Wadsworth Aikens Jarrell was born on November 20,1929 and is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker.
35 Facts About Wadsworth Jarrell
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Wadsworth Jarrell was born in Albany, Georgia, and moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he attended the Art Institute of Chicago.
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In 1969, Wadsworth Jarrell co-founded AFRICOBRA: African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists.
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Wadsworth Jarrell's career took him to Africa in 1977, where he found inspiration in the Senufo people of Ivory Coast, Mali and Burkina Faso.
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Wadsworth Jarrell's work is found in the collections of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, High Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem and the University of Delaware.
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Wadsworth Jarrell was born in Albany, Georgia, in 1929 to Solomon Marcus and Tabitha Wadsworth Jarrell.
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All three Wadsworth Jarrell boys worked there, one of them learning to cane chairs.
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Wadsworth Jarrell then went to a private Baptist school starting in the seventh grade before transferring to Athens High in the tenth grade.
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Wadsworth Jarrell's days were spent working at the International Paint company where he mixed paint.
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Wadsworth Jarrell took classes at the Ray Vogue School for Commercial Arts.
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Wadsworth Jarrell began attending the Art Institute full-time in 1954.
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Wadsworth Jarrell eventually lost interest in commercial art and focused on classes about painting and drawing, gaining inspiration from instructor Laura McKinnon and her ideas about spatial relationship theory.
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In 1963, Wadsworth Jarrell met Elaine Annette Johnson, known as Jae, who ran a clothing boutique, the woman who became his second wife on June 2,1967.
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The family then moved to Washington, DC, where Wadsworth Jarrell began teaching at Howard University in 1971, recruited by Jeff Donaldson.
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Shortly after the move Wadsworth Jarrell became an assistant professor at the University of Georgia.
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Wadsworth Jarrell started to submit his work to competitions, being accepted at the Chicago Show at the Navy Pier and the Union League Show.
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Wadsworth Jarrell produced artworks inspired by theories learned in school and scenes of everyday life in black Chicago.
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Wadsworth Jarrell moved to a large studio in the Hyde Park neighborhood and continued expanding on his work and focusing on musical and sport related themes.
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In 1968, Wadsworth Jarrell became art director at Sander Line Graphics, only to quit shortly thereafter to become self-employed.
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Artist Norman Parish asked Wadsworth Jarrell to attend a meeting for OBAC's Artists' Workshop.
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Wadsworth Jarrell's work had evolved to bring the focus figure to the foreground of his paintings, as seen in Coolade Lester, a portrait of musician Lester Lashley.
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Wadsworth Jarrell exhibited Revolutionary and Black Prince at the show.
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Wadsworth Jarrell wears a Revolutionary Suit that was designed by Jae Jarrell for the AFRICOBRA II exhibition.
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Wadsworth Jarrell obtained work as a photographer in Boston, eventually choosing to accept Donaldson's offer, moving the family in time for Wadsworth Jarrell to teach photography classes during the fall semester.
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Wadsworth Jarrell wears clothing of and is surrounded by coolade colors.
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The face is that of Wadsworth Jarrell's father, manipulated into a Senufo sculptural style.
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The exhibit, at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, featured two works by Wadsworth Jarrell created as a response to his journey to Africa: Mojo Workin and Soweto.
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Wadsworth Jarrell created the drawing The Magic Lady and with Jarrell's painting it was believed that mojo was expressed when others encountered the work.
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In 1979 Wadsworth Jarrell received grant money to create a 52 x 31-foot mural at the East Athens Community Center.
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The move to Atlanta provided more income for the family while allowing Wadsworth Jarrell to sell more work and spark relationships with potential customers, galleries and museums in the region.
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Wadsworth Jarrell became the painting professor for the University's Studies Abroad Program in 1986.
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In 1993 Wadsworth Jarrell would have a solo show, titled "Edge Cutters," at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Lexington, Kentucky.
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In December 1982 Wadsworth Jarrell was commissioned by Westinghouse Electric Company to create a three-hundred-foot mural in their Athens headquarters, to boost the morale of the employees.
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Leaf patterns and circles common in Wadsworth Jarrell's work are seen throughout.
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Wadsworth Jarrell occasionally traveled with Harris, hanging his paintings behind Harris as he performed.