by Sandy | Jan 14, 2012 | Art, Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits, Museums
“Collected. Ritual explores the performative and process-oriented aspects of making art and examines ritual as an act of special and sometimes mythical significance. The works in this exhibition were chosen for the innovative ways in which the artists engaged with ritual—including through studio art-making and artistic practices that use symbolic actions. This exhibition, organized by Assistant Curator Naima J. Keith, explores the relationship and nexus between art and ritual through twenty-five works of art from the permanent collection spanning the last thirty years.“
Collected. Ritual – Until Mar 11, 2012
The Studio Museum in Harlem, 144 West 125th Street, NYC
(Image: Betye Saar – “Window of Ancient Sirens”, 1979)
by Sandy | Sep 12, 2011 | Blogroll, Concerts, Culture, music
Jazz at Lincoln Center presents Jimmy Heath and Jon Hendricks in concert on Saturday September 24, 2011. These 2 legends are still making great music.
“Jazz royalty begins the 2011-12 JALC season with two NEA Jazz Masters, both stylish veterans who are still finding new ways to swing. A triple threat as a composer, arranger, and player, Jimmy Heath was already a forward-looking musician when he formed his first orchestra in 1947, and has remained so… The ageless Jon Hendricks rose to fame with the renowned vocalese group, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross…he’ll revisit favorites from the LHR repertoire…”
An Evening with Jimmy Heath & Jon Hendricks
Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC – September 24, 2011
FYI: Fantastic album from 1959!
by Sandy | Aug 26, 2011 | Art, Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits, Museums
The Dallas Museum of Art / DMA has given us an opportunity to see amazing examples of masks that were created for all sorts of reasons. I love the “art” of masks. Art may not be the reason for their creation, but “art” certainly can be the result.
“The African mask is a highly developed and enduring art form. African Masks: The Art of Disguise, an exhibition of approximately fifty objects from the Museum’s collections and on loan from local collectors, will reveal the function, meaning, and aesthetics of African masks. Masks serve as supports for the spirit of deities, ancestors and culture heroes, which may be personified as a human, animal, or composite. Masked performances, which are held on the occasions of thanksgiving celebrations, rites of passage, and funerals, often entertain while they teach moral lessons. This exhibition will present a variety of masks from several different sub-Saharan peoples that offer a variety of types, styles, sizes, and materials and the contexts in which they appear.”
“African Masks: The Art of Disguise” – Dallas Museum of Art
1717 North Harwood, Dallas, Texas
(Images: Four-faced helmet mask (ñgontang), Gabon, Ogooué River and Woleu-Ntem Province, Fang peoples, Betsi or Ntumu group, 1920–40 and Helmet mask (gye), Côte d’Ivoire, Guro peoples, mid-20th century, wood, paint, and sheet metal)
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by Sandy | Aug 18, 2011 | Art, Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits
Paintings collected by John & Vivian Hewitt of New York from 1949 – 1998 are featured at the Harvey B Gantt Center in Charlotte, NC until August 28, 2011. The 58 works by 20 artists such as Romare Bearden, Margaret Burroughs, Jonathan Green, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Ann Tanksley and Henry Ossawa Tanner reflect the Hewitt’s passion for the wide ranging themes and styles of artists of color.
John and Vivian Hewitt Collection of African-American Art until 8/28/11
Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
551 S. Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC
(Images: “Easter”, Jonathan Green and “Canal Builders II “, Ann Tanksley)
by Sandy | Aug 15, 2011 | Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Books, Culture, Exhibits, Learning
Los Angeles will host its popular Black Book Expo again this year at the L.A. Convention Center. This one day event will offer “authors, storytellers, spoken word and poetry performances, musicians, exhibitors, children’s book authors, emerging writers, publishers, booksellers, panel discussions, editors, book reviewers…”
The Los Angeles Black Book Expo (LABBX)
L.A. Convention Center – Saturday August 20, 2011
by Bob Martin | Aug 5, 2011 | Art, Culture, Directors, Movies
Awkward love stories are not unusual, however they are seldom about African Americans or as elegantly told as this film. The normalcy of the main characters existence, in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, sets the stage for the complexity of racial transformation. The juxtaposition, that some of us want to keep what we’ve got and others want to move on to something new and that reconciliation is both difficult and necessary.
Medicine for Melancholy is a small film which tries to tell a lot and succeeds for the most part. It goes to show that you don’t need a huge budget to make a movie that tells a good story and enlightens its audience.
I am hopeful that the Director, Barry Jenkins, is still working his craft and will get the opportunity to continue to do insightful movie making.
Wyatt Cenac, Tracy Heggins and Barry Jenkins
