Artist Radcliffe Bailey conducts a unique form of artistic alchemy through the use of his keen sense of curiosity, his penchant for found materials, and his mined memory that he combines to preserve the legacies of people who may otherwise be forgotten to time. Bailey’s practice draws on specific memories, one of which is a … Continue reading Artist a Day: Radcliffe Bailey
“The genesis of energy is central to the mystery of our existence as animate beings in an inanimate universe.” Fred Eversley Fred Eversley was an electronic engineer who turned curiosity and experimentation into sculptures that capture his fascination with light and energy. His work beautifully merges art and science in a practice that’s defined by … Continue reading Artist a Day: Fred Eversley
One of the last shows I attended in 2018 was the Fowler Museum’s Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths. Of the 200+ works on display which included tools, totems, weapons, jewelry, and adornments, the most interesting items told stories of people who commissioned blacksmiths to create pieces that told their life story. Other works … Continue reading With Gratitude, So Long 2018!
Two separate migration patterns brought Americans from the south and mid-west to California in the early 1900s: The Great Migration and the Dust Bowl. One group fled persecution under racist Jim Crow laws, while the other fled droughts exacerbated by over farming. The economic and social impacts of these migrations not only shaped the state … Continue reading Karon Davis Explores the Spirit of Home and What it Means When We Must Leave it Behind: Muddy Water at Wilding Cran
“The Negro has been run over for 50 years, but it must stop now, and pistols and shotguns are the only weapons to stop a mob.”~ Eli Cooper As a farmer and an outspoken advocate for unionizing farm laborers, Eli Cooper was determined to fight for better wages from landowners, however his advocacy was met … Continue reading Artist a Day: Melvin Edwards
I recently encountered two similar works of art, one in L.A. and the other online: the first is by an artist with a 40+ year career who has self selected out of the U.S. art scene for over 2 decades and the second is from a Kenyan born artist with a Brooklyn based practice … Continue reading Talking Heads: Jimmie Durham & Wangechi Mutu
As we close out Black History Month and usher in Women’s History Month, today’s post on Augusta Savage made sense for a number of reasons — the most important being that today is the artist’s birthday. Born on a leap year 125 years ago, Augusta Savage’s life story still resonates and her career exemplifies an unyielding determination to her art and a strong dedication to her … Continue reading Artist a Day Challenge, 2017 Finale (28): Augusta Savage
I’m currently writing a separate piece on Kevin Beasley’s current installation at the Hammer Museum, but I thought I would highlight him in my artist a day challenge as well. Artists that incorporate sound into their work interest me these days because they activate their environments in an entirely new way. Some of Beasley’s ghost like … Continue reading Artist of the Day Challenge (25):Kevin Beasley
In Los Angeles in the 1960’s many black artists including Charles White, Ruth Waddy and Samella Lewis fought for representation in local museums including LACMA. Little did I know that at least one artist had been given a solo show there decades prior. Beulah Ecton Woodard was an artist/sculptor born in Ohio in 1895 who grew up in Los Angeles. … Continue reading Artist a Day Challenge (5) Beulah Ecton Woodard
I hear Shakespeare’s “what’s past is prologue” on a regular basis these days. When we study history with the unique privledge of time and ideological distance, it’s too easy to criticize what we once considered unfathomable. The atrocities of the past would not dare repeat themselves in the present, because the scars and the pain remain fresh–they never … Continue reading Artist a Day Challenge (3) Elizabeth Catlett
