Immediate Response
After finding Mark Bradfords, A Truly Rich Man Is One Whose Children Run Into His Arms Even When His Hands are Empty Piece, I was reminded of a birds eye view of a major city. It drove me back to the days of me standing on a subway in the populous city of New York, only to be looking at the subway map on the wall of the train. While I know this is not a subway map, what I do see is clutter; grids of colors, lines and sections. I can’t decipher exactly what this portrays, but to me, it almost looks like a map of neighborhoods creating one mass city.
Objective Description
The piece itself is a rectangle, however within the rectangle is an irregular shaped region; similar to a splotch. Within the region, comprising 80% of the piece, are multiple lines of color, intersecting each other in all directions. Beyond the boundaries is darkness and limited detail. From afar, it looks as if it is a clutter of blended shapes, lines and colors. Looking closely, you can decipher the shapes as rectangles, resembling buildings and the lines, resembling streets and avenues. Imagine a coastal city at night; street and office lights still lit, and the hustle of commuters very evident amidst the dark sky.
Technical Decisions
Bradford uses a variety of urban threads, like scraps from magazines, advertisements and even billboards. He layers and intertwines the materials, creating a very abstract collage. Bradfords artwork resembles himself in how he is 6’8. Almost all of his pieces take up an entire wall. The contrast between the mass in the middle and the dark of the surrounding area on the left side and bottom is what makes me think about lights at night. I think this piece is both harmonic and dissonant. Initially looking at it, you can’t exactly pinpoint what it is, which makes it overwhelming. However, after closely looking at the piece, you slowly pick up on the shapes and colors, which allows you to appreciate it more.
The Work In the World
By now, I have an instilled image of the artwork reflecting a city. For all of my life, I have lived roughly an hour from New York City, which allowed me to interpret the image in a more familiar way. Additionally, this piece to me resembles the city post 911 as the city remained lost and confused which is represented in the artwork as you don’t know exactly what’s going on. Looking at this piece reflects my first perspective of being in the city. The piece is almost intimidating as I could easily get lost within it.
The Story It Tells
Narrowing down my ideas and research, I think this piece portrays a map of where he grew up and where he lives today. In 1981, Bradford came out as gay, an identity he slowly discovered through his going to nightclubs and dancing. This collage paid homage to his upbringing; and where his mother worked tirelessly for him with her studio to provide for him. This piece takes pieces from his hometown and formulates a blurry image to represent the complexity of his upbringing struggling with race, poverty and his sexuality. From walking the streets of his hometown, Bradford collected materials and scraps around the area to turn it into something beautiful to reflect the positives and light of the place he has spent his whole life in.