February 1989. Granite, bronze. Dimensions: 78 × 22 × 10 in (198 × 56 × 25 cm).
Corporate collection - Health South Inc., Birmingham, AL
Strange Fruit V the fifth work in the series, resumes my combination of metal and found stone. Here the bronze element rises from the vertically positioned stone in a slender, almost calligraphic gesture, opening at the top like a fruit or seed pod. The form introduces organic and bodily associations while also recalling the vessel imagery that was becoming increasingly important in my work.
The title adds a darker, deliberately oblique meaning, recalling Billie Holiday’s haunting performance of “Strange Fruit,” confronting the lynching of African Americans in the American South. Rather than illustrating the song, the reference gives the organic form an unsettling dimension, creating a tension between growth and violence, beauty and brutality.
February 1989. Granite, bronze. Dimensions: 78 × 22 × 10 in (198 × 56 × 25 cm).
Corporate collection - Health South Inc., Birmingham, AL
Strange Fruit V the fifth work in the series, resumes my combination of metal and found stone. Here the bronze element rises from the vertically positioned stone in a slender, almost calligraphic gesture, opening at the top like a fruit or seed pod. The form introduces organic and bodily associations while also recalling the vessel imagery that was becoming increasingly important in my work.
The title adds a darker, deliberately oblique meaning, recalling Billie Holiday’s haunting performance of “Strange Fruit,” confronting the lynching of African Americans in the American South. Rather than illustrating the song, the reference gives the organic form an unsettling dimension, creating a tension between growth and violence, beauty and brutality.
