulfilled the mission of celebrating black life."
Zigzags are prominent, a lizard appears to represent speed, a lawn jockey, and the dates of Murphy's wins, titles and horse names are at the top.
[43] In December 1982 Jarrell was commissioned by Westinghouse Electric Company to create a three-hundred-foot mural in their Athens headquarters, to boost the morale of the employees.
Both figures have large heads, their faces have exaggerated features similar to African masks, and are described as being "midpoint between naturalism and abstraction" by Robert Douglas.
[45] Other works include: Corners of Jazz (1988), a large mural featuring Ray Charles, Lester Young, and Billie Holiday, Shon'nuf (1989), featuring Ray Charles, At the Three Deuces (1991) with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Sam Potter, Basie at the Apollo (1992) with Count Basie's orchestra, The Empress (1992) for Bessie Smith, and Lady & Prez #2, showing Holiday and Young performing together.
[49] Dr. Stacy Morgan, association professor in the department of American Studies at the University of Alabama, describes Jarrell's work as "a remarkable body of vibrant, stylistically innovative and politically engaged art.
