An Art Nerd's Night In: Back at it!

I never anticipated that blogging could entail such frustration and anxiety! I've missed posting so much. I would like to thank you for all the suggestions for hardware and software.  All the feedback was unanimous! MAC + WordPress = A less stressed me and a relatively glitchless blogging experience.  Here are a few things that were running through my brain last month:

Necessary Nerding
For an art historian whose focus is African American history, February was a tortuous month to have computer problems! I had so many posts to share. But since I'm black I'm declaring that all my months are Black History Month.  It's American history. It's women's history. It's Afro-Caribbean  history. It's military history. This is why the two Black History Month posts that I did have the opportunity to complete were titled "My Personal (black?) History." I was calling into question how the term made sense or nonsense for me and my progeny in the age of post-______, namely Post-Black (color doesn't matter now that there is a black & white President). I'm still questioning...to be continued in my Dissertation/First book.

The Obituaries
February was also a time for intense mourning: Etta James, Don Cornelius, Whitney Houston. My Twitter timeline echoed with a litany of  #worstblackhistorymonthever tweets. I was equally livid and confused. Spectators were turning their backs on serious teachable moments. Did Etta James's illness bring any awareness (funding or research) to Leukemia by the people who loved her music? Are you in the bone marrow registry?

Will the circumstances surrounding Don Cornelius's death create a deeper awareness and understanding of mental health--a subject still held in high contempt?  As I wrote on my Facebook page: There is so much cruel irony in the fact that Mr. Love, Peace, and Soul had no love or peace in his own soul.  Rest in peace Don Cornelius. Suicide doesn't just happen. It's a violent implosion that leads to an even more violent explosion. Know the signs... Find more details at storiesthatheal.samhsa.gov a site devoted to squashing the stigma of mental illness among African Americans.

And Whitney. I still have no words, only her songs and prayers for her mother and daughter. Sadly, Whitney's death taught me how judgemental, cruel, and witless people are. I mourned because she had a preventable and treatable illness: addiction and drug dependency. Those who say "I WOULD NEVER (insert judgemental and stupid comment here)" are those who have never reached the juncture to make such a choice. Watch what you say folks...

I think Whitney's death hit me so hard because of my Mum's untimely passing in August.  She was also a songstress. I spent (and sometimes still spend) hours thinking about how her death could have been prevented or if there was an option for treatment that would have kept her alive. After watching Whitney's funeral, I lamented to my brother that we didn't have any recordings of our Mum singing. He found an old VHS, which he's converted. Now I need to find the record that my Gramma recorded in the 1950s ...another story for another day.

What Was I Wearing?
While my computer was down, I got antsy. I started to sew. I will be posting my creations soon. Sadly, I accidentally erased 700 pictures from my drive. I'm still smiling though because that means there are just more outfits to create! My birthday was on February 7th and I wore a party dress all day even though all I did was run errands--imagine the stares LOL! My Valentine's Day Outfit had no red at all--my silent protest about the concessions of military wives.

I missed out on posting on why I have the blahs during fashion week, but it's not too late.

Gardens to Tend
Oh dear!  I have an open letter to write to someone who is allowing weeds to choke flowers and watching seedlings get trampled mercilessly.

And I know that cultural critics pounded at The Help ad nauseum, but I have a perspective that of course deals with how art historians will keep/teach those pictures and how they fit in the historical context of visual culture. By the way, Congratulations Ms. Octavia!

So much to talk about :)
Thank you all for the patience, support, and love.

My Personal (Black?) History: Why I want to be an Art Historian

WATCH: Monet Is the Root of All Evil

In 1991 Jasmine Guy played the role of Whitley Gilbert Wayne on A Different World (a The Cosby Show spin-off based on Denise Huxtable’s experiences at Hilman College). Whitley was my first art history teacher. I always had a love and appreciation of art from a very young age, but Whitley made it glamorous. After she graduated from Hilman and became an art buyer for E.H. Wright, I realized that the pictures, sculptures, and crafts that I made had not just sentimental but monetary value. Whitley was brilliant and enthusiastic about art and its history. She was the first art nerd that I ever knew.

At Whitley’s debut as a curator, she was excited to reveal the work of an emerging artist Novian Winters. However she did not expect that Novian’s paintings would draw such controversy. A Hilman College donor made a (racial) assumption that a painting of a black mother and child was steeped in social deviance and therefore an insult to the iconic images of the Madonna & Child; so, he demanded its removal. Whitley wouldn’t sell out for the cantankerous donor and stood for her principles: “Art should challenge our assumptions about ourselves and the world.” Whitley was my hero, an art professional, dressed to the nines, a champion of African American art. I still want to be just like her when I grow up.

