JOHN T. RIDDLE, JR. (1934 - 2002) A Study of Planes.
Collage, pen and ink on buff paper, mounted to cardstock, 1965. 508x406 mm; 20x16 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower right (twice).
Provenance: private collection; thence by descent to the current owner.
This abstract composition is an unusual early work by artist, educator and art administrator John T. Riddle, Jr. Born and educated in Los Angeles, Riddle's work after 1965 became increasingly invested in assemblage, especially sculpture made from the discarded and charred remains found after the Watts rebellion. Greatly inspired by Noah Purifoy, Riddle's approach was a direct way of both addressing his community and developing an abstract aesthetic. Riddle taught art at Los Angeles High School and Beverly Hills High School before moving to Atlanta in 1974, where he taught at Spelman College. Riddle returned to Los Angeles in 1999 to the position of Program Manager of Visual Arts for the California African American Museum. Several of his assemblage sculptures are featured in the traveling museum exhibition Now Dig This! Art & Black Los Angeles 1960-1980 curated by Kellie Jones, currently on view at the Williams College Museum of Art.
