VOLUME X No. 5 Black Angel

by Mel Chin

excised printed pages, archival water-based glue

The description of the artwork in the back of Citizen states that this piece of artwork is created from layers of images in some old Encyclopedias.

Mel Chin is a visual artist born in 1951, in Houston. He has influenced a generation of artists and curators interested in conceptual art and political awareness. Political, cultural, and social circumstances are always the sources of his creation. In others words, he uses diverse forms such as sculpture, video, drawing, painting, land art, and performance art create awareness of problems in society like racism, environmental pollution and so on. Some themes of his artwork includes advanced techniques like Surrealism, which seeks to explore answers of social justice and human freedom. He does not only introduce thought-provoking problems, but also insists that the audience understand deep reasons behind them and to seek answers.

It depicts a black angel in tattered clothing, who appears worn out and tired touching the head of a gargoyle, while many others are looking on. In the right hand corner there is a white man bowing or pleading to the black angel. This element functions in the book for its uses of Encyclopedia images depict the past of African Americans. These Encyclopedias were from the 1950s when the Civil Rights Movement was gearing up for a long and tumultuous trial. The fact that she was depicted as an angel could also hold representation to the past coming back and touching the head of a present item. This could be symbolic on the fact that the past is still present in the current day and should be recognized. There is still much work to be done. African Americans are still underrepresented and misrepresented in society although there has been progress made that should not be viewed with contentment.

Questions to Consider:

Were these specific pages from the Encyclopedias or just the Encyclopedias in entirety?

What is the representation of the man bowing in the background?

Mel Chin is known for creating artwork that begs for social awareness and seeks social responsibility; what is he is alluding to in this piece with reference to that information?

Why are the proportions of figures quite different?

Why might the entire background be black?

What does the presence of these animals suggest?

For more information:

—"Mel Chin: Rematch."New Orleans Museum of Art. N.p., n.d. Web. https://noma.org/exhibitions/mel-chin-rematch/

—D'Addario, John. "Mel Chin’s Media Hacks and Conceptual Beauty."Hyperallergic. N.p., 05 Mar. 2014. Web.. http://hyperallergic.com/111303/mel-chins-media-hacks-and-conceptual-beauty/

—"The Funk & Wag from A to Z – mel chin."Mei Chin. N.p., n.d. Web. http://melchin.org/oeuvre/the-funk-wag-from-ato-z

~ Research by Yaya Zhang and Katherine Stachowski