Assignment 8

I thought this weeks reading was difficult. Greenberg used vocabulary I am not always familiar with, and ideas that were new to me. It is good to be stretched, and I really had to think through his essay.
That all being said, I do not agree with him that "art for art's sake" is bad or obsolete art. Though this type of art may be created by untrained artists, are they no less an artist?
As Locke said, no art is created in a vacuum. All art is somehow relevant to culture, to a movement or to a person, 150.
I was raised in the "self esteem" era, where almost nothing we do is wrong and we are generally made to feel good about ourselves. Therefore, it is somewhat horrifying to me that people like Greenberg are so ruthless in their judgments about art. How could they make such blanket statements as to say whole genre's are bad art?
This is a new concept to me that I'm not sure I like.

Spring Break

I did not even realize that last week was spring break - but I had already planned a get away! I was itching to get outta town, which takes planning with my husband and 9-5 job. However, we were able to take off to Tahoe on Thursday! My husband's family is blessed to have a very rustic cabin up there we could stay at.

I brought up a couple books, a magazine and cards. It was wonderful to be able to read without a time limit and to play cards with my guy.

It snowed over a foot while we were there, and it was so relaxing to be there and watch it.
We drove home on Easter morning, and were able to have a nice dinner with my in laws back home in San Jose. We had lamb and pie, Yum!

Spring break came just in time - I needed it!

I hope everyone else had a great break too!

Bernard Stanley Hoyes

One of the first art pieces I ever purchased was a Bernard Stanley poster. The one poster had three pieces of his on it, one above the other. They are all from his Spirit series. For me, it was love at first sight.



Initially, I was drawn to the vibrant color in these pieces. Then the movement captured me. These women seem to be unencumbered, dancing confidently and free. There is also a strong sense of community in these pieces. All these women are dancing together, celebrating together. For all of these reasons I knew I had to bring home that poster!
It went in my bedroom and I would just stare at it. I loved it.

Another piece I purchased at a later date was Daughters. In this piece I loved how the huge jungle leaves seem to almost protect the family as they walk. The eldest daughter is holding a book, and all the girls are in beautiful dresses which all leads me to believe they may be walking to church. For me personally, going to church as a kid is something I can fondly identify with. These are just my musings when I look at the piece, I could not find a history on it to confirm or deny my theory.



I never looked up any information on the artist. Now that I have done some research, I was surprised how young Bernard started working as an artist, and the spiritual aspects of the art that I was not aware of.

Bernard Stanley Hoyes' artistic talent was noticed at an early age in Kingston, Jamaica where he was raised. At age nine his mother would sell his wood carvings and watercolors to tourists, which contributed to the family income.

Bernard's professional art training took him to The Institute of Jamaica, Junior Art Centre and Art Students League in New York by the age of fifteen. Bernard developed as an artist with apprenticeships from Norman Lewis, Huie Lee Smith and John Torres.

In the 1970's Bernard formed Caribbean Cultural Institute and Caribbean Arts, Inc. to Further expose Caribbean culture to America. The Institute provided classes, workshops and a space for cultural events centered around an Afro-centric theme.

Bernard was always inspired by the Caribbean Culture, and Caribbean spirituality. Hoyes explains that he paints "from an intuitive point of view," that during the process the "spirits take possession" and the ritual theme becomes dominant. These insights, his Jamaican heritage and the membership of his paternal family in "revival cults" (an Afro-Christian sect with strong African retention roots) provide cues as to why these paintings are perceived as authentic revelations of altered states of reality.




In a short biography of Hoyes they describe his art, "Field of colors are infused with primaries in harmony. These works are intuitively inspired with no preliminary sketches. Each completed painting suggest the composition and content for the next. Color becomes personified as symbolic as various combination's are used to express national as well as spiritual connotations. "

I greatly appreciate that Bernard is inspired by his culture, his family, color, movement and spirituality. All of these things are important to me also, though he expresses it in ways I cannot. Knowing more about the man who's art has been in my home for several years is very interesting. I have a renewed appreciation of them.




