With a forward-looking approach to modernism, Melvin Edwards established a practice in the 1960s that is marked by great originality and stringency. His oeuvre includes relief-like wall objects – such as the “Lynch Fragments” – barbed-wire installations, freestanding sculptures, and works on paper. Although the art of Edwards, born in 1937 in Houston, Texas, can be located within the realm of abstraction, his works evoke vivid images. These are directly linked to the historical context of the United States from which the Civil Rights movement emerged. The works can be read as an expression of a sociopolitical awareness and a protest that has lost none of its urgency to this day.

The show at the Fridericianum is the first major presentation of Edwards's work in Europe, and is realized in cooperation with Kunsthalle Bern and Palais de Tokyo, Paris.

Left to right: Agricole, 2016; Some Bright Morning, 1963. Photo: Nicolas Wefers

Left to right: Zim OK (Working in Zimbabwe), 1996; Homage to Oba Ewuare II of Benin City, Nigeria, 2016–17; Adeoli Coacoba, 1988. Photo: Nicolas Wefers

“Look through minds mirror distance and measure time” - Jayne Cortez, 1970. Photo: Nicolas Wefers

Left to right: Tan Ton Dyminns, 1974; Augusta, 1974; Felton, 1974. Installation views, Fridericianum, Kassel, 2024. © Melvin Edwards, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH. Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Portrait of Melvin Edwards, 2023. Photo: Albrecht Fuchs

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“SOME BRIGHT MORNING”
Fridericianium, Kassel
31 Aug 24 – 9 Feb 25