tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17786746699499321772024-03-13T03:26:02.017-04:00QUASHIE ARTCOLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.comBlogger214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-31484561637940600442021-04-21T22:05:00.008-04:002021-04-21T22:05:42.622-04:00NEW WEBSITE IS UP<div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">My new website is up at<br /><a href="goog_737406142"><br /></a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.quashie.art">www.quashie.art</a></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoh8bgpbEslh06Ppszd3F9RgaMrUdCampFV1vZh55akS-t4G_FqWnlfAmRTFStne6k4fOzwvX5bl0z5isfB5vMealWhBS7EN5R632mRUUJoo3D6ug-f9Lo8oCIuc5sbxckZ_yO43FufUzW/s1168/Screen+Shot+2021-04-21+at+10.01.30+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="1168" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoh8bgpbEslh06Ppszd3F9RgaMrUdCampFV1vZh55akS-t4G_FqWnlfAmRTFStne6k4fOzwvX5bl0z5isfB5vMealWhBS7EN5R632mRUUJoo3D6ug-f9Lo8oCIuc5sbxckZ_yO43FufUzW/w625-h349/Screen+Shot+2021-04-21+at+10.01.30+PM.png" width="625" /></a></div><br /> <br /><br /><br /></b></span></span><br /></div>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-57351886545942975282014-05-22T15:17:00.003-04:002014-05-22T15:17:53.917-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikd9y34CWFl8ffbPFZP32NgGJBhW4eju5DhTy6YkujN6UIi9LYiCT5fVCTg5l4Smq1LaC56naZf4SpI-nxqtR1S_WwnzNpMjzCrVpCcDZEOEDoBD_ZANg3t_Ec5jBtXaPkdjVsZwzTfKu5/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-05-07+at+6.21.05+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikd9y34CWFl8ffbPFZP32NgGJBhW4eju5DhTy6YkujN6UIi9LYiCT5fVCTg5l4Smq1LaC56naZf4SpI-nxqtR1S_WwnzNpMjzCrVpCcDZEOEDoBD_ZANg3t_Ec5jBtXaPkdjVsZwzTfKu5/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-05-07+at+6.21.05+AM.png" height="262" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span id="goog_1980545392"></span><span id="goog_1980545393"></span><br /></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-23527272791902795222013-03-06T22:03:00.002-05:002013-03-06T22:03:49.977-05:00Charleston City Paper's Best of 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thanks to the staff at the Charleston City paper for selecting one of my art pieces as one of their favorites of 2012. as always, much appreciated.</span></span></div>
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COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-67289418867964624922012-12-26T23:18:00.000-05:002012-12-26T23:18:07.375-05:00New Art: Portrait of Jack McCray<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jack McCray was a Charleston icon who passed away about a year ago. He was passionate about documenting the legacy of jazz from a Charleston perspective and was a founding member of the Charleston Jazz Initiative which continues to offer residents and visitors a fervent taste of Charleston's jazz tradition. I knew him, but not all that well. For some reason I felt the need to pay homage to him and decided to use a photo of him taken by a co-worker, Post and Courier photographer, Wade Spees (thanks Wade for letting me use the image). I have no real plans for the piece as of yet but nonetheless, here it is:</span><br />
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<img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIuoiEkk4AvnDItM7Pt_tZrqmyM5Hm6OEfiXS6fU7fnOZoiCL2dB9HUBAiHuQibM1b4EzG3tYdLzB39geNcdGDgvoF3fBgezK9WDwSjP-jOhCvtwZwx1PnbLl1jp2xrGdKcI_23FoXIoX/s640/Jack-McCray.jpg" width="640" /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /><span style="color: #660000;"><b>"Jack McCray"</b> - 43" x 43" - Oil on Canvas</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Leah Suarez, a local musician and executive directyor of the Jazz Artists of Charleston, penned a piece in the Charleston City Paper after his passing:<br /><br />I write this with many caveats, as a heart in mourning and through
blurry contacts. I am not sure that I have fully realized that my
friend, colleague, mentor, confidant, advisor, and father figure has
left this mortal world. It has felt like one continuous day since being
one of the first to find Jack lifeless, not even one week ago.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
I write this in the midst of being intimately involved with his
immediate family and his jazz family, in making funeral arrangements,
oftentimes working from the same office that we shared, a place that was
more a home for both of us than our own homes. His picture proudly
anchors the wall and reminds us that he is with us, but it's just not
the same. It will never be.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
Jack has known me since I was six years old. But it was just in the
past five years — what will now be remembered as the last five years of
his life — that I have had the honor and pleasure of working every day,
side by side, with this gentle man in many different capacities. We
worked together, as many in our community did with him, on purposeful
and passionate projects. Most often, Jack spoke. I listened. What has
become strangely clear in this surreal time is that Jack made me find my
purpose. In a time that I struggled with my own identity and place in
this world, personally and professionally, Jack stood as a constant in
my life, encouraging and steadfast. He was, and forever will be, my
family. For this, I am eternally grateful and will spend a lifetime
working to fulfill that very purpose he instilled in me. We were just
getting started.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
Jack McCray did not just stand for something. He lived for everything.
He was a walking testament, quite literally, for "carpe diem." Jack knew
how to have a grand time and make lasting relationships. He was
genuinely human. He was a citizen of the world. He valued time,
language, music, and the art of humanity.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
He worked to preserve history. He equally worked to create history.
Jack was on a mission and, in many ways, I feel as though his mission
had just begun.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
What Jack has left behind is a massive to-do list — one that is
never-ending and, as he would have said, "a constant work in progress."
