Born 0000-00-00
Solo exhibitions
1993 “A Thirty Year Retrospective” Neuberger Museum of Art
State University of New York at Purchase
“Lynch Fragments” CDS Gallery New York
1992 Cedar Rapids Museum of Art Cedar Rapids Iowa
“The Lynch Fragment Series” Eugene Johnson Gallery of Art
Bethel College St. Paul Minnesota
1991 “Lynch Fragments: Selected Small Sculptures” Hammonds House Galleries and
Resource Center of African-American Art Atlanta Georgia
Oklahoma City Art Museum on the Fairgrounds, Oklahoma
Tomasulo Gallery Union County College Cranford New Jersey
1990 Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster Pennsylvania
“Fragments of a Decade 1980-1990” Montclair State College Art Gallery
Montclair New Jersey
De Luce Gallery Northwest Missouri State University Maryville Missouri
CDS Gallery New York
1989 Korn Gallery Madison College Madison New Jersey
“Memories Forming the Future” Colgate University Hamilton New York
Extension Gallery Johnson Atelier Mercerville New York
1986 Atrium Gallery University of Connecticut at Storrs
1985 “Drawings, Monoprints and Maquettes” Jersey City Museum
Jersey City New Jersey
Atrium Gallery University of Connecticut at Storrs
“Mel Edwards: Lynch Fragment Series” Robeson Center Gallery
Rutgers University New Brunswick New Jersey
1984 “The Sculpture of Melvin Edwards” UNESCO Paris France
1983 “Mel Edwards: Drawings for Soutern Sunrise”
Winston-Salem State University North Carolina
1982 “The Sculpture of Melvin Edwards” Sculpture Center Gallery New York
1981 “Sculpture by Mel Edwards” New Jersey State Museum Trenton New Jersey
1980 Melvin Edwards: Recent Sculpture, Fragments and Larger Works”
55 Mercer New York
“Sculpture by Mel Edwards” Lusaka Zambia
“Sculpture by Mel Edwards” American Culture Center Nairobi Kenya
1979 Johnson Atelier Mercerville New Jersey
1978 Studio Museum in Harlem New York
1974 “Lines” carpenter Gallery Darmouth College Hanover New Hampshire
1970 Whitney Museum of American Art New York
Selected Museum and Corporate Collections
Birmingham Museum of Art Birmingham Alabama
The Bronx Museum of the Arts New York
The Brooklyn Museum New York
Center for the Arts Vero Beach Florida
The Center Gallery of Bucknell University Lewisburg Pennsylvania
Chase Manhattan Bank New York
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Cornell University Ithaca New York
James E Lewis Museum of Art Morgan State University Baltimore Marland
Long Beach Museum of Art Calfornia
Los Angeles County Museum of Art California
The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York
The Montclair Art Museum New Jersey
Museo de Artes Visualez Alejandro Otero Caracas Venezuela
The Museum of Modern Art New York
New Jersey State Museum Trenton
Neuberger Museum of Art SUNY Purchase
The Newark Museum New Jersey
Peat, Marwick and Mitchell Montvale New Jersey
The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture New York
The Studio Museum in Harlem New York
The Wadsworth Atheneum Hartford Connecticut
Winston-Salem State University North Carolina
Selected Group Exhibitions
1988 Sculpture: Inside, Outside” Walker Art Center Minneapolis Minnesota
“Affinities: Idioms/Aesthetics/Intents” Jamaica Art Center New York
“Traces of History: Art of Afro-America” Robeson Gallery
Rutgers University New Brunswick New Jersey
1986 “Black Visions” City Hall New York
“Liberty and Justice” Alternative Museum New York
Socrates Sculpture Park Inaugural Exhibition Long Island City New York
“Irons in the Fire” Memorial Arch at Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn New York
“Contemporary Sculpture Selection” The Studio Museum in Harlem New York
1987 “Making the Mainstream” SVC Fine Art Gallery
University of South Florida Galleries Tampa
“Outside In” New York Cultural Center New York
“The Law & Order Show” Gladstone Gallery New York
“The Afro-American Artist in the Age of Cultural Pluralism”
The Montclair Art Museum Montclair New Jersey
“Public Art” The Museum of African American Art Los Angeles
Old Westbury College Gallery Westbury Long Island New York
1985 “Traditions and Conflict: Images of a Turbulent Decade 1963-1973”
