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Ebony Family

Jae Jarrell

Contemporary Art

As one of the co-founders of the Black Arts Movement collective AfriCOBRA, fashion designer Jae Jarrell made one-of-a-kind clothing using the bright hues the collective called “Coolade” colors, a wordplay on a popular children’s beverage. Jarrell’s vibrant garments exalt black families and culture and were worn by the artist in her daily life. She wrote that her Ebony Family dress “always got good vibes from our [AfriCOBRA] members, no doubt, because my political stance on nurturing the strong loving Black family is real, and personally experienced. We regarded the members as extended family.”
MEDIUM Velvet dress with velvet collage
DATES ca. 1968
DIMENSIONS 38 1/2 x 38 x 1/2 in. (97.8 x 96.5 x 1.3 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 2012.80.15
CREDIT LINE Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Jae Jarrell (American, born 1935). Ebony Family, ca. 1968. Velvet dress with velvet collage, 38 1/2 x 38 x 1/2 in. (97.8 x 96.5 x 1.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 2012.80.15. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2012.80.15_front_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE front, 2012.80.15_front_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013
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RIGHTS STATEMENT © Jae Jarrell
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