Giant, sculpted heads of musicians in the midst of singing went on display this month at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. They’re Nashville artist Alan LeQuire’s homage to artists who made names for themselves despite their race or politics.
LeQuire says the idea came while he was watching a documentary on Paul Robeson. The singer and actor known for roles in Show Boat and Othello had a larger-than life demeanor and dignity that reminded LeQuire of huge statuary remnants he had seen in Europe: colossal, disembodied heads that commanded attention.
So, on a whim, he tried his hand at sculpting Robeson’s head in a much larger-than-life scale. And as he learned more about Robeson’s insistence on being treated as an equal despite Jim Crow laws, LeQuire came across stories about other artists who’d done the same — and gave them the same sculptural treatment.
“I see them as the grandparents of the Civil Rights movement,” he says. “They were all artists who laid their careers on the line for Civil Rights before there was a Civil Rights movement.”
Crafting the heads, which are roughly four times larger than life, became a passion project for LeQuire. Today his collection of activist singers includes Billie Holiday, Marian Anderson, Lead Belly, Josh White and Bessie Smith, as well as Woody Guthrie.
The huge sculptures have been shown in several states, but LeQuire is especially pleased to send them to the Civil Rights Museum for several months. And while that exhibit is underway, LeQuire intends to begin work on another singer known for his social activism: Pete Seeger.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM