Artworks

Cotton Hangup, 1966

  • Artist

    Melvin E. Edwards

  • Title

    Cotton Hangup

  • Date

    1966

  • Medium

    Welded steel

  • Dimensions

    32 × 30 × 30 in. (81.3 × 76.2 × 76.2 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Hans Burkhardt

  • Object Number

    1991.21

Crafted from repurposed industrial materials, Cotton Hangup reflects Melvin Edwards’s investigations into the dynamics and associations of suspension as he expanded the scale of his art. The title refers to the history of cotton-picking by enslaved peoples and sharecroppers in the United States. Creating the shape of a hanging figure from the materials used to process cotton, Edwards suggests a central connection between the systemic violence inherent in the cotton industry and the practice of lynching.


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Artworks

Cotton Hangup, 1966

  • Artist

    Melvin E. Edwards

  • Title

    Cotton Hangup

  • Date

    1966

  • Medium

    Welded steel

  • Dimensions

    32 × 30 × 30 in. (81.3 × 76.2 × 76.2 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Hans Burkhardt

  • Object Number

    1991.21

Crafted from repurposed industrial materials, Cotton Hangup reflects Melvin Edwards’s investigations into the dynamics and associations of suspension as he expanded the scale of his art. The title refers to the history of cotton-picking by enslaved peoples and sharecroppers in the United States. Creating the shape of a hanging figure from the materials used to process cotton, Edwards suggests a central connection between the systemic violence inherent in the cotton industry and the practice of lynching.


Explore further