In his large two-part exhibition, the queer Haitian-American artist centers the body, which figures in his work both literally and figuratively.

VIA Art Movements by HyperAllergic podcast

EPISODE SUMMARY

In his large two-part exhibition, the queer Haitian-American artist centers the body, which figures in his work both literally and figuratively.

EPISODE NOTES

It’s rare for an artist to have two concurrent solo shows in the same city, but Didier William accomplished that with his Curtains, Stages, and Shadows, Act 1 & Act 2. The two-part exhibition explores the formal and narrative possibilities of painting. In his review of Act 1, critic Seph Rodney focuses on the figures that can appear as elusive as they are powerful, writing:

These are all figures ready to enact real violence with the cutlasses, and they are also figures who are depicted as staging a rebellion. If one views the text in the back room, one can begin to understand why William believes it necessary to pictorially rehearse the action of insurrection.

I invited Rodney to continue the conversation with William in this episode of Art Movements, in which the two explore the visual language of revolution, specifically in the context of the Haitian revolution, which is one of the larger themes in the artist’s series.

A special thanks to Red Wedding for providing the music for this episode. You can check her out on Instagram.

ABOUT THE SHOW

A weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world with host Hrag Vartanian, cofounder and editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic.

all the shades.

#mood as i move through the world in 2018

Orisha my alter.  #mood

spotted this new gallery in sf this past weekend. reminded me of the first section of my mfa thesis, titled “[space] the in between.“ confirmations like this...amen. 

i'm in New York for the holidays. seeing family, friends, and art. i caught another excerpt from Kahlil Joseph's Shadow Play at the New Museum. per usual, i was blown away. 

having watched Black Mary throughout last month, i am so full off this iteration. i can honestly admit that I have a reverence that borders on jealousy for film artists/makers. where and when the visual and the sonic meet is everything. Kahlil has certainly mastered that space while leaving room for the viewer to float, bounce, rock, melt, soak...and BE in that in between.

i could've watched this short film all day. i might go back, before i leave for cali, and take it all in again.

here are the sounds for Fly Paper. read up on the exhibition and more here.

Black women certainly are at the center of my stories. I think part of this is from  my personal experience of growing up with women who are very powerful—to me—but very vulnerable in their society. That duality has always struck me, watching how people have to live in these situations, live in the bodies that we live in, and have to contort who we are in different spaces. Especially if you are poor and female in very stratified society. I think that as vessels of memory, of people who carry their stories, I see that as more than symbolism, I see that as survival. When you attach migration to it, there is a hunger in people like me to know everything from the story tellers, the story carriers in my life, because I absolutely need those stories. I desperately need them. I especially need them for the next generation of my family. I need them for  daughters and nieces, and for my nephews too. I need  them to know how we lived before they knew us. I need them to know who we were before we came here. I need them to know how we managed to survive, how we managed not to die. I need them to have these stories as tools for their future. In migration it becomes even more important, because you are so afraid to lose all that. You’re separated from the physical space where you were born. You can go back but it’s always changing. You’re always changing. What you are left with are the stories, and these stories come in bodies. And for me, it’s often a black female body like mine.

+Edwidge Danticat, “The Past Is Not Always Past:” A Conversation with Edwidge Danticat

Black Mary - A Film by Kahlil Joseph

y'all, i'm floored...#foreverinspo

To coincide with Tate Modern's exhibition 'Soul of a Nation Art in the Age of Black Power' Tate commissioned filmmaker Kahlil Joseph to create a new and exclusive film inspired by the haunting black and white photography of Roy DeCarava.

Part 1 (of a two-part film) featuring Alice Smith's haunting rework of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ "I Put a Spell on You."

Blitz the Ambassador - Shine

Shine is the second single off Blitz the Ambassador's upcoming album Diasporadical EP. DIRECTOR: BLITZ THE AMBASSADOR DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SHAWN PETERS EDITOR: MAX POUSSIER EMBASSY MVMT / JAKARTA 2015

Diasporadical EP. 
DIRECTOR: BLITZ THE AMBASSADOR
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SHAWN PETERS
EDITOR: MAX POUSSIER
EMBASSY MVMT / JAKARTA 2015

"Shine my LIGHT" 

View fullsize

Kerry James Marshall, Red (If They Come In The Morning), 2011

the first week of classes have begun and i'm back in the studio. having spent half my break in brooklyn, i was able to make it to Kerry James Marshall: Mastry at the MET Breuer.

a phenomenal show, i'm motivated to create, more than ever, on my own terms. tis the beauty of seeking and finding Black representations / Blackness in the Museum. 

Marshall's above painting is my latest obsession. it's steering the completion of this piece from last semester.

more to come...