Jenkins Johnson Gallery company logo
Jenkins Johnson Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Art Fairs
  • Exhibitions
  • About
  • Viewing room
  • Press
Menu

Wadsworth Jarrell

  • Overview
  • Works
  • Press
  • Exhibitions
  • Art Fairs
  • CV
Wadsworth Jarrell, Revolutionary, 1972
Wadsworth Jarrell, Revolutionary, 1972
Wadsworth Jarrell, Revolutionary, 1972
Wadsworth Jarrell, Revolutionary, 1972
Wadsworth Jarrell, Revolutionary, 1972

Wadsworth Jarrell

Revolutionary, 1972
screenprint printed in color on white wove paper
33 x 26 in (83.8 x 66 cm)
Edition 109 of 300 (No record of full edition printed), Original Edition of 300, rare few remaining as many were lost, or damaged by water
Copyright The Artist
Enquire
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EWadsworth%20Jarrell%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ERevolutionary%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1972%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Escreenprint%20printed%20in%20color%20on%20white%20wove%20paper%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E33%20x%2026%20in%20%2883.8%20x%2066%20cm%29%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22edition_details%22%3EEdition%20109%20of%20300%20%28No%20record%20of%20full%20edition%20printed%29%2C%20Original%20Edition%20of%20300%2C%20rare%20few%20remaining%20as%20many%20were%20lost%2C%20or%20damaged%20by%20water%3C/div%3E

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Wadsworth Jarrell, Come Saturday, 1959
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Wadsworth Jarrell, Come Saturday, 1959
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) Wadsworth Jarrell, Come Saturday, 1959
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4 ) Wadsworth Jarrell, Come Saturday, 1959
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 5 ) Wadsworth Jarrell, Come Saturday, 1959
Revolutionary, created by Wadsworth Jarrell in 1972 and during the height of the AfriCOBRA period, celebrates Angela Y. Davis, a renowned intellectual and civil rights activist who continues to be...
Read more
Revolutionary, created by Wadsworth Jarrell in 1972 and during the height of the AfriCOBRA period, celebrates Angela Y. Davis, a renowned intellectual and civil rights activist who continues to be a leader in the fight for racial, gender, and economic justice around the world. Incorporating Davis’s words, Black Power slogans, and AfriCOBRA’s signature vibrant colors, the portrait depicts the intensity and power of her activism. Although an edition of 300, this is a rare print as most versions were lost or damaged.

Wadsworth renders Davis's face and hands with phrases and letters inscribed with meaning; B- for "Black is Beautiful," "Revolution," "Resist," "Seize the Time", "Bad," and "She Hipped us to Chuck...He Full of it." Her afro is further composed of words, letters and fragments of the letter B. He layers this language over an orange and yellow background. Davis is wearing a replica of Jae Jarrell's Revolutionary Suit; a tribute to his wife Jae Jarrell, an AfriCOBRA founder and innovative artist and fashion designer. Written on her suit are snippets of a speech Davis delivered in 1970 in California.

In Revolutionary, Wadsworth is playing with language, size and scale in an attempt to emphasize and capture the aura and strength of Angela Y. Davis as an activist and revolutionary. An important example of AfriCOBRA, an aesthetic and collective rooted in the culture of Chicago's Black neighborhoods of the late 60's and 70's at the height of the civil rights, Black power, and Black arts movements, Revolutionary captures the rhythmic dynamism of Black culture and social life. The original painting is currently in the permanent Collection of the Brooklyn Museum.
Close full details

Provenance

Collection of the Artist

Exhibitions

AFRICOBRA II, New YORK, 1971 (original painting)
The Freedom Principal; Experiments in Art and Music 1965 to Now, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, 2015 (original painting)

Soul of a Nation, Brooklyn Museum, 2018 (original painting)

Group Show, Malcolm X Park, Washington, DC, 1972

Solo Exhibition, the Mayor’s Gallery, Washington, DC, 1973.

Drawings, Paintings and Prints by Wadsworth Jarrell, Lambert Gallery, Athens, Georgia, 1978.

Wadsworth Jarrell, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, 1987.

Soul of a Nation; Art in the Age of Black Power, Tate Modern Museum, London. 2017.

Soul of a Nation, Art in the Age of Black Power, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AK., 2018

Soul of a Nation, Art in the Age of Black Power, Broad Museum, Los Angeles, CA, 2019.

Soul of a Nation, Art in the Age of Black Power, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA., 2019.

Soul of a Nation, Art in the Age of Black Power, Museum of Fine Art, Houston, TX., 2020-2021.

AFRICOBRA 50, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, 2018

Master Works-Old and New, by Jae and Wadsworth Jarrell, Skoto Gallery, NY, 2019.

Heritage, Jae and Wadsworth Jarrell, Cleveland Museum, OH, 2018-19.

Messages to the People, Miami Museum, North Miami, 2018.

AFRICOBRA Nation Time, Venice Biennale, Venice., 2019

Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Previous
|
Next
6 
of  9

Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco

1150 25th Street, Gallery B

San Francisco, CA, 94107

(415) 677-0770

sf@jenkinsjohnsongallery.com

 

Tuesday–Saturday
10am–6pm

Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco

1275 Minnesota Street, #200

San Francisco, CA, 94107

(415) 677-0770

info@jenkinsjohnsongallery.com

 

Tuesday–Saturday
10am–6pm

Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York

207 Ocean Avenue

Brooklyn, NY, 11225

(212) 629-0707 

nyc@jenkinsjohnsongallery.com

 

Tuesday–Saturday
10am–6pm

Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Artsy, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
Copyright © 2025 Jenkins Johnson Gallery
Site by Artlogic
Close

Join our mailing list

Signup

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.