“I Paint My House” by Margaret Courtney-Clarke is a collection of photographs of African women decorating
their homes. In addition to pottery and textiles, there is a South and West African tradition of painting the outside of the house with bold shapes and bright colors. The women express themselves and can document family history through their art and design.
“I Paint My House” is actually a book of postcards. But, the murals and decorations are so vibrant and alive, I haven’t mailed any. (I don’t want to tear any of the cards out.)
BTW– Margaret Courtney-Clarke has also produced coffee table sized books filled with her photographs of the bright geometric designs of Berber and Ghanaian women.
One of the fun things about our new media art, the internet, is that everyone gets a chance to participate. Some of the work has been criticized as amateurish, childish etc. These views miss their mark in my opinion. I think the goal always is to play, otherwise you don’t create projects like First Person Impression or Post Secrets.
You got a story, there are plenty of places for people to hear what you’ve got to say.
A National Competition for Memoir and Documentary Writers, Videographers and Photographers.
Each day countless stories unfold. Take a real life experience of your own and tell it in a way that only you can. Craft your story with words, photos or video. Make the ordinary magical, or the exotic familiar. Shock us, amaze us or make us pause to reflect. The only rule is that it is real.
Music, dance, film, theater, poetry, literature – all presented here, all celebrating the vibrant life and art of people of color.
There will also be special tributes to Gladys Knight, minus the “Pips”, and Judith Jamison of Alvin Ailey American DanceTheater (did you ever see her perform “Cry”?, Stunning).
“The mission of NBAF is to engage, cultivate and educate diverse audiences about the arts and culture of the African Diaspora and provide opportunities for artistic and creative expression.”
I enjoyed “Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun”, a PBS “American Masters” documentary that I watched last week.
Ms Hurston, 1891 – 1960, started to publish right after the height of the Harlem Renaissance.The ability to support oneself with art that explored the African-American experience waned with the onset of the depression and she fell into obscurity until re discovered by Alice Walker (“The Color Purple”).
Her work gained attention with the introduction of college Black literature classes during the 70”s. She was found and embraced by a whole new generation (including me). Her novels, short stories and poetry are now also taught in women’s studies and general literature courses.
She studied cultural anthropology at BarnardCollege and ColumbiaUniversity.As a “folklorist”, she wrote and sang in the rural style and dialect of the people she remembered from the all black town of Eaton, FL where she was born and of the folks she met while traveling across the south.
Perhaps her most famous book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, 1937, is about “Janie”, who managed to make her way thru life and find love during a time and in a place very difficult for a woman’s survival. (This was made into a TV movie a few years ago with HalleBerry)
I Love Myself When I Am Laughing…and Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader (edited by Alice Walker; introduction by Mary Helen Washington) (1979)
Sanctified Church (1981)
Spunk: Selected Stories (1985)
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life (play, with Langston Hughes; edited with introductions by George Houston Bass and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and the complete story of the Mule bone controversy.) (1991)
The Complete Stories (introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Sieglinde Lemke) (1995)
Of course we are talking about the “Wire” and many fans are unhappy. Unhappy because there is only one episode left and that its ending will not live up to our expectation. Differently then Sex in the City or the Soprano’s, this series seemed to be about real people. When Omar is killed there are real obituaries written, some with sadness. Unlike James Gandolfin’s Anthony,Michael K. Williams had become Omar and in a perverse way a hero. Our disappointment on Monday will be because we know what happens, that the stories depicted in this series are about our own failure. Unlike James Bond or John Wayne no one is riding off into the sunset with the girl to live happily ever after.
Our unhappiness on Monday will be the similar dissatisfaction we had with “There Will be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men” good does not triumph. Our story tellers refuse to give us hope, there nothing to feel good about here, no super hero.
Good Does Not Triumph
The Wire’s failing will be that in five years it could not solve the problem of corrupt politician, disinterest cops, street violence, ego driven “Fourth Estate”, poor schools, lost industry and lack of jobs, failed parents, drug importation, use and abuse and a citizenry who believes the problem is for some one else to solve. The “Wire” told us about ourselves and what we are avoiding.
Following my advice given to others “freely” I have just completed and published a book of my paintings. The paintings are of people, most created in my studio with conversation I imagined them having. This has been a fun project and intend on doing another (larger) book shortly. I used the Internet publishing tool “Blurb” which has a simple to use program that will get you up and running quickly. There are many other tools out there which means that all of us can be published.
