<I>Lights from the Garden</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2019
name: label: Created by
content: Jamal Cyrus
label: Subject of
content: Malcolm X, American, 1925 - 1965
label: Subject of
content: Audubon Ballroom, American, founded 1912
notes: label: Description
content: 2023.60ab: An abstract sculpture (a) with plinth (b) titled, Lights from the Garden, by Jamal Cyrus. The sculpture, which is a tribute to Civil Rights leader Malcolm X and symbolizes his assassination at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights on February 21, 1965, features seven stacked bentwood chairs, pierced with fourteen stainless-steel rods. The seven chairs, which resemble the bentwood chairs on the Audubon Ballroom stage on the day of the assassination, are stacked in three rows to resemble an Islamic minbar; a three-step pulpit used by Imams to deliver sermons in mosques.
label: Description
content: All of the chairs are oriented in the same direction with the chairbacks creating the height of the sculpture and the seats creating the structure of the minbar’s steps. The sculpture has four chairs forming the bottom step, two chairs stacked above forming the middle step, and one chair above forming the top step. The stainless-steel rods, meant to resemble forensic trajectory rods, pierce the chairs’ seats and bentwood frames in various diagonally oriented directions which angle upwards, mostly piercing the chairs that form the middle and top steps. The Thonet style bistro chairs are medium brown and have hoop backs with an open bulb-shaped splat at the center, a round seat, and four slightly flared legs. The chairs also have stretchers made from a continuous piece of bentwood that run up the length of the chairs’ back legs into an arch shape that supports the sides of the seat, and then curves into a U-shape at the front of the seat where it is attached to the top of the front legs of the chairs. The chair seats are attached to the bentwood frames with metal brackets held in place with a mix of stainless-steel bolts and metal screws. The stacked chairs are held in place with brass screws. The chair at the top and the one that forms the front of the bottom step are different than the rest of the chairs. These chairs have a rounder, wider chair splat, while the others have a narrower splat with a slightly flattened top. The chair on the bottom row that forms the back of the bottom step has silver tone chair glides on the feet, while the front chairs of the bottom row and the back legs of the top row chair have brown rubber slides.
label: Description
content: The sculpture is set upon a plinth constructed from tan to medium dark stained pieces of oak flooring of varying lengths glued together to form a flat, plain, rectangular slab.
place: label: Place made
content: Houston, Harris County, Texas, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Islam
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: Resistance
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1961-1969
label: Topic
content: Violence
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Catherine Stallworth and Dave Anderson and Leah R. Bennett
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2023.60ab
objectType: label: Type
content: sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Jamal Cyrus
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: 2023.60a (sculpture): stainless steel and wood with metal and brass
label: Medium
content: 2023.60b (plinth): oak flooring
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (Overall): 74 × 87 1/2 × 31 3/4 in. (188 × 222.3 × 80.6 cm)