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)
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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Can you tell me about this?
This work and the one next to it were designed by Jae Jarrell. Jarrell wore these works, sometimes for art-related events and sometimes as everyday wear.
There is a sense of the personal and the public in the way she wore them, but also in the inspiration for the work. Jarrell was inspired by the way that her community in Chicago used walls as a way to communicate.
It's such a stunning piece!