Pitts Pub
Oil on canvas
40 1/8 x 34 inches
1962
As Exhibited in:
Elevation from Within: The Study of Art at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 2019–2024, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 2019; Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, 2022, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida, 2023, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, 2024
Wadsworth Jarrell’s career unfolded alongside the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements of the mid-1960s, culminating in his pivotal role as a co-founder of the groundbreaking African American arts collective AFRICOBRA. From the outset, Jarrell and his fellow members sought to develop, define, and disperse a distinct black aesthetic,” an unequivocal visual vernacular rooted in a shared heritage, philosophy, political ideology, and expressive imagery.
Wadsworth Aikens Jarrell grew up in the rural outskirts of Athens, Georgia. As a teenager, his interest in art was fueled by self-directed study of popular illustrated magazines of the day. Following two years of military service, Jarrell moved to Chicago in 1953 and immersed himself in the lively cultural scene, particularly jazz and blues performances. He enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1954 and received a degree in advertising art and graphic design in 1958. By that point, however, his passion had shifted toward fine art. Throughout his professional life, Jarrell would struggle to balance his desire to be an independent artist against the need for reliable income. This concern found its match in Jarrell’s entrepreneurial spirit. Over the years, he would co-own an art gallery and other small businesses, in addition to his teaching roles at Howard University (1971–1977), Spelman College (1985), and the University of Georgia (1978–1988). He was employed as a commercial artist and photographer at various times and, during his tenure at Howard, earned an MFA.
When Jarrell settled in Chicago in 1953, he confronted the same pervasive prejudice he had known in the South. As a member of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC), Jarrell strove to liberate his art-making from white, Western paradigms. He contributed to Chicago’s now-famous Wall of Respect (1967), a large-scale mural celebrating African American heroes. OBAC’s subsequent dissolution led to the 1968 formation of COBRA, the Coalition of Black Revolutionary Artists, which was then renamed AFRICOBRA.
AFRICOBRA was committed to using new philosophical and technical idioms to illuminate the black experience. These principles specified the use of bright, harmonious “Cool Ade” colors; luminosity; the “arbitrary use of light and line;” “free symmetry;” “making use of the entire space of the picture plane;” and the inclusion of written statements as a compositional element. Jarrell created powerful portraits of African American leaders such as Angela Davis and Malcolm X, portrayed nightlife in jazz clubs, captured the excitement of horse racing, and incorporated African imagery, all in an increasingly rhythmic, abstracted style.