John T. Riddle, Jr. (1933 – March 3, 2002) was an American artist known for his paintings and sculptures. Riddle's metal assemblage sculptures, created from the debris of the

Watts riots The Watts riots, sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising, took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. The riots were motivated by anger at the racist and abus ...

, are among his best-known works. He died March 3, 2002.

Education

Riddle was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He received an associate degree from

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

and a bachelor's degree in education. Riddle received a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree in painting from

California State College Pennsylvania Western University, California (abbreviated as PennWest California) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in California, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus had an enrollment of 2,717 as of fall 2024. Founded in 1852 a ...

in Los Angeles. He taught art in high schools before moving to Atlanta in 1974 where he taught at

Spelman College Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...

Work

Riddle's work often features

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s as subjects, and includes ''

Expelled Because of Their Color ''Expelled Because of Color'' is a bronze sculpture, tall, by John Thomas Riddle, Jr. It is located on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol, 240 State Capitol SW, Atlanta, Georgia. It was commissioned in 1976 by the Georgia Legislative Bl ...

'', a sculpture commemorating the

Original 33 The "Original 33" were the first 33 African-American members of the Georgia General Assembly. They were elected to office in 1868, during the Reconstruction era. They were among the first African-American state legislators in the United States. T ...

, 33 African-American members of the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

who were elected in 1868 but expelled. Following the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles, Riddle collected metal debris after that he would then make into sculptures. Riddle was one of the artists featured in the documentary television program ''Renaissance in Black: Two Artists' Lives''. The

California African American Museum The California African American Museum (CAAM) is a museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, next to the California Science Center. The museum focuses on enrichment and education on the cultural heritage and history of African Americans w ...

held a retrospective of his work in 2003. His work is included in the permanent collections of the

Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA) is a contemporary art museum in Atlanta, Georgia that collects and archives contemporary works by Georgia artists. History MOCA GA was co-founded in 2000 by David S. Golden and Annette Con ...

, the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

and Georgia's State Art Collection. His bronze sculpture "

" is on the

Georgia State Capitol The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As t ...

grounds.

References

21st-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists 1933 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American painters 21st-century American sculptors American male painters American male sculptors Los Angeles City College alumni Artists from Los Angeles Spelman College faculty Painters from California Sculptors from California American political artists {{US-sculptor-stub