The Studio Museum in Harlem New York
1984 “Since the Harlem Renaissance” The Center Gallery of Bucknell University
Lewsiburg Pennsylvania
“Art: For and Against” Thorpe Intermedia Gallery Sparkill New York
“Celebration: Eight Afro-American Artists Selected by Romare Bearden”
Louis Abrons Arts for Living Center Henry Street Settlement New York
“Contra-Apartheid” UNESCO Paris France
“East-West: Contemporary American Art” California Afro-American Museum
Exposition Park Los Angeles
“Artists in Celebration of Black History Month” Trenton State College ArtGallery
New Jersey
“Sculpture” Gallery of Murphy Fine Art Center
Morgan State University Baltimore Maryland
“Stick and Stones: Modern and Post Modern Sculpture”
Kenkeleba House New York
“Sculpture from Rutgers” Robeson Center Gallery Rutgers University
New Brunswick New Jersey
“New Jersey Arts Inclusion Program 1978-84” Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art
Museum Rutgers University New Brunswick New Jersey
Amelie A. Wallace Gallery State University of New York at Westbury
1983 “Art in Public” Chicago Sculptural Society Illinois
“Celebrating Contemporary American Black Artists”
Fine Arts Museum of Long Island Hempstead New York
“4 Sculptors” Sid Deutsch Gallery New York
“Young Talent Awards 1963-83” Los Angeles County Museum of Art California
“5 Sculptors” The Bronx Museum of the Arts New York
“The War Show” University Art Gallery
State University of New York at Stony Brook
“Var for New York” Futura Gallery Stockholm Sweden
1982 “Mayor ByrnesÕ Mile of Sculpture” Navy Pier Chicago Illinois
“The 4 Directions” Gallery of the American Indian Community House New York
“Ritual and Myth: A Survey of African American Art”
The Studio Museum in Harlem New York
“Works on Paper” Woodson Regional Library Chicago Illinois
“Black Artists: Recent Attitudes II” California State University Fresno
“Visual Politics” Alternative Museum New York
1981 “Outdoor Sculpture at the Aquarium” Niagara Falls New York
Cinque Galery New York
“Focus Southern Africa: Details of the Struggle”
Countee Culen Library NewYork
1980 YW-YMHA Green Lane Union New Jersey
“Sculpture Today:Traditional and Non-Traditional” The Art Gallery
University of Maryland College Park
“Afro-American Abstraction” P.S. 1 Long Island City New York
1979 The Bronx Museum of the Arts New York
1977 “Drawn and Matched” The Museum of Modern Art New York
“Environmental Sculture” Robert Moses Plaza
Fordham University at Lincoln Center
Henry O Tanner Gallery New York
“The Concept as Art” Just Above Midtown Gallery New York
Florida International University
“Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture: FESTAC Ō77”
Lato-Kadona Nigeria
Fisher Gallery University of Southern California Los Angeles
1976 “76 Jefferson” The Museum of Modern Art New York
“Resonance: Williams/Edwards/Gilliam”
Morgan State University Baltimore Maryland
1975 “Sculpture Invitational” Gallery Ariadne New York
1974 “Extensions: Edwards, Gilliam, Williams”
Wadsworth Atheneum Hartford Connecticut
1973 Anot Art Museum Elmira New York
“Sculture Three: New York Artists on Tour” World Trade Center New York
1972 “Edwards, Gilliam, Williams” Wabash Transit Gallery
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Illinois
“New York Artists at Storm King” Storm King Art Center
Mountainville New York
1971 “Artist as Advocate” The Museum of Modern Art New York
The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art Ridgefield Connecticut
The William Benton Museum of Art Ridgefield Connecticut
1970 Museum of Art University of Connecticut at Storrs
Whitney Museum of American Art Annual
“Dimensions of Black Art” La Jolla Museum of Art Calfornia
Rental Gallery The Museum of Modern Art New York
Public Works
Homage to My Father and the Spirit 1969
Herbert F. Johnson Museum Cornell University Ithaca New York
Harlem Double Circles 1970
Bethune Towers 144th Street and Lenox Avenue New York City
Homage To Billie Holiday and the Young Ones of Soweto 1976-77
Morgan State University Baltimore Maryland
Out of the Struggles of the Past to a Brilliant Future 1982
Mount Vernon Plaza Columbus Ohio
Southern Sunrise 1983