He left us a wealth of knowledge, a physical archive, stories, memories,
advice, and blessings. He was a visionary who realized his visions —
not by "magic," but by hard, tiresome, selfless work. In our most
challenging times, he reminded me that the pioneers are the ones who end
up with the dust in their faces. Jack was certainly a visionary pioneer
for Charleston, the culture of jazz, and all of life.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
The next week and a half will be especially difficult to get through
without our Jack. As we move forward, we will do the best we can and
rely on our community for strength. We will also find comfort in the
very music Jack advocated for, promoted, produced, and loved.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
Though I cannot tell you that I am personally finding much comfort at
the moment, I do find peace in knowing that Jack fully lived his 64
years of life, blessing us all, just by being himself. Because of that
fact, Jack McCray's legacy will never die.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
Forward ever. Backwards never.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-86312642482864876662012-12-26T22:59:00.001-05:002012-12-26T22:59:25.137-05:00Sooooooo....Am I A Winner?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTph8SlIKBLl2mCZSgRikJvL_2irUtFsS0fU3xLPYArc_5VlBr5aio2mnvzcutBkEzx6hZ2g8KIHNekyd-kCP9o1eNHHdwQt71fPTq4mqgIIeteQtRSO2mbfegazj73aBRFpBQBHj_19j/s1600/charleston_city_paper.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTph8SlIKBLl2mCZSgRikJvL_2irUtFsS0fU3xLPYArc_5VlBr5aio2mnvzcutBkEzx6hZ2g8KIHNekyd-kCP9o1eNHHdwQt71fPTq4mqgIIeteQtRSO2mbfegazj73aBRFpBQBHj_19j/s1600/charleston_city_paper.gif" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Winners, losers, and folks we'll miss from the past year</span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">The Arts</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">y Side of 2012</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">by</span> </span><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Erica Jackson Curran</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdZ_k-kVwM1gYKXRqePJfOg7DLFbhoawKnMU56H4ZedJokoEPdwzdT2bJTHpIfMtQcsvAeIQS2CoHK1Ojq05eqTZhPo671AI_ydTOENF3dK5rkEcBqvUz7nW6VOI0WoS1IPbN_QrtPPt7/s1600/artsyMAG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdZ_k-kVwM1gYKXRqePJfOg7DLFbhoawKnMU56H4ZedJokoEPdwzdT2bJTHpIfMtQcsvAeIQS2CoHK1Ojq05eqTZhPo671AI_ydTOENF3dK5rkEcBqvUz7nW6VOI0WoS1IPbN_QrtPPt7/s640/artsyMAG.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Katie Grandy file photo<br /></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #666666;">Artist Colin Quashie offered an unflinching look at the effects of
slavery in the south in the Plantation (Plan-ta-shun) exhibition at
Redux</span></i></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
Unlike last year's lineup of scandals and shake-ups, 2012 was a quieter
time for Charleston's art scene. It was about slow changes, implementing
plans, and working toward a better future<br /><br /><b>1. Ellen passes the torch ... slowly.
</b>
<br />
It's been nearly a year since we got the official word that the Office
of Cultural Affairs was seeking a new director, but rumors of Ellen
Dressler Moryl's retirement had been floating around for a long time
prior to that. Moryl has been with the OCA since its founding in 1977,
and she also helped create the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, making her an
integral part of the city's arts community for decades. This past
November, she announced her successor in Scott Watson, a New Yorker
boasting experience with arts organizations like the Dublin Fringe
Festival and the New York Theater Workshop. Watson will take on his new
duties in January, though Moryl will stay on as the artistic director of
Piccolo Spoleto. We know we're not the only ones curious to see how
this shift will affect the arts in Charleston.
<br /><br /><b>2. The Charleston Ballet Theatre stumbles ... and tries to bounce back.
</b>
<br />
Last year was tough for the CBT, and 2012 didn't start out much better.
In February, a handful of board members stepped down, and the company
subsequently struggled to secure funding from wary donors. But by the
time October rolled around, the CBT was attempting to sing a new tune.
The board welcomed 19 new members and Joe Kelly took over as director of
artistic operations, while Jill Eathorne Bahr lost her post as CEO (she
now serves as the resident choreographer). According to Bahr, dancers
are now more involved in planning, policy decisions, and community
involvement, and the staff, board members, dancers, and the community
are all considered shareholders in the company. The CBT kicked off a
small, quiet 26th season in 2012.
<br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>
3. Goodbye Manning.
</b>
<br />
Charleston's contemporary art community mourned when artist Manning
Williams passed away in June after a long illness. He was 73. The
Charleston native, a College of Charleston grad and professor, was
exceptionally versatile but best known for the boldly colored,
cartoon-inspired abstract work he created in his later years. He
exhibited at the Corrigan Gallery, the Gibbes, and the Gaillard, and you
can still find his paintings at the Charleston Airport<br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>
4. The Village Repertory Company finds a home downtown.
</b>
<br />
At the end of 2011, the Mt. Pleasant-based Village Repertory Company
announced they'd be making a big move downtown, and in June, they
started renovating the old Meddin Bros. warehouse on Woolfe Street. They
had ambitious plans to open in October, but the opening kept getting
pushed back due to construction delays and a lack of funding. The
theater finally opened to the public last week for <i>The Man Who Came to Dinner</i>, though they've still got a ways to go to complete the project<br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>
5. City breaks ground on the Gaillard.
</b>
<br />
While the Village people struggled for funding, the Gaillard Auditorium
got a good chunk of theirs. We've been hearing plans about the
auditorium's extensive renovations for years, and this summer,
construction crews finally got to work on the project. Major demolition
started happening in October, when crews removed the roof and eventually
pretty much demolished the entire building. The finished product will
be a new arts center with city offices, a 15,000-square-foot ballroom
and exhibition hall, and a theater with 1,800 seats. They're shooting
for an October 2014 completion date<br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>
6. Mike Daisey puts the national spotlight on Spoleto.
</b>
<br />
Spoleto Festival 2012 had its share of memorable shows, from Montreal's gravity-defying <i>Traces</i> to 1927's creepy-cool <i>The Animals and Children Took to the Streets</i>
to the sold-out return of Jake Shimabukuro. But nothing was more buzzed
about than Mike Daisey's show. The monologist was slated to discuss
technology and international business in two shows: <i>The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs</i> and <i>Teching in India</i>. Then in March, Daisey landed in the hot seat when it was revealed that he had falsified some of the information in <i>Agony and Ecstasy</i>, which he'd performed on <i>This American Life</i>.
When he finally took the stage in Charleston in June, he gave us a bold
updated version of the show and something new as well: a guilt-laced
confessional. Our reviewer gave it a <b><a href="http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/mike-daisey-is-just-as-disappointed-with-himself-as-you-want-him-to-be/Content?oid=4090993" target="_blank">C+.</a></b><a href="http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/mike-daisey-is-just-as-disappointed-with-himself-as-you-want-him-to-be/Content?oid=4090993" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>
7. The storytellers descend.
</b>
<br />
Daisey wasn't the only storyteller who spun a yarn in Charleston this
year. Charleston native Jack Hitt joined Daisey on the Spoleto lineup,
ironically presenting a show called <i>Making Up the Truth</i>. The
music- and monologue-driven Unchained Tour, featuring Neil Gaiman and
Edgar Oliver, rolled into town on a big blue schoolbus. And NPR's
StoryCorps trailer parked in Ansonborough Field for a few weeks,
gathering locals' sure-to-be-juicy tales. In more traditional literary
news, Blue Bicycle Books' YALLFest returned for its second year with
hundreds of YA authors and tween fans descending on downtown.
<br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>
8. Colin Quashie mounts a powerful show at Redux.
</b>
<br />
The city's visual arts scene was on its game in 2012, with admirable exhibitions at City Gallery (<i>Mermaids and Merwomen in Black Folklore</i>)
and the Halsey (Don ZanFagna, Aggie Zed, and Motoi Yamamoto), just to
name a few. But the one that's really stuck with us was Colin Quashie's <i>The Plantation (Plan-ta-shun)</i>
at Redux last spring. The artist took a deceptively playful look at
issues like slavery and racism in the South by using coloring books, a
customized Monopoly board (painted as a mural on the side of the
building), and an ad campaign for "J. Crow" featuring a photograph of a
slave with brutal scars all over his back. The gallery has never been as
quiet as it was during that eye-opening reception. Here's to more work
from the talented artist.
<br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>
9. Contemporary artist exodus.
</b>
<br />
Last year, we lost some of our best contemporary art galleries. This
year, we bid adieu to several of our artists. Painter Tim Hussey moved
to Los Angeles. Scott Debus, a founder of Kulture Klash, moved to
Austin. Street artist Patch Whisky moved to Savannah, leaving behind a
number of local murals including one in <i>City Paper</i>'s office. Photographer Cyle Suesz moved to NYC, and Rebecca West Fraser (<i>Contemporary Charleston 2011</i>)
moved to San Francisco. There are still some major contemporary players
residing in Charleston — we just hope they'll stay here.
</span></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-74398351690447057882012-11-14T19:07:00.000-05:002012-11-14T19:07:29.264-05:00'Plantation' review - The Item - Sumter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Exhibitions provoke discussion, reflection</span></b></span><br />Wednesday, November 14, 2012<br />By Jane G. Collins - Special to The Item</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-b9yT0PMauA8kZtRzQIS4M2_yloou-Wrjrmu5CMpQY8qcL0nKUPZ1CSpo_RF0dthGLARnFG7SDfw9m18wsN5js1YlIEkP_suBC9hJvIARw579AyFMQwpM_zz0BzxLajHwfPXT9ZED-0gm/s1600/Faces_of_Color3_John.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-b9yT0PMauA8kZtRzQIS4M2_yloou-Wrjrmu5CMpQY8qcL0nKUPZ1CSpo_RF0dthGLARnFG7SDfw9m18wsN5js1YlIEkP_suBC9hJvIARw579AyFMQwpM_zz0BzxLajHwfPXT9ZED-0gm/s640/Faces_of_Color3_John.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"></span></span><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Colin Quashie's "Faces of Color: John" can be viewed<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>at the Sumter County Gallery of Art through Jan. 11</span>.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /><span style="color: #666666;">The two current Sumter Gallery of Art's exhibits - Colin Quashie's "The Plantation (Plan-ta-shun)" and Fahamu Pecou's "Native Sun" -<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span>are not for the fainthearted or people with single-sided vision. They afford, however, provocative situations for discussion and reflection.<br /><br />I am "treading on eggshells" when I suggest leaving preconceived notions at home, recalling that the very act of depolarization has, in some ways, led to greater polarization, whether it be music, art, politics, ethnicity, body types or even clothing. Quashie believes that nobody really wants to discuss slavery or confront the real issues; no one really is comfortable with the topic. His intent is to encourage discussion and acknowledgement of the impact of plantation life. The issues go way beyond slavery.<br /><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i><b>Quashie's often acerbic humor gains strengt<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">h </span>thorough his concept of suggesting what plantation life would have been like IF it had the advantages of today's media marketing (or what it would be like in today's society).</b></i></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br />Be prepared to read as well as visually respond, for his use of sarcasm, satire and irony are reinforced through both avenue.<br /><br />The three paintings at the Ackerman entrance proclaim Quashie's skill. They represent the present and his neighbors and lead the focus into the relationship of the past to the present and people's connection to the past. His delicate portraits are fused with the background - present with the past - and avoid forcing the eye to see past layers of paint or complex technique to respond to the three. The large drawing at the end of the aisle invites the viewer into the plantation while the two "Resumes," taken from archival advertisements for runaway slaves, suggest his clever irony.<br /><br />In today's society, there seems to be a magazine for everything from makeup to motorcycles, travel to trash. Quashie's IF concept is projected in "Plantation Digest," a publication every plantation owner would have enjoyed. The topics are filled with sarcasm, yet an honest assessment of issues which often faced plantation owners. The ads visually increase his concern of the seriousness of his topics: "Look Solid with Stripes" features a slave whose back has been severely whipped, and, as on several pages, is sponsored by "J. Crow" (yes, the pun is intended). "Tradition White Is Timeless" with the starched white tux shirt and black noose tie is a fitting foil for editor William Lynch's comment on the master's nighttime strolls. Of course, the FLED EX and Harriet Tubman Twitter (and the website DunceKKKap) ads further satirize the benefit of modern communication to plantation life. Even the pull-out perfume strip for Mandingo - a helpful way to scent out African deserters - and the address label project the aura of "seriousness."<br /><br />Equally as provocative and evocative are his "Plantation Properties" - remember "The future is right behind you " - and his "Plantation Palette." There is no avoiding the issue in his "Savory," sponsored by the Bar-B Crew. Just like paint swatches from Lowe's, there are even degrees of hues and tints. His carefully reworked Monopoly game and coloring book add to the message. Quashie's pieces emphasize his desire for a "reality check." In his "Rainbro Row," he alludes to the false history perpetuated by connecting Rainbow Row in Charleston to the "glorious past," since it really wasn't even in existence until the buildings were painted the pastel colors, according to Quashie, in 1917 in an effort to clean up the neighborhood.