Left to right: Mary Whitten, Frank Bowling, Jack Whitten, and Al Loving at the opening reception for 鈥5+1,鈥 1969

Mary Whitten, Frank Bowling, Jack Whitten, and Al Loving at the opening reception for 鈥5+1."

Photograph by Adger Cowans. 漏 Adger Cowans. Courtesy Frank Bowling Archive.
 

This photograph documents a joyful handshake between artists Frank Bowling and Jack Whitten at the opening celebration for 鈥5+1.鈥 Mary Whitten stands to the left of Bowling, and Al Loving stands to Whitten鈥檚 right alongside one unidentified attendee. Two large panels of patterned linoleum by William T. Williams hang on the classroom-turned-gallery wall behind them. 鈥淭hese artists were set against what was expected of them,鈥 Bowling later remarked of Williams鈥檚 contribution. Strewn across the floor, a work by Melvin Edwards鈥攁 slack length of industrial link chain鈥攅ncircles the group, drawing them closer together.