VAM galleries including this work:
The Speed Art Museum | Art Through Time || VAM Home

This sculpture by Ed Hamilton depicts Sengbe-Pieh (Joseph Cinque), a West African farmer who was kidnapped into slavery and transported to the United States in 1839. Aboard the slave ship Amistad, Sengbe-Pieh used a nail to release his chains, and he and his fellow captives took control of the ship. The Africans were jailed on reaching the United States and fought a long legal battle to be released. Finally, after a celebrated trial and with the support of former President John Quincy Adams, they were released and returned home. This story was told in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad.

About the Artist

Ed Hamilton is nationally known for his public sculptures, monuments to the struggles and achievements of black Americans and Africans. Hamilton’s monuments to individual African Americans include the Booker T. Washington Memorial Garden at Hampton University in Virginia and the Joe Louis Memorial in Detroit, Michigan.

Hamilton also has created sculptures commemorating the achievements of groups of Africans or African Americans. His Amistad Memorial, recalling the 1839 revolt of kidnapped Africans aboard the slave ship Amistad, was unveiled in New Haven, Connecticut in 1992. In Washington, D.C., Hamilton’s The Spirit of Freedom commemorates black Americans who fought in the Civil War.

Though he was born in Cincinnati, Hamilton grew up in Louisville’s West End. His father was a tailor; his mother, who nurtured her son’s artistic interests, ran a barbershop. Hamilton attended the Art Center School after high school. He then joined the Louisville Art Workshop, where he met older artists who further encouraged and educated him. Hamilton also learned a great deal from Louisville sculptor Barney Bright, who employed him as a studio apprentice.

When Hamilton opened his own studio in 1978, his career began to take off. He began to get commissions for public sculptures from local organizations, including Louisville Downs, the YMCA, and various churches. He also began the series of private works called Junkology and Confinement. In these pieces, Hamilton combined various materials, including found objects, to make sculptures that have been called “visual jazz.” He continues to do both his private work and his public commissions at his studio in Louisville.

To learn more about Hamilton, watch the video segment “Metal Sculpture: Ed Hamilton” on Through Artists’ Eyes: The Creative Process.

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: Do a verbal inventory of the sculpture, describing and analyzing everything you see. What sort of texture do you see on the piece? How would you describe it? What sort of effect does the use of that texture have on the artwork?

Considering the story of Cinque, discuss the artistic choices Ed Hamilton made in portraying him. What does the artist convey about the character of Cinque? How? How else might Cinque have been portrayed? Compare Hamilton’s Cinque to the A.P. Henry Bust of Abraham Lincoln. Why would these artists create these artworks? What makes these individuals important? What larger messages do the sculptures convey about their subjects?

Discuss monuments and their role in a public space. Think of all the monuments in Washington, D.C. or in your community. Why are these monuments important? What can we learn from them? What do monuments tell us about ourselves? Discuss the relationship of a monument to its natural setting. How important is it for a work of art to be in a complementary public space?

Activities: Think of a person or event you believe should be commemorated and sketch ideas for a sculpture or monument.

Cut a picture of a landscape, city block, or other public space out of a magazine. Draw or create a commemorative sculpture or monument and paste it onto the magazine picture. Or, create a diorama out of cardboard and assemble the scene standing up, with the sculpture/monument cut out and standing within the space.

Links

Hamilton’s Untitled (Old Soldier) is also at the Speed Art Museum.
[www.speedmuseum.org/hamilton_n.html]

Find out more about Hamilton and his works and processes at the artist’s web site.
[www.edhamiltonworks.com]

The Exploring Amistad web site includes background information and teaching ideas.
[amistad.mysticseaport.org/teaching/welcome.html]