<br /><br />When he was stopped by a drawbridge several years ago, Quashie looked toward the McLeod plantation and saw a row of whitewashed houses. What if they were colored in pastels? Then would more people be drawn to the real history of the area? Another important painting is his Louis Vuitton/slave picture on the back side of the "Resumes." Both figures are moving rapidly, one with a noose around his neck and the other "toting" a brief case. However, both seem to be making no progress: they move, but always in the same direction and the same awkward movement.<br /><br />Quashie often gives color to the present and relegates the past to black and white. In the delicate portrait in the hall, the gentleman in the rumpled blue suit is dignified by his white hair and erect posture. He is wearing his best. The woman in the background in black and white represents the past. The artist admits that the desk, blackboard and notepad are important to his goal. He is hoping that people will take time to acknowledge the topic, to confront the reality, and to work toward the truth of the times.<br /><br />Pecou's paintings are lively, colorful and strong. Since he uses himself as the focal vehicle, at first glance the exhibit seems less controversial. However, he implies much about perception and preconceived notions, particularly about the black male, in today's society. Using himself as an allegory for people's preconceived notions of the black male mystique, Pecou creates a visual discussion, his own slender shape an interesting contrast to the strong, muscular stereotype. <br /><br />"Shades" dominate many of the pictures. There is the blatant "in your face" smoky haze in "Irony," part of Pecou's "All that Glitters Ain't Goals" series. The humorous posture in his "Stupoman," complete with cape, the covers for "Efface the Nation Art Books for Blak Presidential," with the glasses, cigar and mustache and the figure seeming to search for his identity in "Baby Boi" colorfully reveal his "parody on our obsession with celebrity, our exploitation of black masculinity and the divide that racial ignorance and stereotypes perpetuate." The "HVY Weight Chump" and "Role Model Citizen WWSDay" further encourage the viewer to rethink the concept of typical black males and what motivates both the culture and perception.<br /><br />"Shiny Things" and "Lush" focus on the male form loaded with "typical" black male accessories - glasses, smokes, tons of jewelry. Yet "Lush" seems to push the negativity - he is sporting more chains with skulls and other "hood" and "gang" symbols; in the background is the muted shape of a liquor bottle forming the statement "RIP," a specific indictment of where this type behavior often leads black males. <br /><br />Pecou also uses black and white contrast to suggest time and relationship. "When We Were Kings" and "You Don't Know the Half of It" cleverly use the technique as discourse for position, power and potential problems. His video "i/EGRESS/ion" includes a somewhat tongue-in-cheek visual of his trying to put on the mantle of masculinity and rise to the stereotypical occasion. <br /><br />The two exhibits work well together. Although their artistic styles seem different, Quashie and Pecou communicate important concerns of culture and perception, especially about the black's role in history and society and differing cultural viewpoints. The exhibits encourage contemplation and soul searching through creative and well articulated art. <br /><br />The Sumter County Gallery of Art, 200 Hasell St., Sumter, presents exhibitions by Colin Quashie and Fahamu Pecou from Nov. 9 to Jan. 11, 2013. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call (803) 775-0543 for more information.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: #444444;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-38790105953300083332012-11-14T18:56:00.000-05:002012-11-14T18:56:04.118-05:00The Item - Sumter Article<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">2 exhibitions at Sumter gallery examine black experience</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Wednesday, November 7, 2012<br />From Staff reporters<br /><br />It may be difficult to spot Colin Quashie's second-story studio if you aren't explicitly looking for it. An indistinct C and Q pasted to a glass door are the only clues that something else goes on in this standalone brick-and-concrete building on Upper King Street besides the haircuts that take place in the first-floor barber shop. It doesn't help that the logo gives a better impression of a cloud than a formal set of initials, the puffy and bulbous letters joined together in a cartoonish fashion. So instead, a better sign of what happens on the second story may be in the downstairs shop, where one of Quashie's works hangs on a wall near the wide windows. <br /><br />Both artists in the new exhibitions at the Sumter County Gallery of Art examine cultural issues related to the black experience in America through images of the past and the present. Charleston resident Colin Quashie's "The Plantation (Plan-ta-shun)" and Atlanta-based Fahamu Pecou's "Native Son: Fahamu Pecou, 2009 to Now" open Friday with a 5:30 to 7 p.m. reception.<br /><br />Quashie's mixed-media show examines the way "the South glorifies the past," while avoiding the subject of slavery.<br /><br />"The Plantation is not about slavery," he explained. "No one, black or white, wants to talk about slavery. Instead, the show deals with different aspects of plantation life, the pros and the cons. Ultimately, it is about the past and the present. <br /><br />"As far as they (some Charlestonians) are concerned, the past isn't the past. It's still the present. So that's what we market, that's what we sell, but we do it in a lot of different ways, and plantations are a mirror of that. Plantations are in the present, but they reflect the past, and depending on your sensibilities and the way you look at the plantation system tells a lot about what your sensibilities are."<br /><br />The exhibition does have a "softer side," Quashie said, "both in meaning and in presentation. ... I realized I was kind of getting out there a little bit as far as the cynicism was concerned, and so I wanted to pull it back in, because the bottom line is I also wanted to talk about who were the real people who lived on these plantations ... ."<br /><br />Quashie was born in London, England, in 1963 and raised in the West Indies. When he was 6, his parents immigrated to the United States and settled in Daytona Beach, Fla. He briefly attended the University of Florida on a full academic scholarship and then joined the Navy as a submarine Sonarman. He has also worked as a comedy sketch writer on "Mad TV" and six other comedy series. He was an associate producer on an independent feature film and in 2001 received an Emmy award for documentary writing. He lives in Charleston, where he paints while developing work for television and freelancing as a graphic artist.<br /><br />Pecou is an American painter, performer and video artist based in Atlanta. His work utilizes self-portraiture to challenge and dissect society's representation of black masculinity in popular culture today, said gallery director Karen Watson. "An early and ongoing ruse includes a series of paintings featuring the covers of art magazines bearing his likeness - and how these images come to define black men across generational, geographical and economic boundaries."<br /><br />Pecou said his work "can be viewed as meditations on contemporary popular culture. I began my career experimenting with practices employed in contemporary branding strategies, particularly as they pertained to hip-hop music. These experiments ultimately led me to question not only the stereotypes that drive consumerism, fame, celebrity-worship etc., but how an unspoken racial and cultural divide often influenced these factors.