Thank You, Radcliffe Bailey

A tribute to a legendary artist who sculpted Black history.

Sal
Momentum
Published in
4 min readNov 21, 2023

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Radcliffe Bailey in front of one of his works | Image Source: Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

On November 15th, 2023, visual artist and maestro Radcliffe Bailey found peace after his battle with cancer. He is succeeded not only by his family, but by an incredible body of work, which has been displayed across museums across the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bailey’s contributions to the world of contemporary African-American art cannot be understated, the complexity with which he traced and connected African histories with contemporary Black realities continues to shape and inspire.

“In my work, I try to make something that is peaceful.” — Bailey

Bailey’s artistic vision

Through his work, but more broadly through his artistic approach, Bailey sought to capture the African American lived experience. Bailey used his work to represent the complexity of an interwoven, multicultural identity. He specifically tapped into his parents’ influence in his childhood and his youth in Atlanta, his relationship with music, specifically jazz, and the broader spiritual history of Kongo minkisi to do this.

Within this, he worked to document the realities of the African diaspora, considering the traumatic impact that slavery…

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Momentum
Momentum

Published in Momentum

Momentum is a blog that captures and reflects the moment we find ourselves in, one where rampant anti-Black racism is leading to violence, trauma, protest, reflection, sorrow, and more. Momentum doesn’t look away when the news cycle shifts.

Sal
Sal

Written by Sal

I am a History Educator and a Lifelong Learner with a Masters in Global History.

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