#du-rags

After receiving his M.F.A. from Yale University, John Edmonds moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 2016. He soon noticed that many people in the neighborhood wore du-rags, such as the ones seen on these three men, and began a new series of grand pictures that underscore the symbolic and poetic power of the accessory. Edmonds created this group portrait in his studio using a large-format camera and available light. The work represents a transition from the artist’s earlier Du-Rags series, which consists of singular portraits of individuals donning the eponymous headwear, photographed from behind. Here the pyramidal composition recalls the sacred geometry of Renaissance paintings, while the three du-rags correspond to the red, black, and green of the Pan-African flag.⁠ ⁠ Discover this work and more in the exhibition John Edmonds: A Sidelong Glance on view through September 26, 2021. ⁠

John Edmonds’s video explores a quiet moment of intimacy and vulnerability between two men. Silhouetted in a darkened room, the artist and a friend face each other as they take turns “shotgunning,” or blowing smoke into the other’s mouth. At times, their lips linger, nearly touching, as if in anticipation of a kiss. In both his still photography and video work, Edmonds creates sensitive portraits and still lifes that focus on markers and rituals of Black self-fashioning and community—including hoodies, du-rags, and African sculptures.

See “Shotgun” in full as part of our Art on the Stoop: Sunset Screenings series—showing each Friday and Saturday, through November 8, now starting at 5pm. You can also see more work from our first @UOVO Prize-winning artist on view in John Edmonds: A Sidelong Glance, opening today on the Museum’s fourth floor.

And tune in to Screen Time on our Instagram Live, today at noon (ET), where Edmonds will join curator Drew Sawyer for a chat about his work on view in both Brooklyn Museum presentations.