Another year in the books. January 1, 2022 started just like 2021. I made gumbo and black eyed peas, watched the Twilight Zone Marathon…then I got to business clipping and pasting images, creating my vision board to chart my course for the year. However, there was one notable omission from my annual plan; I didn’t … Continue reading Traveling without a Map: Navigating Invitations and Provocations
This week I sat down numerous times to recall the highlights of 2021 and how they shaped my writing this year. So many of these positive memories were nearly eclipsed by personal loss and the neverending distractions from the news cycle. Throughout this year I found solace in the visual image. Art continues to be … Continue reading Guideposts to Grace
Every year I look forward to February. For me it has always been a month of learning that extends beyond 28 days. I’ve historically dedicated Black History Month to highlighting an Artist a Day on the blog. It’s not only a labor of love, it has been an immensely helpful and impactful writing challenge for … Continue reading Artist a Day 2021: Something New
In the 1960s a new generation of Black abstract artists faced a double bind, caught between the commercial gallery system’s failure to acknowledge Black artists practicing abstract art, and established Black artists known for figurative work who shunned abstraction as a non-representational expression of the Black experience. Despite these limitations of perception, a group of … Continue reading Ed Clark: The Motion of the Stroke
“Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man. A decent man apologizes not to save face, not to win a vote. He apologizes, and genuinely, to repair and acknowledge the harm done, so that we … Continue reading Artist Vivian Browne and “Little Men”
They call it “due process” and some people are overdue We beg your pardon, America Somebody said, “Brotherman gonna break a window, gonna steal a hubcap, gonna smoke a joint, a brotherman gonna go to jail” The man who tried to steal America is not in jail “Get caught with a nickel bag, brotherman. Get … Continue reading We Beg Your Pardon?
Los Angeles based artist Corey Pemberton’s latest body of work explores the intimate spaces and vulnerable places that define our notions of “home”. In his current solo show at CAM Raleigh called creature, comfort, Pemberton combines painting, photography, and hand blown glass to create visual environments that depict his subjects in both real and imagined … Continue reading Artist Corey Pemberton Offers Timely Meditations on Home in “creature, comfort” at CAM Raleigh
We’re living in a time of odd juxtapositions. We’re disconnected from our physical lives while we remain constantly connected to each other virtually. We hoard toilet paper yet remain disastrously wasteful. We covet time, but bemoan boredom. Before Covid-19, we longed for the quiet solitude that comes with less crowded streets, remote working, and quality … Continue reading “Give Me Some Moments”: Slow Looking with Lorna Simpson at Hauser & Wirth
Art + Practice’s latest show, Collective Constellation: Selections from the Eileen Harris Norton Collection is an exhibition that I always needed to see, I just didn’t realize why until now. Over the last several years, I’ve committed the month February to posting Artist a Day profiles where Black artists are highlighted and celebrated. In 2017 … Continue reading A Collective Constellation at Art + Practice
The mission of San Francisco’s Museum of African Diaspora “celebrates Black cultures, ignites challenging conversations, and inspires learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora” and right now, like many cultural institutions across the country, they need help. According to KQED and a San Francisco Arts Alliance survey, “San Francisco arts organizations anticipate losing … Continue reading Diaspora Unite! Auction to Support MoAD
Culture Shock Art 