Mark Bradford’s “Pickett’s Charge” Exhibit

With Nancy Hirshbein,

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden Docent

Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 3 pm

Mark Bradford is internationally renowned for his paper-based art pieces reflecting socio-political issues. Born in Los Angeles and virtually unknown until he was 40, he has wowed the art world with his large, vividly colored art pieces – all of which make emphatic statements about the world today.

“Pickett’s Charge” is one of his largest works to date. It combines several pieces, each covering 45 feet and together spanning nearly 400 linear feet to encircle the walls of a Hirshhorn Museum floor.

Bradford’s work is built upon enlarged photos of French artist Paul Philippoteaux’s nineteenth-century cyclorama, currently on view in Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania. The cyclorama depicts Pickett’s Charge—the final charge of the Battle of Gettysburg, which historians cite as the critical turning point of the Civil War.

Bradford has cut, torn and scraped through layers of colored paper that he has overlaid on the photos to reveal hidden textures and complexities lurking just beneath the surface. The resulting work weaves together past and present, illusion and abstraction, inviting a rethinking of how narratives about American history are shaped and contested.

For more than two decades, Bradford has expanded the language of abstraction by incorporating personal experience and historical significance into his works. In 2009, he was awarded the MacArthur Genius Grant. In 2016, he was awarded the US Department of State’s national Medal of Arts. He was the US representative for the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017.

To register for the presentation,

please RSVP:  park21217@aol.com