<br /><br />"I appear in my work not in an autobiographical sense, but as an allegory. My character becomes a stand-in to represent black masculinity and both the realities and fantasies projected from and onto black male bodies. I seek to challenge the expectations around black men and, to a larger extent, society in general. Adopting the traits typically associated with black men in hip hop, I appropriate their more popular associations and distort or exaggerate them by placing them within a fine art context. The end result is a parody on our obsession with celebrity, our exploitation of black masculinity and the divide that racial ignorance and stereotypes perpetuate. These ideas are expressed in paintings, videos and live performances. Each medium allows me to articulate various nuances around my themes and further distort the assumptions we tend to make about one another."<br /><br />Pecou grew up in Hartsville and has been featured in several solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad. His work has been reviewed and featured in numerous publications.<br /><br />Both artists have been awarded prestigious residencies and have exhibited widely. In fall 2012, Pecou exhibited a series of new work: "All Dat Glitters Ain't Goals" at the Lyon-Weir Gallery in New York City. The show in Sumter, his first in South Carolina, includes several pieces from the NY show.<br /><br />Watson observed that it has been a few years since SCGA has had two challenging exhibitions such as these. She expressed confidence in the sophistication of the audience in Sumter as well as beyond, "to be able to view and discuss provocative art and perhaps come away with a better understanding and appreciation of how historical, social and psychological forces shape our individual lives in different ways."<br /><br />Pecou will give an artist talk following Friday's reception, to which the public is invited. Gallery members are admitted free, non-members for $5.<br /><br />With public funding still greatly reduced because of the economy, Watson noted, the gallery "would not be able to present important exhibitions like these without the support of businesses and individuals who support SCGA's efforts to offer a wider art world to the citizens of Sumter. Special thanks to SAFE Federal Credit Union, DeAnne and Elielson Messais, Palmer Memorial Chapel, Rep. and Mrs. J. David Weeks and Carolina Diabetes & Kidney Center for making this show possible."<br /><br />With public funding still greatly reduced because of the economy, Watson noted, the gallery "would not be able to present important exhibitions like these without the support of businesses and individuals who support SCGA's efforts to offer a wider art world to the citizens of Sumter. Special thanks to SAFE Federal Credit Union, DeAnne and Elielson Messais, Palmer Memorial Chapel, Rep. and Mrs. J. David Weeks and Carolina Diabetes & Kidney Center for making this show possible."<br /><br />The Sumter County Gallery of Art, 200 Hasell St., Sumter, presents exhibitions by Colin Quashie and Fahamu Pecou from Nov. 9 to Jan. 11, 2013. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call (803) 775-0543 for more information.</span></span></span></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-43173347943851926622012-11-11T22:28:00.001-05:002012-11-11T22:28:42.443-05:00Why artists do what they do...<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I recently received an email that I want to share with you:<br /></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Good evening,</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am Annie Purvis, former student of Herb Parker's (interactive sculpture installation artist) and Arts Educator & Fine Arts Director at Lincoln-Middle High School in McClellanville, SC. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I always look for interesting (thought provoking imagery) exhibits to take my rural art students to and we found your Plantation exhibit provided just that! It was amazing! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have one picture of my student in front of your work. I thought you might like to have it. She was hypnotized by it. I use it as our face book cover photo. I love your work!! Feel free to use it or any others from our art page. Students parents have signed publishing agreement for school arts program promotions-we are trying to save our little school. Enjoy! and Thank you for your amazing work, it is so refreshing to see this in Charleston. </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;">I don't make much money with my art and don't really give a shit about that. What I do care about is this image - having the ability to pass along a little something through my art to others the way it was passed along to me. I never take for granted that sacred honor and hope that I have humbly done my little part to inspire at least one who in turn will carry on and make my talent pale in comparison to what they accomplish in the future. </span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-56384592672709485072012-10-30T11:33:00.001-04:002012-10-30T11:37:20.917-04:00Funny and true!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The 20 Most Powerless People in the Art World: 2012 Edition</b></span></span><br />
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by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://hyperallergic.com/author/the-editors/">The Editors</a></span> on <abbr class="published" title="2012-10-25">October 25, 2012<br /><br />
</abbr></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><abbr class="published" title="2012-10-25"></abbr></span></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It’s that time of year again. <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/58827/10-surprising-facts-from-art-reviews-2012-power-100/" target="_blank">Art Review</a> just had their fun bringing the art world their directory of the rich and powerful, and now it’s our turn to flip the script and point out that not everyone is rich, famous, or powerful in our beloved community. Here is our infamous Hyperallergic <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/tag/powerless-20/" target="_blank">Powerless 20</a>!<br />
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The art world can suck, but for these people it sucks just a little bit more.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 — <b>Gallery Girls</b>, the Bravo TV reality<a href="http://hyperallergic.com/53710/gallery-girls-cutting-throats-getting-paid/" target="_blank"> show of the same name set you and feminism back at least 30 years</a>.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2 — <b>Trained Curators</b>, everyone’s a curator (which means no one actually is, but never mind), so maybe you should all be asking for a refund from Bard College or wherever you learned to do what everyone is doing on Tumblr “naturally.” Honestly, couldn’t LA’s MOCA just hire some all-star Pinterester to replace Paul Schimmel or something?<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3 — <b>Progressives in the Art World</b>, Manhattan gallerists Larry Gagosian, William Acquavella, Susan Aberbach, and Nathan Bernstein are all Republican donors, and we’re sure there are tons of super-collectors who also give to the GOP, not to mention some artists (you know who you are). So, where is that mythic liberal, progressive art world? Not in the top 1%, that’s for sure. And how about the politically engaged progressives, like the <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/57276/india-arrests-political-cartoonist/" target="_blank">Indian cartoonist</a>, the Syrian filmmaker or the progressive cause célèbre, <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/56910/syria-frees-detained-filmmaker-russian-prime-minister-calls-for-pussy-riots-release/" target="_blank">Pussy Riot</a>? Not much hope.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">4 — <b>New media artists</b> who try to sell their work to anyone not backed by Intel. And you internet artists whose work only exists on Twitter and Tumblr? LOL.