Resources: http://www.bernardhoyes.com/shop/bh-bio.htm
www.allposters.com

week 3

I found reading about Jules Lion and his affect on photography to be very interesting and inspirational. First, it is very thought provoking that so little is known about him. How did he get his first camera? How did he get to know and photograph such important figures?

Second, I always love to learn about people who have paved the way for others. Lion is considered to be the first Black photographer, and he definitely opened that arena to other Black people, including Robert Haggins.

"Any photographer–black or white–could have walked down a Harlem street in 1964 and taken a picture of an ebullient Malcolm X walking with Muhammad Ali after Ali won the heavyweight title. But white photographers did not take pictures of Malcolm X laughing. It took Robert L. Haggins, a black man, to make that photograph."

I appreciate that it takes a deep appreciation or understanding of the subject to truly capture it on film. Therefore, it makes sense that Black photographers were able to capture their counterparts in a real way on film.

I also found this quote from the same reading interesting, "Black photographers rarely knew each other, especially in photography’s first century, but from the outset their agenda was remarkably similar. First and last, they used their art as a corrective to mainstream white culture’s pictures of blacks. Whether the people in these pictures were rich or poor, they were never stereotypes. From the beginning, the photographers vigilantly guarded their subjects’ individuality and dignity." It is amazing to me that people who do not know each other, who are separated by location can be so united in their mission.

Another reading I greatly appreciated this week was the Frederick Douglass piece. I think this writing of him captured his heroicism. Though he was shaking, though he feared retaliation, though he was a disposable minority Douglass told his story. I greatly admire that. From a young age he was determined and always set goals for himself. When he was treated poorly as a slave, he set a goal to be free by the next year! Though this goal was not met and that time, I love that he did not lose his dream and once free he spoke for all those who could not.

In many ways, the first generation of black photographers were doing the same thing - 'speaking' through their photos for their black community who was unable to speak for themselves.

The Reid discussion

This article was very surprising and thought provoking. Numerous points of discussion were made on how African American's are viewed by Americans at large. I greatly appreciated Keli Goff's transparency and articulation on Senator Harry Reid's comments. I believe it is poignant that Keli Goff is an African American woman and was able to graciously annalyse Reid's comments on why Obama was electable to the American public.

For me, the most surprising discussion was about the affect Obama's black lineage being directly from Africa, not from American slaves has on the comfort level of white Americans accepting him. Simply put, this never would have crossed my mind. However, Goff confronts the topic, explaining that many white American's still feel guilt regarding the history of slavery. This was very interesting to me. When I talk to my black friends I rarely think about their family's history of slavery. It was surprising to me that apparently this is still such a big issue in the way white's see black people.

The other important pieces of the interview deal with Reid's comments about Obama being light skinned and having no negro dialect. Hearing these comments off the cuff I was shocked and immediately thought he was racist. However, Goff was able to clearly explain how Reid is trying to promote Obama in maybe the most ungraceful manner possible.

Yes, Obama is a light skinned African American man. This is a fact, not a racist comment in itself. However, how unfortunate that Obama's lightness in itself makes him more electable to the white public. Our country has come a long way in the fight against racism, yet we still have a long way to go. The topic of being light skinned reminded me of the poem we read by Phyllis Wheatley. White people are more likely to elect people who look and act like themselves. Therefore, Obama's lightness made him tolerable.

On a similar note, Obama's amazing use of language is powerful, and not seen as typical of the black man. I would say that Obama's eloquence is not typical of any race, it is a beautiful personal characteristic and developed by years of education.

Finally, Reid's use of an outdated word is offensive. As Goff explained, it is apparent that Reid has no close black friends. I am not talking about him having a black acquaintance, or a black employee, or a black dog groomer. I am talking about Reid not having any black people in his life who are his peers, who are on an equal level to him. Friends who are your peers will correct you when you need to be, and hold important dialog in shaping your views on things of the world. Given that Reid used a thirty of forty year old term shows that he is not close to black people.

I am not offended that Reid has no close black friends. I am however offended that Reid is in a position of power and is so out of touch with the public at large and a huge demographic that he is supposed to be representing. This is very disappointing though I'm sure Reid meant no harm.

In the end, Reid was supporting Obama and exposed his lack of education of racial terms.