Winston-Salem State University North Carolina
Holder of the Light 1985
Lafayette Gardens Jersey City New Jersey
Safe Journey 1992
Motor Vehicle Inspection Station Eatontown New Jersey
Passage 1991
Kingsborough Community College Brooklyn New York
TomorrowÕs Wind 1989-91
Thomas Jefferson Park East Harlem New York
Confirmation 1989
U.S. Social Security Building Federal Plaza Jamaica New York
Education Is an Open Book 1988
Rutgers University Livingston College Student Center New Brunswick New Jersey
Bibliography
Alloway, Lawrence “Art” The Nation 230 (April 12 1980) : 441-42
[Review of P.S. 1 exhibiton]
Bass, Ruth “Melvin Edwards” ARTnews 89 (September 1990): 190
Illustrates Sekuro Knows
Bernard, Audrey J. “AudreyÕs Whirl . . . :Bronze and Steel” Afro Times (1989)
[Review of Bronze and Steel exhibition at Pyramid Gallery January 1989]
Bohlier, Michelle “Mel Edwards: Not Your Typical Steel Worker”
Oklahoma Accent Magazine 3 (February 1991) :cover 7,11,21
Bowling, Frank “Black Art: Talking About Books” Two Rivers
London: Two Rivers 1970
Bowling, Frank “ItÕs Not Enough to Say Black Is Beautiful” ARTnews (April 1971): 55
Illustrates Pyramind Up and Pyramid Down
Bowling, Frank “Discussion on Black Art II” Arts Magazine (May 1969): 20-23
Illustrates Untitled 1968
Bowling, Frank “Black Art III” Arts Magazine (December 1969): 20-22
Illustrates My Turn to Burn 1965 [Review of X to the 4th exhibition]
Brenson, Michael “Expressionists Who Point Up Each OtherÕs Strengths”
The New York Times July 21 1985
Brenson, Michael “Sculpture, Private and Public”
The New York Times December 23 1988 [Review of Affinities:
Idioms/Esthetics/Intents and commentary on Confirmation, installation at Social
Security Building Queens New York]
Brenson, Michael “Going Beyond Slickness: Sculptors Get Back to Basics”
The New York Times March 3 1989
Brenson, Michael “Black Artists: A Place in the Sun”
The New York Times March 12 1989 section 2, 1
Brenson “Melvin Edwards” The New York Times
March 30 1990 C28 [Review of CDS Gallery exhibition]
Brenson, Michael “Taking on the World from 125th Street”
The New York Times September 23 1990
Brenson, Michael “Painted Froms: Recent Metal Sculpture”
The New York Times January 4 1991 c20
Brenson, Michael “Mel Edwards” The New York Times March 8 1991 C30
[Review of TomorrowÕs Wind installation in Central Park]
Brenson, Michael “Art in Review: Lee Tribe”
The New York Times June 28 1991 C21
Brenson, Michael “Mel Edwards” The New York Times July 26 1991 C28
[Review of installtion of Passage at Kingsborough Community College Brooklyn]
Breson, Michael “Natural Gallery: A Cityful of Sculpture, Under the Sky”
The New York Times July 26 1991 C1
[Review of Socrates Sculpture Park exhibition]
Cacioppo, Nancy “From Waste to Art” Rockland Journal News October 4 1991 C1
Rockland County New York [Review of Discarded at Rockland Center for the Arts]
Cedarholm, Theresa Dickason Afro-American Artists: A Bio-Bibliographical Directory
Boston: Boston Public Library 1973
Chadwick, Susan “Shadow Dancing at CAM” The Houston Post October 20 1991 J10
Cortez, Jayne “Extensions” Continuities: Journal from the Black Studies
Department of the City College of New York 1974 pp 51-53
[Review of Extensions at Wadsworth Atheneum Hartford]
Cortez, Jayne “Three Poems: Lynch Fragment I”;”It Came”;”OgunÕs Friend”
Sulfur: A Literary Bi-Annual of the Whole Art Ypsilanti: Eastern Michigan
University 1992
Cotter, Holland “Black Artists: Three Shows” Art in America 78 (March 1990)
164-71 [Includes reference to EdwardsÕ work in Traditions and Transformations
[exhibition at The Bronx Museum of the Arts. Illustrates Freedom Weapon]
Dufresne, Bethe “Gifted Visions: Lyman Allyn Show Celebrates Works by
African Americans” The Day New London Connecticut February 2 1992
Edgerton, A.C. and M. Tuchman “Modern and Contemporary Art Council Young
Talent Awards 1963-1983” Bulletin of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
27 (1983) Illustrates Fourth Circle and Luxor Variation
Fine, Elsa Honig The Afro-American Art, A Search for Identity New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston Inc. 1973 (revised 1982 New York: Hacker Art Books)