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">5 — <b>Manifesto writers</b>, you guys want to change the world, but no one cares. Why not try it <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/47942/holy-holy-copy-copy-culture-culture-a-manifesto/" target="_blank">in GIF form</a> instead?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">6 — <b>Cecilia Gimenez</b>, she created the <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/tag/beast-jesus/" target="_blank">Beast Jesus viral sensation</a> after fucking up a conservation (we think that’s what she was doing) job, and then cried foul when the church, which had started to charge admission in an effort to reap the benefits of the Beast Jesus tourist boom, wouldn’t share the wealth. She goes against the grain, doesn’t care what other people think, creates an icon, becomes famous as a result, and doesn’t get paid… Hell, she’s starting to sound like a <i>real</i> artist.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">7 — <b>Occupy Wall Street</b>, one year later <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/us/us-incomes-dropped-last-year-census-bureau-says.html?smid=pl-share" target="_blank">income inequality is up in NYC</a>.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">8 — <b id="internal-source-marker_0.5657287773210555">Appropriationists</b>, losing ground in court, and being attacked by purists. The courts are creating the perception that you’re stealing, and it’s a little frightening that lots of people in the art community agree with the courts.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">9 — <b>Clarity</b>, which has taken a real beating from <a href="http://canopycanopycanopy.com/16/international_art_english">International Art English</a>.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">10 — <b>Young art critics</b> who are instructed that a critical reviews can ruin them for life. They learn that flattery is the best policy, which completely crushes whatever idealism they might have been secretly harboring.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">11 — <b>The “democratized” art market</b> is something everyone wants to do: art for less, more multiples, make art free… Anyway, the problem is that this new wave of democratization, or whatever you want to call it, means we’re all drowning in cheap kitsch.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">12 — <b>Big Bird</b>, he’s not strictly an artist, but he is a performance artist in our hearts, and Republican Presidential candidate <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/57968/why-is-romney-picking-on-big-bird/" target="_blank">Mitt Romney wants to fire him</a> … umm, even though our big feathered yellow friend doesn’t get federal funding (oops, Mittens!). We’ll soon find out if a Big Bird in the crosshairs of the GOP is worth millions of votes in the ballot box.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">13 — The poor suckers who post regularly on <b>Jerry Saltz’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jerry.saltz" target="_blank">Facebook’s page</a></b>. We understand the appeal of the social media cult, but we don’t understand what people get out of it. Jerry’s not going to review your show, even though I’m sure he’d love to do you the favor.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">14 — <b>Thomas Kinkade</b>, the “painter of light” died tragically in April of ”acute intoxication” from alcohol and Valium. Then people started to question the claim that he was “America’s most-collected living artist,” with some outrageous estimates suggesting 1 in every 20 American homes owned a copy of one of his paintings. Then <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/52996/will-thomas-kinkade-museum-be-founded-on-a-scratchy-note/" target="_blank">his ex-wife and girlfriend began to fight over his legacy (i.e. money</a>). As in life, Kinkade’s idealized universe is a mess.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">15 — <b>Odd Nerdrum</b>, the outspoken Norwegian artist, considers himself a political prisoner (few others do), but when he appealed his sentence over tax charges and then received a LONGER sentence as a result, we felt a little bad for him. But the <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/53592/odd-nerdrum-prison/" target="_blank">real injustice</a> is that the painter will be banned from creating art when he’s locked away because it would be considered a commercial activity.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">16 — <b>Charles Saatchi</b>, oh, how the mighty have fallen. Once the reputed kingmaker of the Young British Art scene, <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/55928/why-doesnt-the-uk-want-charles-saatchis-art-collection/" target="_blank">Saatchi is having trouble giving away his vast art collection</a>. When he entered into talks with the UK’s Arts Council, they asked if they could pick only what they wanted. Saatchi thought that was rude. Dude, maybe they’re just not that into you.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">17 — <b>Re-performers</b>, performance art guru Marina Abramović <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/41731/performance-art-pay-rights/" target="_blank">often treats you badly</a>, no one really seems to respect you (i.e. pay you much), but you’re still going at it. Good luck.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">18 — <b>Art Unions</b>, they’re crumbling. Sotheby’s did rather well in their hardball negotiations with their art handlers union, the San Francisco museum unions has their troubles as well, and only the most diehard optimist will say that unions in the art world are ascendant when in reality they are anything but.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">19 — <b>Christo</b>, once the king of “I can do anything I want to nature.” He has been rather humbled with his <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/57082/judge-pauses-christo-colorado-project/">latest Colorado project</a> on federal lands. Maybe the world has changed (we know we have) and the idea of overtaking pristine natural vistas for the purpose of art and drawing hundreds of thousands of temporary tourists isn’t as appetizing as it used to be. Then again, maybe projects like Christo’s are the art/nature version of gentrification and we’ve finally admitted that to ourselves.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">20 — <b>Getty Art Educators</b>, once renowned for their art education department, the <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/51656/education-cuts-at-the-getty-museum/" target="_blank">future of art educators</a> at the billionaire Getty is more uncertain than ever before as the institution has chopped $4.3 million from their education budget in favor of more art acquisitions. What’s the point of more objects if there is no one there to educate a young generation about them?</span></span></span><br />
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COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-17079102705249855612012-10-29T13:19:00.001-04:002012-10-30T11:38:35.356-04:00I Quit......hmmmmm....<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Doyen of American critics turns his<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span>back</span></b></span><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;"><u><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></u>on the 'nasty, stupid' world of modern art</span>
</span></b><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name"><a class="contributor" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/edwardhelmore" itemprop="url" rel="author"><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Edward Helmore</span></span></b></a></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> and <b><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name"><a class="contributor" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/paul-gallagher" itemprop="url" rel="author">Paul Gallagher</a></span></span></span></b><a href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/" itemprop="publisher"><br /><b>The Observer</b></a>,
