Untitled
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Object Label
This early work by Mark Bradford uses layered end-papers—a tool for achieving a “perm,” familiar to Bradford, as a former hairdresser—thereby subtly referring to the cultural significance of the hair salon in African American communities. Here, the end-papers become the main component for an abstract pattern. The resulting composition vibrates with a formal rhythm, while the shapes are eerily reminiscent of nooses.
Bradford works primarily in abstract painting and mixed-media collage, incorporating everyday detritus such as fragments of newsprint, flyers, or materials from hair salons. Though largely abstract, his works nonetheless explore the ramifications of class, race, and gender. In recent work his forms seem to suggest maps or aerial views, in line with investigations of race riots, real-estate redlining, and gentrification.
Caption
Mark Bradford American, born 1961. Untitled, 2003. Lithograph, 32 x 32 in. (81.3 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Frank L. Babbott, Jr., by exchange, 2004.18. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2004.18_PS9.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Untitled
Date
2003
Medium
Lithograph
Classification
Dimensions
32 x 32 in. (81.3 x 81.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Frank L. Babbott, Jr., by exchange
Accession Number
2004.18
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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Frequent Art Questions
Tell me more.
I find Mark Bradford's "Untitled" really interesting. The abstracted pattern reads as a crowd of people to me and I was really fascinated to learn that they are actually made of end-papers used in hairdressing. His elevation of everyday refuse is intended to bring to light the daily lives of black Americans, especially living in urban centers. The artist also grew up around hair salons, with family who worked in hairdressing.
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