Fox, Catherine “Form, Materials Unite New History Exhibition” The Atlanta
Journal and Constitution August 10 1990 E2
Fryer-Kohles, Jeanne “Mel Edwards Poetics” Dialogue: The Ohio Arts Journal
5.5 (May/June 1983) [Review of Out of the Struggles of the Past to a Brilliant
Future 1982 installation at Mt. Vernon Plaza Columbus Ohio]
Guevera, Roberto “Plastica: Arte y consistencia” Nacional (July 23 1991)
[Review of Espiritu & Matiera exhibition Caracas Venezuela]
Hughes, Robert “Going Back to Africa . . . as Visitors” Time 115 (March 31
1980) page 72 [Review of P.S. 1 exhibition Illustrates Homage to the Poet Leon
Contran Damas]
Igoe, Lynn with James Igoe 250Years of Afro-American Art: An Annotated
Bibliography New York: Bowker 1981
James, Curtia “New History” ARTnews 89 (October 1990) page 203
Johnson, Ken “Melvin Edwards” Art in America 78 (September 1990) page
136 Illustrates Mangwana
Kingsley, April “Art: Melvin Edwards: Steelyard Blues, A Black Sculptor Wins
Recognition” Encore: American & Worldwide News (November 1981) pp 42-43
Kingsley, April “Overcoming the Double Whammy” The Village Voice (June 25
1979) page 99
Knight, Christopher “Exhibiting a Real Identity Crisis: Introspectives Focuses on
U.S., Brazilian Slavery Roots” Los Angeles Herald Examiner Sunday April 16
1989 E2
Lewis, Samella Art: African American New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Inc. 1978”Los Custro Jinetes det Arte Estadouniclense” El Diario de
Caracas May 20 1991
McNally, Owen “Myths, Masks, Monsters” The Hartford Courant November 1 1991 B1,
B3 [Review of Spiritual Cargo: Shamanistic Manifestations]
“Mel Edwards” The New York Times July 26 1991 C28 [Review of installation of
Passage at Kingsborough Community College manhattan Beach Brooklyn New York]
Mellow, James R. “The Black Artist, The Black Community, The White Art World”
The New York Times June 29 1969 section 2, 23
Mercer, Valerie J.
“SculptrÕs Horizons Have No Limits” the New York Times June 3 1990 section 8, 12
“Mt. Vernon Plaza Sculpture by Melvin Edwards Dedicated” The Call and Post
Columbus Ohio November 8 1982 page 9A
“Object: Diversity” Time (April 6 1970) page 80
Crowley, Peggy “Putting Together Fragments” News Tribune May 7 1989 PP E1 and E2
[Review of Traditions and Transformations at The Bronx Museum of the Arts]
Odendahl, Nora “Heavy Metal: New Jersey Sculptors Melvin Edwards and Robert Cooke
Bring Life to Steel and Bronze” New Jersey Good Life October 1989
Oren, Michael “The Smokehouse Painters: 1968-70” African American Review
(formerly Black American Literature Forum) 24:3 (Fall 1990) pp 509-31
“Public Art Fund: Making a Place for Sculpture in the City” The Journal of Art (June,
July, Augugst 1991) page 12
Raynor, Vivien “Sculpture, Drawings and Paintings Too” The New York Times (New
Jersey Section) July 14 1985 page 21
Raynor, Vivien “Traces of History: Art of Afro-America at Robeson Gallery” The New
York Times (New Jersey Section) February 14 1988 page 32
Raynor, Vivien “Comparing the Black Artist in the United States and Brazil” The New
York Times March 11 1990 WC36 [Review of Introspectives at The Bronx Museum
of the Arts]
Raynor, Vivien “Assemblages Offer Views of the Spiritual” The New York Times
November 22 1992 CN24
Robins, Corinne “Art and Politics” The Pluralist Era: American Art, 1968-1981 New
York: Harper and Row 1984
Spencer, Harold The Image Maker: Man and His Art New York: Charles Scribner &
Sons 1975
Wadsworth, Susan “The Artist as Magic Seer” The Chronicle Willimantic Connecticut
November 1 1991 page 11
Walker, Roslyn A Resource Guide to the Visual Arts of Afro-Americans South Bend
Indiana 1971
Wallach, Amei “Art with a Wallop” Newsday April 10 1989 Nassau and Suffolk edition
II, 4 City edition 8
Wilson, Judith “Melvin Edwards at 55 Mercer” Art in America 68 (October 1980) page
136
Woods, Joe “Mel Edwards” The Village Voice March 27 1990 page 103
[Review of CDS Gallery exhibition]
Zimmer, William “A Keeper of the Heroic Flame”
The New York Times March 11 1990 D16
Zimmer, William “Dreams and Legacies of the Harlem Renaissance”
The New York Times November 3 1991