Jack Whitten Red, Black, Green Plate

For over six decades, Jack Whitten radically explored the process of painting through Abstract Expressionism and with references to the civil rights movement.

Whitten’s approach initially aligned with the New York circle of Abstract Expressionists. Beginning in the 1970s, however, he began to experiment with his tools and methods such that the materiality of paint and the process of painting took center stage. Through this experimentation, he pioneered a process and technique that came to define his practice—he created marks and textures with Afro combs, squeegees, and rakes.

Beginning in the 1990s, his experiment with paint took on a sculptural element: Whitten transformed paint into tesserae that he adhered to the canvas, achieving a mosaic effect that allude to architecture and murals and serve as abstract tributes to Black artists and historical figures such as Ralph Ellison and W.E.B. Du Bois. In the later years of his life, he combined the many experimental techniques he developed to achieve innovative new surfaces, structures, and symbols that map geographic, psychological, and social locations within the African American experience.

Featuring Whitten's Red, Black, Green, 1979-1980, this plate comes with a printed signature and edition details on verso, and custom artist box with printed signature. 

— 

Fine Bone China, 10.5 in. diameter
Dishwasher and microwave safe

Jack Whitten
Red, Black, Green, 1979-1980
Acrylic and string on canvas
64×  64 in.
© Jack Whitten Estate
Courtesy of the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth

*Edition of 250