Radcliffe Bailey was a contemporary American visual artist known for works in mixed media, painting, and sculpture that delved into African-American history. He worked out of Atlanta, Georgia.
Bailey studied sculpture but also dabbled in painting and mixed media. He used historical photographs of his family, vinyl records, piano keys, and bottle caps in his work, which blurred the lines between painting and sculpture.
He received the Joan Foundation Grant in 2008, as well as the Elizabeth and Mallory Factory Prize for Southern Art in 2010.
What material does artist Radcliffe Bailey use in the work Windward Coast?
An iconic work of Bailey’s, Windward Coast–West Coast Slave Trade, is composed of hundreds of discarded piano keys.
This piece expressed his love of music, as well as the history, culture, and spirituality contained in the song. Here, the undulating keys are arranged to resemble the turbulent waters of the Middle Passage.