On the left is the Henry Ward Beecher Monument. On the right is “An image of David Hammons wrapping his red-and-orange scarf around the head of a bronze sculpture of a Black woman standing on the base of the Henry Ward Beecher Monument during a snowstorm, an action he says he repeated each winter for five or so years. Sculpted by John Quincy Adams Ward in 1891 to commemorate Beecher, the abolitionist who worked so tirelessly to end slavery, the monument centers on a standing, over-lifesize bronze statue of the heavily cloaked preacher (he is wearing at least four layers of coats). Below, on the granite base by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, the monument also includes a pair of children on one side and, on the other, a freed, formerly enslaved woman placing a palm frond at Beecher’s feet to represent his triumphant efforts in emancipation. Hammons putting winter clothes on the Black figure is a contextualizing, humanizing gesture that asks us to scrutinize this monument and its place in history. It is a far more nuanced, but no less biting, interpretation of public monuments than is usual.”
And looking at the calendar, I think this will be the last post until January 3rd. By then, maybe I’ll have stitching to show you
