African American Voices

This exhibition features African-American artworks from the permanent collection of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art.

A centerpiece is Richard Hunt’s Maquette for Wing Generator, 1982/2010, which developed one of Hunt’s major themes—hybridization of the Greco-Roman winged victory motif with mythological bird forms found on African artworks. The sculpture is a prototype for a gravesite monument, commissioned through the will of Hunt’s deceased friend, Hobart Taylor Jr.

Taylor achieved victory through a successful private and public life as a civil rights lawyer, an attorney for the City of Detroit, a member of President Lyndon Johnson’s staff for the enactment of civil rights legislation, and a successful corporate lawyer. The winged victory motif also symbolizes the Christian victory of life after death.

An avid collector of African art, Hunt owns iron staffs featuring abstract bird forms. His use of this symbol in Wing Generator acknowledges the traditional meaning associated with the staffs: birds are associated with the mind and with personal destiny. This metaphor is especially significant for Wing Generator, because Taylor’s only requirement for the memorial sculpture (communicated through his will) was that it include the phrase “There are no barriers to the mind.”

This work is located currently in the Charles B. Hayes Family Sculpture Park

View the African American Voices Online Gallery

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Engage with the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art by exploring their collection through background information and reflection questions. For more information on the collections, please visit the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art website.

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