Several recent experiences clustered together are sinking in slowly but sinking they are and sending bubbles of a-ha up towards the surface.
Attended opening night of The View from Within
attended Dr Patricia Moore talk...didn't speak with Alyne but she was fully occupied the whole time
Delia Moore at Ryan's
Tika's and Jamie's Birthday Party
which is kind of the most interesting way to start thinking about the future
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Dr Porschia Moore asking big questions at the Mennello on Saturday. Behind her is a Cunningham but the exhibit had Alyne Harris and others. Ms Harris also attended and was in the back, looking fine.
Dr Moore cited ZNH in a couple slides as a start to the conversation about the documentation of culture. Then she mentioned bell hooks.
Shannon Elyse Curry, left, and Nneka Jones, right, at Maitland Art Center Friday night's reception. Extra fine art these two have achieved in their young careers. Curry's paintings take the idea of blending and staining and building up layers to a completely new level and her depth is astounding. Same with Jones - I longed to hear how she sounded, being from Trinidad, and she closes the loop for me with the party at Tika's.
They were selected and the work was mostly selected by the Links Organization with MAC guiding it into place. Sounded like a good partnership and the result was fantastic. Curating a show is really all about design if you think about it: concieve, plan, and execute.
Both artists' work were astounding and they show great promise. Tampa is rising as a player in the art world this cycle a bit. What could the region accomplish if it tried? With talent like this it hsa great potential.
Tika and Jamie's Birthday Party, 20th April at his home. From far left at table: not sure up until the guy with the b&w plaid shirt: Richard, a relative up from Georgetown where he said he had an office with Exxon Mobil; Hawaiian shirt is Roy; his hand's on Jamie's shoulder, and next to Jamie in a navy guyavera with an embroidered sleeve cuff: Tika, turning 60; not sure about any of the rest except for Darlene standing in the glasses who shared some interesting stories. The table was set up by younger men and then Tika's wife and daughter brought out the cakes and they all arranged the table for a while. Speeches began about 10. Tika's sister flew down from New York, and Richard flew up from SA. The food was super delicious curried goat with all sorts of roti and rices. TJ and I hung together, then he or I would meet someone and start talking and wander off, or get another plate of rice.
Delia Moore, speaking at the Cube at Interstruct where she completed an installation (candystriped lighthouse is part of it, to her right). Also an aviator. The interior is a sort of hypothetical afro-futurist landscape complete with celestial souls and glows at night, according to Pat Greene.
What's all this, you ask? We're swimming in maximalism, is what it all adds up to. The birthday cake table, the shipping container recrafted into a room the size of a bathroom; painting in layers; painting AND weaving; and lastly the extremes that Harris paints from her creative drive. Slavery and devils bookend faces and traditional religious events as if to chronicle, to document. It's everything, all at once.