Jack Whitten (American, 1939-2018). <em>Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison)</em>, 1994. Acrylic, molasses, copper, salt, coal, ash, chocolate, onion, herbs, rust, eggshell, razor blade on canvas, 58 x 52 in. (147.3 x 132.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund, 2014.65. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, CUR.2014.65_Alexander_Gray_Associates_photograph.jpg)

Jack Whitten (American, 1939-2018). Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison), 1994. Acrylic, molasses, copper, salt, coal, ash, chocolate, onion, herbs, rust, eggshell, razor blade on canvas, 58 x 52 in. (147.3 x 132.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund, 2014.65. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, CUR.2014.65_Alexander_Gray_Associates_photograph.jpg)

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Jack Whitten works acrylic paint into tiles and then applies those tiles to a canvas to create a mosaic. This work is a part of his series "Black Monolith" which he uses to say: "thank you to black artists, writers, thinkers, and poets. It is a way to honor our own and to grieve our own." Monoliths are often used as monuments to mark important places or events. In this way, this is not just a portrait but also a monument or piece of architecture. There's a materiality to the painting.

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Jack Whitten's "Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison)" is made of surprising materials. The mosaic tiles are formed out of acrylic paint, molasses, copper, salt, coal, ash, chocolate, onion, herbs, rust, and eggshell instead of glass.

Did you notice the razor blade for a mouth? It can be seen as an allusion to Ellison's profession as an author. His most famous work is Invisible Man, about a black man struggling metaphorically with invisibility and visibility in the United States in the early 20th century. The curator has also described the razor as a representation of the "double edged experience of being black in America."

Yes. It spoke volumes.

Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison)

Jack Whitten

Contemporary Art

Made in the year of Ralph Ellison’s death, Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison) is a homage to the author of Invisible Man (published in 1952) that expands the possibilities of painting. It is part of a larger series by Jack Whitten honoring black visionaries in politics and the arts, many of whom (including Ellison) Whitten knew.

To create this mosaic painting, Whitten made tiles composed of organic materials and acrylic paint and applied them to a canvas. The tiles each have a unique chemistry, with embedded materials that carry their own individual significance. According to Whitten, the figure’s acrylic-encased razor-blade mouth refers to the “double edge of black identity,” which “cuts both ways.”

The illumination radiating from the figure conveys the essence of one of Whitten’s favorite passages from Invisible Man:

Nothing, storm or flood, must get in the way of our need for light and ever more and brighter light. The truth is the light and the light is the truth.

ARTIST Jack Whitten, American, 1939-2018

MEDIUM Acrylic, molasses, copper, salt, coal, ash, chocolate, onion, herbs, rust, eggshell, razor blade on canvas

DATES 1994

DIMENSIONS 58 x 52 in. (147.3 x 132.1 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Proper right side of canvas/stretcher: "Black Monolith II: For R.W. Ellison April 1994 J. Whitten"

COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

EXHIBITIONS

ACCESSION NUMBER 2014.65

CREDIT LINE William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund

RIGHTS STATEMENT © Jack Whitten

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CAPTION Jack Whitten (American, 1939-2018). Black Monolith II (For Ralph Ellison), 1994. Acrylic, molasses, copper, salt, coal, ash, chocolate, onion, herbs, rust, eggshell, razor blade on canvas, 58 x 52 in. (147.3 x 132.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund, 2014.65. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, CUR.2014.65_Alexander_Gray_Associates_photograph.jpg)

IMAGE overall, CUR.2014.65_Alexander_Gray_Associates_photograph.jpg. Image Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, 2014

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Tell me more.

Yes. It spoke volumes.