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Dox Thrash

Dox Thrash was an American artist from Georgia who invented the printmaking process known as carborundum mezzotint. Thrash used his trademark technique in the majority of his works. Compared with traditional mezzotint which relies on stipple or hatching, Thrash created a range of tones by burnishing copper plates with a rough, carbon-based material.

Many of Thrash’s works dealt with his African-American identity, which was slow to be accepted in the art world. Thrash left the south at an early age of fifteen, in search of greater opportunity. Thrash came from modest means and had to work as an elevator operator to pay for night classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. The young artist also gained employment through the Federal Art Project in the 1930s. During this time, Thrash was able to develop his own style.