REPRESENTATION MATTERS

"Without a doubt, if all black children were daily growing up in environments where they learned the importance of art and saw artists that were black, our collective black experience of art would be transformed." --bell hooks

I recently read an essay by bell hooks called "Art Is For Everybody"* which addresses the problem of black identification with art - why, in her words, "black folks have tended to see art as completely unimportant in the struggle for survival."  Shortly after reading the essay, I came across this photo in my Facebook newsfeed.  Never before have I seen one image which more embodies the importance of black representation in art.  My friend's daughter Elizabeth clearly saw something of herself in Mickalene Thomas' Three Graces: Les Trois Femmes Noires at the North Carolina Museum of Art, and this, folks, is how we solve the problem of black identification with the art establishment.

Cultural institutions, take note: representation matters.

Photo by Catherine Allison of her daughter Elizabeth (shared with her permission).

*I haven't been able to find the essay online, but you can read it in the book Drawing Us In: How We Experience Visual Art.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALPHONSE MUCHA

"Art exists only to communicate a spiritual message."--Alphonse Mucha

Today is the 156th anniversary of Alphonse Mucha's birth!  I'm celebrating by revisiting one of my favorite posts from 2013, where I dressed in my best Mucha-inspired ensemble and frolicked through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  See the full post here.

GERHARD RICHTER AT SFMOMA

"Art is the highest form of hope." -Gerhard Richter

I finally got to visit the new SFMoMA yesterday, which reopened after a long remodel.  In anticipation of the visit, I painted this dress, inspired by Gerhard Richter's 256 Farben (256 Colors) from 1974, which is part of the Fisher collection at the museum.

The colors in Richter's color chart paintings are ordered by chance, which seems surprising when you encounter the precise-looking arrangement.    Of these works, Richter is quoted as having said that he "...found it interesting to tie chance to a wholly rigid order."  We happened to notice that there were more warm tones on the left side of the canvas, and for some reason this made me appreciate the painting even more.

It was fun wearing my handpainted dress to the museum, and I even made a few friends in the process.  One is a photographer from Seattle named Sam Saimo who took the photo below and kindly emailed it to me!  Another was an elderly lady who exclaimed, "There's hope in the world!" when I told her about my process for creating art-inspired clothing.

256 Farben is just one of the hundreds of modern works on few at the new museum, and I encourage you to make a visit the next time you're in the Bay Area.

Photos by William Sealy, and the bottom photo by Sam Saimo.

ISIS OASIS

Isis depicted with outstretched wings (wall painting, c. 1360 BCE)

I had a very unique experience over the weekend, when I spent the night at the Isis Oasis Retreat Center, in Geyserville, CA.  In their words, the Isis Oasis is an animal sanctuary, non-profit temple, and community center guided by the Divine Feminine, the goddess Isis - around whom the entire operation is based.

Isis is the Egyptian goddess of health, marriage, and wisdom (also associated with nature and magic) and her name means "throne".  She married her brother Osiris and is the mother of Horus, the falcon god associated with kingship.  She was worshiped throughout Egyptian times, up until the present day, and is depicted countless times throughout Art History - commonly in hieroglyphics with her arms outstretched.

Isis is the theme of the retreat center, and there are two temples dedicated to her on site.  I enjoyed exploring the grounds, and using the opportunity to get closer to nature - and experience some solitude outside of the city.

Photos by William Sealy.