Wadsworth Jarrell

Wadsworth Jarrell (born 1929) is an American painter and founding member of AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists), a collective established in Chicago in 1968 that sought to create a distinctly Black aesthetic in visual art. His vibrant, typographically-infused paintings often incorporate text and bold, electric colors to celebrate Black identity, culture, and liberation. Jarrell is considered a pivotal figure in the Black Arts Movement and the development of an Afrocentric visual language in American art.