Category: Art/Culture
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Artist a Day Challenge 2016-2: Alma Thomas
The “Artist a Day Challenge” celebrates Black History Month by highlighting Black artists and diverse forms of cultural expression across the African diaspora.
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Artist a Day Challenge 2016-1: Frederic Douglass & the Power of Photography
In 2015 I embarked on a journey to highlight artists of color during Black History Month and I am happy to bring this important feature back to Culture Shock Art. Instead of the longer theoretical essays, I currently explore on TONDI, this February I will explore one artist, artistic medium or art movement each day during February. Both 2015…
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CicLAvia Reveals the “Heart of LA”
Over 6 miles of downtown streets were closed to traffic in the heart of Los Angeles for CicLAvia. Yesterday officially marked the 5 year anniversary of the event that celebrates physical activity, community engagement and alternative modes of transportation. During CicLAvia all non motorized modes of transportation are free to take over the blocked off streets of…
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Virtual Exhibition: Burn Baby Burn!
TONDI’s first virtual exhibition Burn Baby Burn will take you into the work of Mark Bradford and Noah Purifoy who were each given large scale retrospectives at the Hammer and LACMA this summer. The virtual exhibition is anchored by two essays that probe into specific works found in each exhibit. In Scorched Earth we examine how…
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New Site! TONDI
My new site is officially up! I’m excited about trying something new and I invite you all to continue to follow my journey into contemporary art on TONDI. I truly value all of my followers on WordPress and have learned so much from this first blog. Cheers to a new beginning!
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Wandering: DTLA’s Arts District
Last year I went to a meeting at the CleanTech Incubator near the L.A. river and I was surprised to see how much development has gone into the Arts District. Over the last few months I’ve been getting acquainted to L.A.’s latest gentrified, “it” neighborhood. Here’s what I LOVE about it: The energy is phenomenal (I…
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Missing the Marc
In 2015, “Cultural Appropriation” has replaced 2013’s “micro-aggression” as journalistic code for bias and ignorance. Notice I didn’t say racism, because in many cases I don’t think that cultural appropriation is deliberately borne out of racism, but it is certainly symptomatic of it. This week’s lesson in cultural appropriation came to us via Black Twitter and…
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Seeing Double at MOCA
Kahlil Joseph: Double Conscience It’s a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” ~ W.E.B Du Bois For me, a great litmus test for a good piece of…
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Artist a Day Challenge No. 26: Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas has a unique style that is nothing short of bodacious. Her colorful, glitter infused portraiture work is commands your attention and invites you delve into a deeper understanding of the person that is being portrayed. Her use of interiors and recent pivot to abstract portraits were a mystery to me because I couldn’t connect the…
Colony Little, Culture Shock Art 