Jheri Now, Curl Later
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
This early work by Mark Bradford references the artist’s upbringing around his mother’s beauty shop in south Los Angeles and his own background as a professional hairdresser. The title riffs on the Jheri curl—a popular Black hairstyle in the 1980s and 1990s—and reads like a piece of banter or an inside joke tossed around the tight-knit community of a Black hair salon. Bradford collaged and scorched end papers (thin rectangular sheets used to protect a client’s hair during a perm) to create this multilayered and immersive abstraction. The use of a material with deeply personal ties expands the artist’s visual play of shapes, colors, opacities, and text to include conversations around gender and race.
Caption
Mark Bradford American, born 1961. Jheri Now, Curl Later, 2001. Mixed media on canvas, 72 x 84 in. (182.9 x 213.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Contemporary Art Council and purchased with funds given by Dr. and Mrs. Philip J. Kozinn, 2001.85. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2001.85_SL1.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Jheri Now, Curl Later
Date
2001
Medium
Mixed media on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
72 x 84 in. (182.9 x 213.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Contemporary Art Council and purchased with funds given by Dr. and Mrs. Philip J. Kozinn
Accession Number
2001.85
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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