</span></span><time datetime="2012-10-27" itemprop="datePublished" pubdate=""><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Saturday 27 October 2012 <br /></span></span></time><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dave Hickey condemns world he says has become calcified by too much money, celebrity and self-reverence</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6Zppd6kD7x9xxw5yVJbtgIJ445GdqgC0LkKc6k6filmFHZNXeLhUIri9P_Tx-VbfIw5-qBi-rrYM_QGdLUg57vuF9xiI7DBMzzHrkEdwQoOOonVKZDlFGo9_qgpDQOw6YXFS9Wa8x697/s1600/Dave-Hickey-008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6Zppd6kD7x9xxw5yVJbtgIJ445GdqgC0LkKc6k6filmFHZNXeLhUIri9P_Tx-VbfIw5-qBi-rrYM_QGdLUg57vuF9xiI7DBMzzHrkEdwQoOOonVKZDlFGo9_qgpDQOw6YXFS9Wa8x697/s640/Dave-Hickey-008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dave Hickey says he is quitting the art world. Photograph: Nasher Museum Of Art</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of America's foremost art critics has launched a fierce attack on
the contemporary art world, saying anyone who has "read a Batman comic"
would qualify for a career in the industry.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dave Hickey, a curator, professor and author known for a passionate defence of beauty in his collection of essays <i>The Invisible Dragon</i>
and his wide-ranging cultural criticism, is walking away from a world
he says is calcified, self-reverential and a hostage to rich collectors
who have no respect for what they are doing.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"They're in the hedge fund business, so they drop their windfall profits into art. It's just not serious," he told the <i>Observer</i>.
"Art editors and critics – people like me – have become a courtier
class. All we do is wander around the palace and advise very rich
people. It's not worth my time."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hickey says the art world has
acquired the mentality of a tourist. "If I go to London, everyone wants
to talk about Damien Hirst. I'm just not interested in him. Never have
been. But I'm interested in Gary Hume and written about him quite a few
times."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If it's a matter of buying long and selling short, then
the artists he would sell now include Jenny Holzer, Richard Prince and
Maurizio Cattelan. "It's time to start shorting some of this shit,"
he added.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hickey's outburst comes as a number of contemporary art
curators at world famous museums and galleries have complained that
works by artists such as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/emin" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Tracey Emin">Tracey Emin</a>, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gormley" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Antony Gormley">Antony Gormley</a> and Marc Quinn are the result of "too much fame, too much success and too little critical sifting" and are "greatly overrated".</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Speaking
on condition of anonymity to Will Gompertz, the BBC's arts editor, one
curator described Emin's work as "empty", adding that because of the
huge sums of money involved "one always has to defend it".</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gompertz, who recently wrote <a href="http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780670920495,00.html" title=""><i>What Are You Looking At? 150 Years of Modern Art</i></a>, sympathised with Hickey's frustration.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Money
and celebrity has cast a shadow over the art world which is prohibiting
ideas and debate from coming to the fore," he said yesterday, adding
that the current system of collectors, galleries, museums and art
dealers colluding to maintain the value and status of artists quashed
open debate on art.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"I hope this is the start of something that
breaks the system. At the moment it feels like the Paris salon of the
19th century, where bureaucrats and conservatives combined to stifle the
field of work. It was the Impressionists who forced a new system, led
by the artists themselves. It created modern art and a whole new way of
looking at things.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Lord knows we need that now more than
anything. We need artists to work outside the establishment and start
looking at the world in a different way – to start challenging
preconceptions instead of reinforcing them."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gompertz said Hickey
was not a man who ever regretted a decision but that he did not agree
with the American that the whole contemporary art world was moribund.
"There are important artists like Ai Weiwei and Peter Doig, who produces
beautiful and haunting paintings in similar ways to Edward Hopper," he
said.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As a former dealer, Hickey is not above considering art in
terms of relative valuation. But his objections stem from his belief
that the art world has become too large, too unfriendly and lacks
discretion. "Is that elitist? Yes. Winners win, losers lose. Shoot the
wounded, save yourself. Those are the rules," Hickey said.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">His
comments come ahead of the autumn art auctions. With Europe in recession
and a slowdown in the Chinese and Latin American economies, vendors are
hoping American collectors, buoyed by a 2% growth in the US economy,
andnew collectors, such as those coming to the market from oil-rich
Azerbaijan, will boost sales.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At 71, Hickey has long been regarded
as the enfant terrible of art criticism, respected for his intellectual
range as well as his lucidity and style. He once said: "The art world
is divided into those people who look at Raphael as if it's graffiti,
and those who look at graffiti as if it's Raphael, and I prefer the
latter."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hickey, who also rates British artist Bridget Riley, says
he did not realise when he came to the art world in the 1960s that
making art was a "bourgeois" activity.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"I used to sell hippy art
to collectors and these artists now live like the collectors I used to
sell to. They have a house, a place in the country and a BMW."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hickey
says he came into art because of sex, drugs and artists like Robert
Smithson, Richard Serra and Roy Lichtenstein who were "ferocious" about
their work. "I don't think you get that anymore. When I asked students
at Yale what they planned to do, they all say move to Brooklyn – not
make the greatest art ever."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He also believes art consultants have
reduced the need for collectors to form opinions. "It used to be that
if you stood in front of a painting you didn't understand, you'd have
some obligation to guess. Now you don't," he says. "If you stood in
front of a Bridget Riley you have to look at it and it would start to do
interesting things. Now you wouldn't look at it. You ask a consultant."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hickey
says his change of heart came when he was asked to sign a 10-page
contract before he could sit on a panel discussion at the Guggenheim
Museum in New York.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Laura Cumming, the <i>Observer's</i> art
critic, said it would be a real loss if Hickey stopped writing
commentary. "The palace Hickey's describing, with its lackeys and
viziers, its dealers and advisers, is more of an American phenomenon.
