Radcliffe Bailey

Astro Beeing, 1995
Radcliffe Bailey, Astro Beeing, 1995, acrylic and tar on wood. 80 x 80 x 4 in., Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School © Radcliffe Bailey.

Radcliffe Bailey (American, 1968-2023), Astro Beeing, 1995, acrylic and tar on wood, 80 x 80 x 4 in. Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School, 1995.5. © Radcliffe Bailey.

In his mixed-media assemblages, Radcliffe Bailey nestles nineteenth-century tintypes and found objects within expressive layers of paint to explore the merging of Black identity, African American history, and cultural memory. As he stated in a 2018 artnet interview, “I feel like I always have a foot back in time.” By bringing the past into dialogue with the present, Bailey both addresses history and promotes healing through art.