Did A Different World change or challenge your perceptions or assumptions about careers or college life?

Fashion Imitates Art: Jackson Pollock's Action Painting

My very own digital action painting that I creating at http://jacksonpollock.org/

Tights & Top: Target | Cardigan & Skirt: Gap | Cape: BX | Gloves: Vintage | Shoes: Aerosoles

AN ART NERD'S NIGHT OUT & What I Wore

In typical nerd fashion, I don't have much of a social life. I seldom go out, and when I do have an event it involves my children's social lives rather than mine--bummer.

I do enjoy visiting museums very much. Show openings and artist talks are even better. Last Friday was one of those special evenings when I had the pleasure of attending a gallery opening and hearing an artist talk by Dr. Michael D. Harris. The show, Equal Rites was a mini retrospective that traveled from the Hammonds House Museum in Atlanta, Georgia to the Tubman African American Museum in Macon, Georgia.

I use the term mini retrospective, because Dr. Harris's body of work is expansive and still growing. He is just as much of an accomplished scholar as he is an artist. I am in awe of how well he balances both. {I gave up in my first year of graduate school when I folded down my easel to use it for book storage} Nevertheless, I left the museum encouraged/inspired and meditating on my reasons for applying to graduate school in the first place.

Visit Equal Rites if you are in Georgia, or spread the word if you know someone who will be.

Out the door carrying the books by Dr. Harris that I want signed
in a dress by Torrid, shirt by Gap, cardigan by The Limited

Dr.Harris & me
I should have reviewed my pictures before I left the museum (sad face)!

A Different Mirror: (Re)Imagining Black Womanhood

I curated a A Different Mirror last May at the height of outrage of one of the most shameful declarations of objective research in modern history. On the website of Psychology Today, Satoshi Kanazawa of the London School of Economics declared that African American women were less attractive than women of other races. Psychology Today deleted the initial post and issued an apology in the wake of a firestorm of media attention from the Root, the Huffington Post, and Clutch Magazine (just a few of the multitude).

  

Here I am with world-renowned artist Wini McQueen,

in front of her awesome fabric art piece, She.

As curator of A Different Mirror, I had this show conceived for months. However, the unfortunate current event set in motion by Kanazawa reminded me why it was so important to assemble works by African women from Macon, Georgia's, Tubman African American Museum's permanent collection that dispelled cruel and stereotypical notions of black female identity. A highlight of the exhibit's opening was a beautiful performance by the renowned dance company, Hayiya Dance Theatre founded and led by Pilar Wilder.

The undeniable talent of the Hayiya dancers in concert with Nina Simone's emotionally charged and historically relevant "Four Women" created a solemn moment for all the women in the room...

As curator of the exhibit there is no way to choose a favorite work of art; they're like children. How could I possibly choose one as a favorite? But at this moment Ce Scott's Beauty Standard defines my curating experience. I wanted to showcase women in the art world who rejected society's mirrors. Scott goes even further by binding (in Kente cloth) the source of some of our societal delusions of beauty: the Barbie doll. Under the cloth the viewers are invited to see themselves: the true standards of beauty...

If you missed the opening to the new exhibit, don't fret because it's permanent.

Tubman African American Museum

340 Walnut Street

Macon, GA 31201

Phone: 478-743-8544

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Sunday-Closed

Monday-Closed (Except for scheduled group tours)

Tuesday - Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm

Saturday 11:00am - 5:00pm

The Mid-PhD Burnout

I'm actually more than halfway there, and I feel like a hit a brick wall that is six feet thick.

I never anticipated the amount of politicking that this process would involve.  I went into my program knowing what my responsibilities and expectations were.  However, I had NO idea what my department or adviser's expectations were to me. 

I read Getting What You Came For and Becoming a Master Student before I started my first semester.  I was naive enough to believe that if I did my work excellently and stuck to my plan that I would have smooth travels.  My state of mind was like taking a hike through the Rockies in flip flops with a cup of Starbucks. 

The only thing that has kept me hanging in there is my passion for research in art history and black cultural studies.  I am a quintessential nerd whose heart races as I open my new textbooks and skim through them to anticipate my path through the material.  I get excited in the stationary aisle, because I never want to run out of ink or lead.  Yes -- I was a front row center kind of  girl. 

That was before my plan began to furiously unravel...