Black Bird Redemption Song

This exhibition features Huckaby’s brand new sculptural bird series—papier-mâché forms housed within antique birdcages that cannot accommodate the birds’ scale. The sculptures are accompanied by drawings that span Huckaby’s decades-long artistic exploration of community, humanity, struggle, and spirituality. The works examine themes of confinement and freedom, addressing the impact of mass incarceration on Black communities in America.

 

The black birds are complemented by Portrait of Craig Watkins, an installation featuring a life-sized sculpture of the former Dallas District Attorney. Standing six feet five inches tall, the figure represents Watkins, Texas's first elected African American District Attorney. During his tenure, Watkins established the nation's first Conviction Integrity Unit, leading to the exoneration of 35 individuals through DNA testing and evidence review. The sculpture is accompanied by mixed media works of drawings and papers representing each of the freed individuals.

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This exhibition also includes two video installations, Contemplating Fred Rouse and Portrait of Fred Rouse, that document a community investigation into the 1921 lynching of Fred Rouse in Fort Worth, Texas–Huckaby’s hometown. Working without photographic references, Huckaby created drawings of male figures across generations, from elderly men to Huckaby’s own teenage son. Community research led to the discovery of Rouse's living descendants, including his grandson Fred

Rouse III, who had been unaware of his grandfather's fate. The second video incorporates portraits of Rouse's son, grandson, and great-grandson. Through sculpture, drawing, and video, Huckaby's exhibition connects historical trauma with contemporary experience, using the metaphor of caged birds to explore systemic injustice and the opportunity for thoughtful change.

 

Sedrick Huckaby is a nationally celebrated painter and sculptor whose work magnifies the lives and legacies of everyday people, often centering around themes of family, faith, community, and heritage. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Huckaby is perhaps best known for his thickly painted monumental painted portraits and expressive painted depictions of quilted fabrics.