Jae Jarrell Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth and Family

In addition to the influence of her grandfather and uncle, her mother took her to vintage shops and taught her to respect the craftsmanship that goes into making clothing. This set Jarrell further on her path as an artist. When speaking about this experience with Rose Bouthillier (2015), Jarrell said:

In more recent years, Jarrell has not lost her passion for design, but she has shifted her focus to sculpting and constructing furniture Some of her recent works, which were displayed in the “How to Remain Human” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, include “Maasai Collar Vest” (2015), “Shields and Candelabra Vest” (2015), and “Jazz Scramble Jacket” (2015). The “Maasai Collar Vest” (2015) is reminiscent of the ornate garments and jewelry of the Maasai people in Africa. This piece draws on the idea of embracing her African heritage, which is something seen throughout all of her work. Jarrell continues emphasizing African art and culture in “Shields and Candelabra Vest” (2015) by making the piece from cactus plants turned over to make frames for vibrant African shields. For her “Jazz Scrabble Jacket” (2015), Jarrell brings together notions of jazz and blues music with images from the board game, Scrabble. Imitating the crossword aspect of Scrabble, Jarrell intersects the names of important musicians to examine the influence of music in building scenes, styles, power, and history for African American communities.

Jarrell’s work has appeared in several major exhibitions, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s 2014 exhibition “Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties” and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland’s2015 exhibition “How to Remain Human”. Jarrell’s work was also featured in the 2015 exhibit “The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music”, “1965 to Now” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MoCAC). In 2019, her work, which primarily focused on revolution-themed clothing, was also featured along with other artists at The Broad in Los Angeles in a special exhibition called “Soul of a Nation”.

Jarrell’s Urban Wall Suit (1969) is a piece inspired by graffiti and concert posters that filled the streets and African American neighborhoods in Chicago. Jarrell incorporated AfriCOBRA’s desire to emphasize images with language by making the suit a symbol of the message boards of the community. All over the suit, there are images of posters that proclaim things like “Vote Democrat” as well as white graffiti messages that say things like “Black Princess” and “Miss Attitude.” Furthermore, with Urban Wall Suit, Jarrell reused her fabric to follow one of the tenets of AfriCOBRA, which was to reinvent yourself in order to create something fresh. She used small pieces and scraps from her store to make the patchwork resembling bricks, adding velvet ribbon as the mortar. These fabric scraps are of all different colors and patterns, including stripes, polka dots, and plaid. She then incorporated the graffiti and poster elements that resembled the message boards.

In 1968, Jae Jarrell, along with Wadsworth Jarrell, Jeff Donaldson, Barbara Jones-Hogu, and Gerald Williams, founded AfriaCobra, the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists. As part of their manifesto, Jarrell strived to provide positive representation of the African diaspora. Her goal was to produce garments that inspired pride, power, energy, and respect in African American communities.

In 1967, she married Wadsworth Jarrell, and they honeymooned in Nassau, Bahamas. She had their first child, Wadsworth Jr., on January 7, 1968. After giving birth to their second child, Jennifer, the Jarrell’s decided to relocate to New York to escape the social and economic downturn in Chicago.

When creating art for AfriCOBRA, Jarrell made her unique garments, using the body as a vessel for revolution and identity Her pieces reflect the goal of the group, which was to create an African American aesthetic that celebrated black power and a sense of community. During the interview with the Never the Same Organization in Chicago, Jarrell described her work with AfriCOBRA, which involved making textile designs done on leather or suede that she would then tie-dye, screen print, hand paint, and applique The most famous pieces she did at this time are her Revolutionary Suit (1968), Ebony Family (1968), and Urban Wall Suit (1969).

The Revolutionary Suit (1968) is a two-piece suit that has Jarrell’s signature style from the late 60s. The suit has a tweed, collarless jacket and a-framed skirt, which matched the fashion trends of the time. This ensemble also incorporates a colorful, faux bandolier that stands out against the salt-and-pepper color of the suit. This piece, which inspired ideas about wearing clothing for protest and revolution, motivated Jet magazine to write a piece called “Black Revolt Sparks White Fashion Craze” which criticized white, mainstream fashion for cultural appropriation. The magazine accused the fashion world of taking the bandolier, which was meant to be a symbol of the righteous protest against the unfair treatment of African Americans, and attempting to turn it into a trendy accessory.

Following one of the themes of AfriCOBRA, which emphasized the Black Family, Jarrell made her suit called Ebony Family (1968). It is meant to be a symbol of the power within strong black families. Ebony Family also emphasizes AfriCOBRA’s interest in the influence of African art and the use of bright and vivid “Cool-ade” [sic] colors. These “Cool-ade” colors were a play on the bright orange, cherry red, lemon yellow, lime green, and grape purple of the drink Kool-aid. Jarrell accomplishes this by crafting her suit to be like a poster which takes form as a dashiki, a traditional West African men’s dress. The suit depicts a colorful, Black family, using the forms reminiscent of the African mask to create their faces.

Jarrell attended Bowling Green State University before moving to Chicago to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago During the late 1950s and early 60s, she attended the same art school as Wadsworth Jarrell, a fellow artist who would later become her husband However, the couple didn’t meet until 1963 after Jarrell opened her own vintage boutique

Elaine “Jae” Jarrell (born Elaine Annette Johnson in 1935) is an American artist best known for her fashion designs and her involvement with the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. Influenced by her grandfather, Jay Jarrell, and his work as a tailor, Jarrell learned about fabrics and sewing at a young age. It was learning these skills that set her on her path as an artist, fashion designer, and vintage clothing dealer.