Tag: Samella Lewis
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Last Call! Signifying Form at the Landing Gallery
To signify means, “to make a sign or signal”. In a NYT book review penned by professor John Wideman in 1988, the writer explains how the practice of “signifying” assumes a more nuanced connotation within the black community. “In black vernacular, Signifying is a sign that words cannot be trusted, that even the most literal utterance…
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Artist a Day Challenge (2) Samella Lewis
In 1920’s New Orleans a young Samella Lewis first picked up a paint brush and through it she found her voice in an environment that didn’t encourage speaking one’s mind. “It might get me in trouble”, Lewis explains in a 2006 interview, “and so I had to find a way to express my feelings.” What originally began as a private expression, Samella…
Colony Little, Culture Shock Art 