A call for equal rights at Manifest Equality’s pop-up art gallery

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A battery of fluorescent lights blazes in an emptied retail space on Vine Street in Hollywood. Once home to the discount emporium Big Lots!, the cavernous building has been gutted of housewares and transformed into Manifest Equality, a temporary art show running through the weekend.

Orbiting themes of equality, justice, unity and love, the pop-up event intends to spotlight civil rights issues surrounding Proposition 8, which, since its 2008 passing, has prohibited marriage between homosexual partners in California. The large-scale show exhibits work from hundreds of well-known and emerging names, including street artists Robbie Conal, Swoon and Shepard Fairey, and illustrative painters Barry McGee, Gary Baseman and Elizabeth McGrath.

International Cultural Celebration At The Parrish

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The eclectic cultural complexion that is the modern East End is too rich and diverse to possibly represent in a single event, nonetheless, the Parrish Art Museum, in cooperation with the Rogers Memorial Library, presented a stellar afternoon celebrating the Native American, Mexican, Greek, Irish and African American elements of it with glorious music and dance.

Appropriately, the event opened with a celebration of the East End’s original inhabitants as Autumn Rose Williams and Mattah Wright, Miss Shinnecock Nation Teen and Junior Teen, respectively, represented the indigenous people and culture that against all the odds of occupation, immigration and development have preserved their way of life through the evolution of the Hamptons from unspoiled wilderness to affluent society playground. The next scheduled group was described in the program as “Scottish Bagpipers featuring Carol Price.”

Unfortunately, particularly for this son of Scotland, the bagpipers scheduled to participate had to cancel due to a “conflict” according to the event’s organizer Jennifer Duque, the Parrish Art Museum’s gracious Director of Family Programs. Well shame on the Scots and, truly, their loss! Thankfully, Grupo Folklorico Xochipilli from Mexico expanded their performance to two appearances filling the void left by my fellow Caledonians. The troupe gave an endearing performance, both in their scheduled time slot and later on in the show, which proudly celebrated their Mexican heritage in beautiful traditional costumes, music and dance.

International quilt show features local artists, quilts from inauguration

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Inspiration, stitch by stitch.
“The Journey of Hope in America: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama” explores the historic election of a black president with quilts from a wide range of styles: art quilts, folk art and traditional quilts. The exhibit at the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce illustrates a broad range of techniques and materials, including piecing, painting, appliqué, embroidery, dyeing, photography, beading and digital transfer.
The quilters are from around the world, representing China, Dubai, Jamaica and Mexico, in addition to artists from the United States, including several Butler County residents.
Internationally known quilt artist, author and historian Carolyn L. Mazloomi of West Chester Twp. curated the show. She’s brought together a diverse group of 95 fiber artists representing a variety of races, generations and religions. The exhibit will remain at the museum for a year before touring the country and different parts of the world.
“This particular exhibition is a traveling exhibition and it opened in Yokohama, Japan, in September,” Mazloomi said.
From Japan, the show moved to Wilberforce, with a final stop scheduled for South Africa.
West Chester Twp.’s Carol Gary Staples’ quilts “Inspired Change” and “Unparalleled Journey” can both be found hanging at the Wilberforce exhibit. Staples’ quilt “Inspired Change” was one of 44 quilts at President Obama’s inauguration.
“Being an African-American in my late 40’s, this is an unbelievable event for us,” Staples said. “We just didn’t think it’d happen in our lifetime, we didn’t know the country was there yet. It’s really personal for us.”

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Anatomy of an art exposition

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Cooperation and persistence made a Phila. festival possible despite tough times.
By Robert J. Brand.

The opening of Philagrafika 2010 put Philadelphia at the center of the art world. With more than 300 artists, exhibits at five major regional cultural institutions, and presentations and demonstrations at 88 area sites, Philagrafika explores the role of the printed image in modern society. It will continue to showcase Philadelphia’s cultural community and creative economy through next month.

