Elliot Erwitt (1928 - 2023)
Favorite Photo -
Copyright Magnum Photos, Elliot Erwitt
Camille Claudel - Art Institute, Chicago
Remedios Varo- Art Institute, Chicago
Lisboa
Two women were taking photos on the street and were handing out these flyers.
2022
11 Exhibitions
1 Grant Award
3 Portfolio Reviews
Robert Burnier - Andrew Rafacz, Chicago
Citing Black Geographies - Richard Gray, Chicago
Yayoi Kusama Infinity Rooms - Hirshhorn Museum, DC
Lorraine O' Grady - Both/And at UNC Greensboro
Antonius Bui - Monique Meloche, Chicago
Photobook - Most Wanted List
Gordon Parks - I Am You. Publisher - Steidl
The Street Philosophy of Gary Winogrand. Publisher - University of Texas
Provoke - Between Protest and Performance. Publisher - Steidl
Rih Rih
We know more about Rihanna’s pregnancy than the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court.
…
What’s her name again?
The Kitchen
Liza Lou worked five years to create this installation. This work is part of the Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950–2019 exhibition at the Whitney NYC.
Suggested Reading
Essays on the topics of Race (recommended by msn.com)
"A Report from Occupied Territory" by James Baldwin.
"Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases" and "The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States" by Ida B. Wells
"The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"The Idea of America" by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the "1619 Project" by The New York Times
"Many Thousands Gone" by James Baldwin
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr.
"The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" by Audre Lorde
"The First White President" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Just Walk on By" by Brent Staples
"I Was Pregnant and in Crisis. All the Doctors and Nurses Saw Was an Incompetent Black Woman" by Tressie McMillan Cottom
"I'm From Philly. 30 Years Later, I'm Still Trying To Make Sense Of The MOVE Bombing" by Gene Demby
Jennifer Packer - The Eye is not Satisfied With Seeing at the Whtiney, NYC
Cotton
Lyrics
Jump down, turn around to pick a bale of cotton
Jump down, turn around to pick a bale a day
Jump down, turn around to pick a bale of cotto
Jump down, turn around to pick a bale a day.
Oh Lordy, pick a bale of cotton, oh Lordy,
Pick a bale a day.
Oh Lordy, pick a bale of cotton, oh Lordy,
Pick a bale a day.
Anyone else learn this song in school?
For a language to come
I remember the early days of the internet. It was a dark hole for those who were curious about the world around them sought out information that could not be immediately answered. Trips to the library, bookstore, or the home encyclopedia would no longer suffice - we now had each other to solve the world’s mysteries.
Blogging is an art form that has been lost. We didn’t have imagery, emojis, or memes to express ourselves but rather had to rely on our own words. Our own words gave others pause, invoked conversation, and shared knowledge. Very interesting time. The internet has become a source of entertainment rather than a place to connect and challenge ourselves.
In an ongoing time of uncertainty we may have to get back to basics. Communication has to be reinvented. We are all feeling the same way but we need to find something for ourselves and share it.
I figured this can be a place where I share what I’ve seen. The pictures have no value if they are just stored away on a hard drive, right?
Here’s to 2022.
Kerry James Marshall & The Ideals of Feminism
In a rare public appearance Kerry James Marshall briefly discussed his painting ‘Still Life with Portrait’ featuring Harriet Tubman and her husband John. He stated he painted the portrait because he wanted to show her feminine side. A male perspective seems to always default to a woman in a dress and her hair in flowers. What is wrong with the mainstream imagery that we are familiar with? She should be praised regardless of any visual we have of her.
‘Still Life with Portrait’ Kerry James Marshall, 2015
THE IMAGE ITSELF IS NOT AN IDEA. IT CANNOT ATTAIN THE TOTALITY OF A CONCEPT, NOR CAN IT BE A COMMUTATIVE SIGN LIKE A WORD. ITS IRREVERSIBLE MATERIALITY – A REALITY THAT HAS BEEN DETACHED BY THE CAMERA – EXISTS IN A WORLD OPPOSITE THAT OF LANGUAGE, AND BECAUSE OF THIS IT SOMETIMES PROVOKES THE WORLD OF LANGUAGE AND CONCEPTS. - PROVOKE