I encountered the work of Radcliffe Bailey Jr. shortly after moving to Atlanta in 1994. Interrogating themes of race, culture, ancestry, and memory, neither before nor since has an artist’s work spoken so forcefully to me.
Bailey had no explicit ties to Wilson, but his work embodies a collective consciousness that embraces Black Wide-Awake. In gratitude, I honor his life and passing here.
Strangest Fruit, 1997. Courtesy of Studio Museum in Harlem.