In addition to drawing praise from critics and the arts community, the festival has raised the question, “How did they do that?”

This feat of collaboration and community is happening in a time of scarce funding and retrenchment for cultural organizations. Many in the national arts community have been amazed that this region’s major institutions cooperated with fringe arts collectives, galleries, and artists to bring it about.

Ten years ago, Teresa Jaynes (now Philagrafika’s executive director) and I wrote a short paper on how to create an economy friendly to printmaking and artists. My company hired Teresa, and we invited more than 15 museums, art schools, artists, galleries, and fine-arts print shops to a meeting. Nearly all of them showed up and never left.

We created the Philadelphia Print Collaborative on the spot, without a budget but with a clear sense that we could do more by working together. Within a few months, we had launched more than 50 exhibits to complement the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s groundbreaking 2001-02 exhibit “Dox Thrash: An African American Master Printmaker Rediscovered.”

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The divine art of the Kingdom of Ife

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Harmonious and humane, the sculptures of this lost African city have a greatness that any civilisation would recognise.
In his television series Civilisation, the great Kenneth Clark speaks of Raphael. Standing in the Raphael rooms in the Vatican, he admits that on first sight they can seem insipid, and quotes Sir Joshua Reynolds, who acknowleged the same problem. Reynolds warned his students that when they finally reached Rome they might find Raphael’s frescos disappointing, but urged them to persevere until they did find them beautiful and moving. It’s a lovely moment – you half expect Clark to say he finds Raphael a complete bore. But he doesn’t. “Well,” he says with a beatific smile, “I’ve spent a lifetime doing just that. And can I tell you it is worth it.”
Recently, in responding to other comments posted here, I wrote that art is soft stuff, demanding a subjective response. That is true, in part, but it is not the whole truth. The more correct statement would be: most art that we encounter demands a subjective response from us, which is very much a product of our reaction; but there is a type of art whose greatness pre-exists and survives us, and whose authority makes our like or dislike of it seem irrelevant.

This kind of art is classic art – classic because it seems to exemplify such clear values, to address such fundamental cognitive faculties, that its merit is absolute, and a failure to be moved by it is, essentially, our own failure.

Richard Wyatt’s reunion with his youthful art at UCLA Fowler Museum

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An exhibition allows the muralist to reconnect with a work he helped make at age 14.

All it took was one look.The artists behind a vibrant mural depicting community protection of black youth were a mystery to the folks at UCLA. An image of the work, part of the school’s archive, would eventually grace university publications, including an edition of the museum’s newsletter Fowler Now, but they didn’t know who had painted it.

That’s when Richard Wyatt came upon it.
“The winter newsletter came in the mail one day,” recounted Wyatt, 54. “And there it was. I was like ‘Whoa! Man, that’s our mural.’ “
The “our” refers to Wyatt and his then-“art-partner-in-crime” Guillermo Anderson. Both were commissioned — at age 14 — in 1971 to create the work as part of an outreach program at the school.
The oil-on-canvas work features an outstretched arm presiding over the youth in the image; in another corner is an oversized arm, acting as a shield. A pregnant woman hugging her belly is meant to represent the future.
UCLA Fowler Museum had planned to showcase the work in the exhibition “Art, Activism, Access: 40 Years of Ethnic Studies at UCLA,” on view through mid-June, and hang a sign requesting that anyone with information about the painting contact the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. But Wyatt was one step ahead.
“I called the school up, and now I’m getting ready to see it on display again. It’s great,” Wyatt said.
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Legs and Lenses

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Legs and Lenses

A PHOTO PARTY CELEBRATING YOU!!!!!!

Mike Pierce Photography will be hosting “LEGS and LENSES”. On March 5th, you are invited to come to Glamourville Studios and enjoy yourself in front of the Camera. Ever wanted to take some Hot Edgy photos, but couldn’t afford to pay for a full photoshoot? Well here is the perfect opportunity to do so at a fraction of the cost.

