Favourite Paintings: 'Revolutionary' by Wadsworth Jarrell

I saw the painting 'Revolutionary (Angela Davis)' by Wadsworth Jarrell at the 'Soul of a Nation' exhibition at Tate Modern in 2017, an exhibition about art by black artists in the civil rights years in the USA. It's a portrait of Angela Davis, the activist and teacher from the '60s onwards. It's a screenprint rather than a painting but I won't let that stop me referring to it as a painting.

Jarrell was a member of the AfriCOBRA group of artists in Chicago (they had the great title of African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). The painting is made up of words and phrases from Angela's speeches and civil rights slogans. She is dressed as a revolutionary and the bandolier across her shoulder is filled with coloured chalks rather than bullets. It's an incredibly powerful image. I wonder what Angela thought of it back in the day and what she thinks of it now.

Angela Davis was on the most wanted list in the USA when she was on the run in the early 70s and became a cause celebre around the world, the Ono-Lennons even wrote a song about her (on 'Some Time in New York City'). I read her autobiography in about 1976. She still lectures and gives talks around the world and is still a social activist. Her life can't be separated from the painting and neither can the times it was created in - Jarrell created it to be popular and attractive to get the word out and in that it succeeded.