Melvin Edwards, a sculptor best known for abstract steel works that illustrated the history and resistance of African Americans, died March 30 at his Baltimore home. He was 88.
His death was confirmed by Alexander Gray Associates, the gallery that represents him.
Edwards rose to prominence in 1963 with the first works of what would become his most notable series, “Lynch Fragments.” A collection of small, wall-mounted sculptures, he combined fragments of found and recycled steel and welded them into forms of chains, sharp tools, barbed wire and other metal objects.
The series spans several decades, drawing inspiration from racial violence during the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, his personal relationship to Africa, people in his own community and across the African diaspora.
Over the years, Edwards made more than 300 “Lynch Fragments.”
Recurring materials in his works held layered meanings. Barbed wire served as a symbol of violence and oppression, but also of agriculture, cultivation and survival.
“Melvin was somebody who looked at multiple dimensions of any situation or person,” said Alexander Gray, a gallery owner and close personal friend of Edwards. “He really looked at the world, not through any kind of binary lens, but through a personal lens that was respectful of other people’s perspective.”
Born May 4, 1937, in Houston, the eldest of four children, Edwards grew up surrounded by racial segregation. As a child, he took drawing classes and visited museums, and he also played football.
“The world that I came from was American racism, segregation. I may have been young, but I paid attention,” Edwards said in an introduction to “Lynch Fragments” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
His artistic career began while studying art on a football scholarship at USC, where he met and was mentored by Hungarian painter Francis de Erdely. Edwards’ L.A. roots were critical to his identity as an artist. Here, he began experimenting with welded steel, which became his primary medium.
After moving to New York City in 1967, he became, in 1970, the first African American sculptor to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Throughout his career, Edwards remained committed to public art, creating sculptures for universities, public housing projects and museums around the world.
Those who knew him described him as overwhelmingly positive, which shaped both his work and his relationships.
“Melvin’s community of artists was remarkable because it spanned the globe. You could spin a globe, land anywhere, say the name of the country or the city, and he would know three people there, minimum,” said Gray. “He could recall a conversation he had with a person 35 years ago without any hesitation. He had an incredible constellation of people that he was surrounded by.”
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