For only 75.00 you will:

Have your Make-up applied professionally
Be photgraphed in (2) two outfits
Experience a Professional Photoshoot in a Professional environment
Enjoy a socially festive atmosphere with food, drink, and music

You will Recieve:

(2) 8×10 prints (1 portrait and 1 full body)
access to a web gallery to see additional shots and share with friends.
And the most important thing…. A GREAT EXPERIENCE!!!!!

Friday, March 5, 2010 at 8:00pm
Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 12:00am
Glamourville Studios
1241 Carpenter Street
Philadelphia, PA

website

Gee’s Bend Quilts & Beyond

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The Flint Institute of Arts is definitely a diamond in the rough. Although Flint has a reputation for a number of things, both positive and negative, the FIA is a wonderful place to experience culture in the fine arts, yet it is often overlooked. It hosts a collection of exhibits, both temporary and permanent, and it is worth checking out regularly.

One of the current exhibits is “Gee’s Bend and Beyond,” which displays the quilts of a group of African American women from Gee’s Bend, Alabama. The art of quilt-making has existed since slavery, a tradition that has been passed down through the generations. The quilts featured in this exhibit were made by Mary Lee Bendolph, one of the best-known and most respected quilt-makers of Gee’s Bend, along with quilts by her mother and daughters. It also features art by two Alabama artists, who developed themselves as artists independently. Overall, the exhibit shows that even an old tradition can change and evolve in dynamic ways without necessarily losing its traditional meanings.

Quilt-making is all about variety and diversity. The style of the quilts varies greatly depending on the style, theme, material, and the quilter himself or herself. There are specific types of quilts such as housetop, which represents the roof a log cabin from an aerial view, or bricklayer, where the boxes are sown in a fashion resembling the way bricks are laid. However, improvisation is an essential part of the Gee’s Bend quilts. So while a quilt maker may start off with a style in mind, the finished product doesn’t necessarily reflect a particular style, rather it shows the creativity of its maker. There were several variations of the housetop quilts displayed, each unique and different from the rest. In most cases the patches varied in size, color, and positioning throughout the quilt.

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October Gallery Webinars-Art Seminars

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Conversation on Art #302 Collecting African American ArtA lively discussion on why the esthetic value of a work of art should be acollector’s primary motivation for acquiring art work.
Monday, March 1 – 8PM
Conversation on Art #303 Andrew Turner – In His Own WordsA look at the life and art of Philadelphia artist Andrew Turner.
Tuesday, March 2 – 8PM
Conversation on Art #304 Group ShowWe will take a look at a number of contemporary African American artists through video.Artists include: Cal Massey, Leroy Campbell, BUA, George O’Neil and others.
Wednesday, March 3 – 8PM
Conversation on Art #305 An Eye For ArtYou will learn first how to – Describe the Work of ArtThen you will learn how to – Analyze the Work of ArtNext you will learn how to – Interpret the Work of ArtAnd lastly you will learn how to – Evaluate the Work of Art
Thursday, March 4 – 8PM
These webinars will include video as well as text format.Webinars are FREE.

Sculptor Brings African American History to Life on Grand Scale

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Ed Dwight’s ‘monumental’ works fill critical gap

Even as a child, Ed Dwight had a gift for art. But he set that talent aside to focus on careers that included engineer, test pilot, astronaut trainee (the first African American in the program) and entrepreneur.

It was as the owner of a large construction company, Dwight says, that his childhood love for creating art reawakened. “What I was doing with the construction company was just taking scrap material that was left over and I was bringing it home to my garage,” he recalls. “I just taught myself to weld to make some art for my house.”

A life-changing commission

The amateur artist turned professional 25 years ago, when Colorado’s first African American lieutenant governor picked Ed Dwight to sculpt a major public statue.

