by Bob Martin | Aug 27, 2012 | Actors, Film
English: Ryan Gosling at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If we didn’t before, we know now that the world is full of psychopaths and psychopaths are often the main characters we cheer for in the films we love. Ryan Gosling in Drive plays a well meaning, super hero psychopath or an insane person doing insane things that we cheer for because of their warped sense of honor. Think Batman without the mask.
As an actor Gosling is consistently good (better than good) and I am impressed with the diversity of the acting roles he has taken on and just how good he is in each of these films. Some of his credits:
Film is a directors medium, I believe, and actors don’t have much input in what eventually shows up on the big screen. Being consistent is not only about hard work, it is also about a gift that some artist have in being able to deliver a creditable and powerful portraits of imaginary people.We identify with flawed characters even if when they are despicable. Actors give us the chance to understand something about ourselves and to get over it.
Director, writer Terrence Malick whose work I admire has a film in production which features both Gosling and “Christian Bale”, another actor who often plays a confused hero or psychopath, and he too is very convincing.
by Bob Martin | Aug 2, 2012 | Art
Artist Stephen Marc
Stephen Marc is one of the most fascinating artists that I have the privilege of knowing. His work is brilliant and illuminating story telling, prompting the viewer to insist on learning more about one of the most important times in the history of the United States. Prior to meeting Stephen and seeing his work my understanding of the Underground Railroad was wrapped around the singular story of Harriet Tubman and Auburn New York. I like most people knew that there was more to the story and until my first conversation with Stephen I had no idea how much of this history I did not know or understand.
One of the many things I find to be so wonderful about Stephen is his accessibility and ease in conversation. He is not only a visual storyteller, he has the unique ability to bring his photography alive in conversation and stories about his travels to each community, what he learned both about the past and the present. About the people he got to meet and their personal stories and what they can recall about their families histories. About discovering new safe houses, the names of railroad conductors, and American heroes whose names were forgotten or overlooked
“Ellicott City 2009” by Stephen Marc
His passion for storytelling is so intimate and detailed with incredible artifacts, letters, photographs and paintings that it awakens our soul and has us give thanks.
Stephen Marc: Passage on the Underground Railroad, organized by the University at Buffalo Art Galleries, Buffalo, New York is currently on exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum until September 23, 2012: Stephen is scheduled to speak at the museum on September 5th 2012,
by Bob Martin | Jul 26, 2012 | Actors, Art
Sherman Hemsley
There was a time when African Americans were seldom seen on television. Early on, they were basically backdrops, like the guy in the train station shinning someones shoes while the main characters rushed by to catch the train. This was a time when one of the most influential recording artists in the United States, (Nat King Cole) would have to wait until the last 4 minutes of the Ed Sullivan Show (I’ve heard that Sullivan would have preferred that no blacks performed on his show) to perform or in the case of the iconic Jerry Lewis Telethon, African Americans like Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Sammy Davis Jr. and many others could only be seen “After Midnight” (J.J. Cale), usually around 2AM.
With the exception of Amos ‘n’ Andy, Sanford and Son, Julia and I Spy, early TV in the States was pretty much void of Asian, Latino/Hispanic and the most populous minority, African Americans. We did not exist in prime time. The before mentioned shows had in common a lack of depth and no back story that I can remember. There was little acknowledgement of the true adventure of the African in America, nothing about their hard won contributions or accomplishments that made America be what it became.
Tyler Perry
George Jefferson, as portrayed by Sherman Hemsley, got a lot of heat. (Similar in a way to Tyler Perry). “The Jeffersons” was seen as degrading and a return of the Minstrel Shows. Some of what was overlooked was that the series was a sitcom and Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball, Gracie Allen, and Dick Van Dyke all played the buffoon and none of them got any heat. The “Jeffersons” in my recollection was the first African American portrayal of an intact African American family on TV, who had achieved the “American Dream” with a well written undertone of “I did it my way”. George Jefferson was black, uppity and funny. This must have been startling to its white viewers, and there were many.
Unfortunately, Sherman Hemsley will never get the credit he deserves for just taking the job and giving it his best. Peace to his family and friends.
by Bob Martin | Jul 25, 2012 | Art, Artist Residencies, Creativity
by Bob Martin | Jun 21, 2012 | Art, Exhibits, Museums
Just about every 15 years, old questions about a legendary artist and his or her work are regurgitated in an effort to surface new answers, with the expectation of affirming our initial thoughts or disavowing them completely. Paintings and music in particular are trapped in the time of their creation and reflection of a life and time that is impossible to replicate. You only go around once! The work is a representation of what is
known at the time and needs to be viewed (my opinion for certain) in this way. A perfect example is that the Modern Jazz of the 1940s and 50s does not sound modern or radical in 2012.
The label gets in the way of our appreciating artist like Roy Lichtenstein (Pop Art), Horace Silver (Modern Jazz) and even Bach (Classical Music) because we are asked to consider the label first and then the art outside of context in which it was created.
Roy Lichtenstein like Miles Davis and many others had a diverse contribution to the arts that far exceeded the label associated with them. Really, what is cool jazz?
The Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective at The Art Institute of Chicago (May 16–September 3, 2012) “Presenting over 130 paintings and sculptures, as well as over 30 little- or never-before-seen drawings and collages, this exhibition gives full consideration to all periods of Lichtenstein’s career, including but not limited to, pre-Pop expressionist work, classic Pop Romance and War cartoon paintings…” includes what we are familiar with and much more. I just wished that the curators would allow us make up our own personal, current day, interpretation of what we are about to see or hear. That’s where the magic is.
