Tag: black history
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Artist a Day: Mary Lovelace O’Neal
“What I wanted to learn to do as a young person was to make a really good painting, a really tough painting…to make art that had balls; not so much that it would change the world, but to have the balls to be beautiful.” Mary Lovelace O’Neal Mary Lovelace O’Neal grew up in the South…
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Artist a Day: Dox Thrash (cont.)
On Saturday I posted a piece by Dox Thrash called “Saturday Night”, and it’s only fitting that I post this complimentary work called “Sunday Morning”.
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Artist a Day: David Hammons
I have few words today, so I will let David Hammons do the talking. Injustice Case (1971) is part of his body print series and is in reference to the judicial misconduct against Bobby Seale who was on trial for conspiracy as a member of the Chicago Eight. After Seale was refused an attorney of…
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Artist a Day: Evangeline J Montgomery
In 2017 I dedicated a series of Artist a Day posts to Ruth Waddy, whose influence guided and amplified the careers of Los Angeles artists in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Her impact and legacy in documenting Black art is immeasurable and “as a champion for African-American artists, Waddy’s advocacy created a powerful…
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Anonymous Was a Woman
During the last two months, I’ve been batting around the idea of starting a newsletter to share articles, exhibition announcements, some of my recent publications, etc. , but before I think too deeply about actually doing it, invariably another news crisis, deadline or other distraction ultimately shift my focus elsewhere. This week, two stories captured…
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Artist a Day: Mark Bradford
Jack Whitten, Mark Bradford’s friend, and artistic inspiration loved jazz. When reflecting on his evolving improvisational process with paint, Whitten once commented to the Walker that “The person who got me trapped in all of this was John Coltrane.” Some of Whitten’s favorite albums included Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s Blue Train,…
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Artist a Day: Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson’s work body of multi-media work is so diverse it’s too hard to single out just one work for discussion, but I’m picking a piece she created in 2016 that I recently saw at the Tate Modern. Then and Now is an appropriated photo from the Detroit riots of 1967—a screen-printed tableau that’s split…
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Artist a Day: Purvis Young
In light of the recent Town Halls and discussions taking place between our youth and our anemic leadership on gun control, I am inspired by this particular moment that they have seized. Their work taps into a long legacy of youth advocates selflessly serving as catalysts for change. While we applaud these current efforts to…
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Artist a Day: Lubaina Himid
In many ways, Lubaina Himid’s art has helped me synthesize my thoughts and observations on London after my extended visit there this month. She’s been creating art for over 35 years and was recently awarded the Turner Prize by the Tate in 2017. As both the oldest recipient and the first black woman to receive…