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Sotheby’s moves to 4Q profit on reduced expenses

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Sotheby’s said that fourth-quarter net income was the second highest in its history due to an increase in the commission that it charges on auction sales and a cost-cutting drive.
The auction house said that income over the three months to December 31 was $73.6m (£49m), compared to a loss of $9.3m last time.

Bill Ruprecht, president and chief executive of Sotheby’s, said that the good fourth quarter was a “remarkable achievement”. Over the period, Sotheby’s increased commission from 16pc to 20.4pc compared to the previous year.

Mr Ruprecht said: “We are well poised to capitalise on an economic upturn and art market rebound as it occurs.”
The good run has continued. Sotheby’s recently sold L’Homme qui Marche 1 by Alberto Giacometti for $104.3m and Gustav Klimt’s Kirche in Cassone (pictured), for $43.2m.

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‘American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765-1915’ @ LACMA

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What is an American? Today, as the 20th century — the so-called “American Century” — recedes in memory, the question can seem immodest or even grandiose. If we don’t know now, after decades wielding almost unimaginable superpower status around the globe, will we ever?

Still, there’s another way to look at it. The question arises anew because of the conflicted place in which the United States finds itself today.

With the national nervous breakdown unleashed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks — trauma Americans have collectively been unable to resolve — our identity remains a shambles. The uncertainty had been building for at least 30 years. In the aftermath of Abu Ghraib and AIG, once-settled matters of morality now appear unrecognizable.

5,200 Australians strip for art’s sake

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There were all shapes and sizes – the large and the small, the young and the old, and even a heavily pregnant woman who had re-scheduled the birth of her twins so she could take part.

But the one thing the 5,200-odd people who posed for the American artist Spencer Tunick at the Sydney Opera House earlier today had in common was that they were all totally naked.

Thousands had gathered just before dawn on Monday, a mild and overcast first day of autumn, to take part in the shoot by the renowned (and controversial) photographer at one of Australia’s most iconic landmarks. Titled Mardi Gras: The Base, the shoot was commissioned by Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival.

As the sun rose, Tunick instructed participants – many of who were clapping and cheering to support each other – to do a number of poses on the steps of the famous Sydney landmark, from standing up, lying down, and even embracing cheek to cheek, for over an hour.

Modern art collector Ernst Beyeler dies

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By Eliane Engeler
Associated Press
Sunday, February 28, 2010

Ernst Beyeler, 88, whose early eye for undervalued Picassos and Impressionists helped him assemble one of Europe’s most famous art collections, died Feb. 25 at his home near Basel, Switzerland. No cause of death was reported.

Mr. Beyeler became a widely respected art patron after World War II by acquiring hundreds of works by Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, Henri Matisse and others. He presented them to the public in his Basel gallery and later in the foundation he founded near the German border.

His art collection grew to be worth at least $1.85 billion, thanks to his taste for quality and his personal connections with artists such as Georges Braque, Marc Chagall and Alberto Giacometti. He also was a friend of Picasso’s.
“Art must touch you and leave a strong visual and mental impression upon you,” Mr. Beyeler once told the Swiss weekly magazine NZZ Folio.

New attention for Harlem Renaissance artist with Greensboro roots

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No grand monument marks the spot in Maplewood Cemetery where Malvin Gray Johnson’s family laid him to rest 75 years ago.
There’s no marker at all.

Yet somewhere beneath this grassy spot lies the grave of the man whom one researcher calls “the most significant artist to come out of Greensboro.”

After he left his native Greensboro for New York in 1912 at age 16, Johnson became a rising star in the 1920s and 1930s during the explosion of black culture known as the Harlem Renaissance.
Most of his works eventually made their way to historically black universities, some into private collections and a self-portrait into the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

But because he died so young — at 38 — and so long ago, the artist fell into obscurity in Greensboro and in art history.

“I didn’t know that he grew up in Greensboro,” says state Rep. Alma Adams, who shows images of Johnson’s work in her African American art class at Bennett College.