Our first introduction to Ms. Kitt may have been her 1953 hit record “Santa Baby” and her unusual featured live performance on the Ed Sullivan T.V. Show. Eartha Kitt passed away recently-Christmas Day 2008 to be exact. Eartha Kitt shattered (at that time) my limited beliefs about what it meant to be a “Negro”.
How lucky I (we) am to be an artist. Not only do we create something out of nothing and have the capacity to show others how to perceive the world, we alter their psyche. I just finished watching Tarkovsky’s “Solaris” (Russia’s answer to “2001”) which has some of the most phenomenal, tactile cinematography. There is a moment in the film where the camera pans over Brueghel’s “The Hunters”. Looking at that shot triggered thoughts (and sounds) of “Peter and The Wolf”. In turn, “Solaris” became also a story, a moral tale, of a young boy venturing out against his parent’s wishes. If the director had put in a different painting, say something celebratory that triggered a Parliament song (Flashlight?), I might have concluded that space travel was an adventure well worth taking.
Natatlie Portman "Black Swan"
Much like “The Wrestler”, Darren Aronofsky takes a familiar storyline (Swan Lake), edges up so that it is thrilling and fun to watch. My suggestion is to Ignore all of the spin about this movie (both pro and con) and see “Black Swan” for yourself without any expectation. My surprise was Mila Kunis who I knew nothing about other then her stint on “That 70’s Show“. You may find other surprise!
I admit I had expectations for both Natalie Portman and Vincent Cassel and I was not disappointed.
92 year old jeweler (I would call him “artist”), John Paul Miller has 50 of his brilliant pieces on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art until January 2, 2011. Beautiful and magical. 
His jewelry is often about “…fleeting creatures of earth, sea, and sky—snails, squids, crabs, moths, and flies…inspiring a complicated palette of seductive enamels and textured forms. Historical reference and modern abstraction also infuse his designs, bringing together that which he saw and that which he imagined to form a body of work full of curiosity and self-expression.”
“The Jewelry of John Paul Miller” Until January 2
The Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio
On view at the Guggenheim until January 2011 is “Broken Forms: European Modernism …” . The exhibit “explores artistic developments immediately preceding and during World War I. From Germany and France to Italy and Russia, artists such as Giacomo Balla, Marc Chagall, Vasily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, and Pablo Picasso pioneered revolutionary approaches to art making. “
“The masterpieces in this exhibition include examples of Cubism, Cubo-Futurism, Expressionism, and other avant-garde movements that are central to the Guggenheim’s collection.”
“Broken Forms: European Modernism from the Guggenheim Collection”
Until January 5, 2011
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 5th Avenue (at 89th Street), NYC
(Image: “Broken Forms”, Franz Marc 1914)
American artist John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925, known primarily for his portraits, is the star of 2 exhibits at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston / MFAH:
“Sargent and the Sea”: “the little-explored maritime paintings and drawings that Sargent produced in various locales during the first five years of his career.“
“Houston’s Sargents”: “30 works drawn from local private collections—and the museum´s own—offer a look at John Singer Sargent´s entire career.”
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston – MFAH, 1001 Bissonnet St, Houston, TX[ad#Adsense Link Unit][ad#Google Mobile]
“Signs of Life: Photographs by Peter Sekaer“
Exhibit highlights 87 images taken between 1935 -1945. Referred to as a “photo-documentary” artist, American born Sekaer, 1901-1950, focused on people as they endured the Great Depression in several American cities.
“As I see it, the world is made up entirely of photographic subject matter…With pictures you can say what you can’t with words” Peter Sekaer
High Museum of Art, Atlanta – now until January 2011
1280 Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta,GA
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Roberta will be discussing her new work, influences and what’s next this coming Friday December 10th , 7:30 PM at Urban Beans, 3508 N. 7th Street, Suite 100 Phoenix, AZ 85014.
Roberta’s work will be on display until January 31st. 2011
The Museum of the African Diaspora, in San Francisco, CA , has an exhibit called, “Art/Object: Re-contextualizing African Art “.
Featured are “masks, costumes, sculptures and objects of everyday use that show through multimedia recreated environments, photographs and archival footage how African objects from public and private collections were used in their original settings often to mark important rituals and ceremonies.”
Re-contextualizing African Art * until January 17, 2011
MoAD – The Museum of the African Diaspora
685 Mission Street San Francisco, CA
Great observation and wisdom by Walter Mosley for the creative mind, especially for us as we get older. We recall our personal and generational history in glowing terms and on occasions dismiss the talents of a younger generation. We remember SNL with Dan, John and Chevy as always hilarious, which was far from the truth. The old SNL had as many weaknesses if not more then the current version.
I feel that Mosley’s point of view can also be applied towards education, social relationship and personal aspirations. What there was to learn that we saw as being relevant 50 years ago may not serve the same purpose today.
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