Hammonds House Museum remembers radcliffe bailey
(November 25, 1968 - November 15, 2023)
Hammonds House Museum is immensely saddened by the news of the passing of Atlanta artist, former museum board member and friend, Radcliffe Bailey. Aside from being an accomplished artist, Radcliffe was a husband, father, son, brother and great friend to so many.
Photo by Lamont Hamilton
In the early days of the museum, Radcliffe was a member of a cohort of young artists who Hammonds House Museum founder Ed Spriggs supported through residency opportunities and mentorship. Radcliffe’s work has graced the walls of Hammonds House many times over our 35 year history. His 1992 work Places of Rebirth, from the Hammonds House Collection, is currently on view as part of the Foundations and Futures exhibition, curated by his mentor and friend Ed Spriggs, his good friend Kevin Sipp and protege Abiose Spriggs.
In the coming days and weeks, there will inevitably be many articles and essays written about Radcliffe’s contributions and his importance in the art world. Today however, we are more interested in amplifying his intent as an artist. The news of his passing immediately drew us to the catalog for his 2007 joint exhibition Pitching, with Alejandro Aguilera at the Visual Arts Gallery at Emory University. Of his work, Radcliffe expressed the following:
“This project is consistent with the body of work that I have been doing and I think that, at this point, I have only scratched the surface. I don’t want my work to be considered merely nostalgic. I am interested in an Africanism that permeates our contemporary world but goes unnamed and not talked about or fully addressed culturally. I am interested in the impulse of that mysterious African force that propels Black people wherever they are in the world and in conveying its spirituality which I feel exists in between the tangible and the intangible.”
The spirit of Radcliffe Bailey is eternally intertwined with the artistic and cultural legacy of Hammonds House Museum. He has crossed. Ase. Ase. Ase.
Images of Radcliffe Bailey taken by Sue Ross in April 1997 & October 2021.