It's true that we too have wilfully bad art made for hedge fund
managers, but the British art scene is not yet so thick with subservient
museum directors and preening philanthropists that nothing is freely
done and we can't see the best contemporary art in our public museums
because it doesn't suit the dealers.And that will be true, I hope, until
we run out of integrity and public money."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hickey's retirement
may only be partial. He plans to complete a book, Pagan America — "a
long commentary of the pagan roots of America and snarky diatribe on
Christianity" — and a second book of essays titled "Pirates and
Framers."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is the job of a cultural commentator to make waves
but Hickey is adamant he wants out of the business. "What can I tell
you? It's nasty and it's stupid. I'm an intellectual and I don't care if
I'm not invited to the party. I quit."</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-21710416076463354372012-10-17T22:30:00.000-04:002012-10-17T22:30:08.195-04:00Louis Vuitton celebrates Muhammad Ali<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My son-in-law turned me onto these series of commercials. They are a stunning tribute to what may have been the most hated and now loved man of the 20th century. I feel sorry for youth of today who have no real reference for who he was in his prime. These are just a couple - go to YouTube to see more:</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MjTLhW0c5cM?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UDjBxqf4Yo0?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BB8Obqf7-jc?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-10602960721495964782012-10-13T14:09:00.000-04:002012-10-13T14:09:04.852-04:00Book Review<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was recently asked by Adam Parker to read and review a book for the Post & Courier. This is the first time I have ever reviewed a book for a publication. It was a fascinating read and a book that I highly recommend. I guess I'll have to come up with my own rating system now!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">Book reviewed by Colin Quashie:<br /><br />The oft maligned, misunderstood and/or misinterpreted history of minstrelsy is explored in <i>Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop</i> by Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen. This superbly researched text is presented in scholarly detail and offers surprising anecdotes and insights into the birthright of the dark art, the rise and fall of blackface and the subsequent fallout of both art forms with contemporary audiences. It presents a thesis of the practical means, and speculates on the debatable motives of practitioners of what many consider to be ‘the only completely original contribution America has made to the theater.’<br /><br />The book covers a huge swath of territory. It theorizes how early survival-based acts of coonish buffoonery by plantation slaves to ‘feign stupidity and sloth to trick and lower overseers expectations’, provided the comic framework on which highly structured and staged performances would be fashioned. Barnstorming troupes of innovative actors and transcendent personalities ignited a popular explosion of minstrelsy that reached its zenith (some shows were on the enormous scale of modern day traveling fairs), shortly after the reconstruction era. The contentious transfer of blackface from nineteenth century stagecraft to twentieth century tool of ridicule and racial divisiveness eventually lead to the demise of minstrelsy and sped its absorption into vaudeville.<br /><br />The combination of a renaissance of black cultural expression and the development of radio and television converged to not only challenge and redefine the historic relevancy of black minstrel sensibilities, but fuel public clashes amongst detractors and aficionados. Black literati, the likes of W.E.B. DuBois, Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, publicly weighed in on both sides of the cultural divide and forecast future conflict (Bill Cosby vs. Stepin Fetchit, Stanley Crouch vs. Tupac and more recently, Spike Lee vs. Tyler Perry). The controversial broadcast of Amos ‘n’ Andy, which capitalized on the best while projecting the worst, would ultimately become the epicenter of discussion for generations to come. However, it would be the rise of the black power and civil rights movements along with the cinematic projection of dignified ‘super negroes’ that would forever denounce and stigmatize the minstrel legacy.<br /><br />The book comes full circle with the alleged adaptation and reintegration of minstrel motifs by black musical acts and contemporary comics. The curious case of Dave Chappelle’s ‘awakening’ is eye opening and emblematic of the emotional toll exacted by past and current handlers of race based material. Sitcoms, from <i>Good Times</i> to <i>Sanford and Son</i> and Tyler Perry’s <i>Meet the Browns</i>, which were and are heavily dependent upon actual characters and characterizations rebooted from the minstrel era, are exposed and questioned, while hip-hop’s and rap’s minstrel tag is rebuffed. An entire chapter is dedicated to the effectiveness of <i>Bamboozled</i>, Spike Lee’s magnum opus, which satirized the minstrel movement on every level from producer to performer to viewer.<br /><br /><i>Darkest America</i> provides a comprehensive narrative into the factual aspects of minstrelsy’s improvisational genius and beguiling legacy while offering commentary on the myriad complexities of racial antics. It will not end the debate, but rather provide both critic and advocate a well-researched platform to support their argument.</span></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-8920681512266766942012-10-12T11:25:00.001-04:002012-10-12T22:19:21.780-04:00Undefined Magazine<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's amazing that I have to find out about press about me from other people. You would think that I would get a heads up from the editor(s) that they are publishing an article on my art. Either way - thanks! Mary Bentz Gilkerson is a wonderful artist and terrific critic and arts writer. Thanks for the article Mary!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you're expecting a subtle, tasteful discussion of social justice
issues in contemporary American culture, then Colin Quashie is not the
artist for you. But if you are moved by engaged visual criticism and
see its potential to have an immediate impact on viewers then you'll
love Quashie's unflinching examination of the lingering effects of
racism in contemporary American culture.<br />
<br />
The artist uses humor and satire, mixing wit and irony, to convey a
message that needs to be seen. The recent events in Florida make it
painfully obvious that the conversation about race needs to continue.<br />
<br />
Quashie doesn't exhibit his work that often, but over the last eighteen
months there have been several opportunities for viewers to
participate in that dialog, two in Columbia and one in Charleston.
Subjective Perceptions, the first solo exhibition of Quashie's work in
Columbia was on view at Benedict's Ponder Fine Arts Gallery in the fall
of 2010, and the artist was selected for 701 Center for Contemporary
Art's first Biennial this past fall.<br />
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Just this past April he had a major solo show, "Plantation
(plan-ta-shun)" at Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston. The
title of the exhibition gives a clue that while Quashie lives in
Charleston, he does not in any way fit the stereotype of the "Charleston
artist". In fact, turning that stereotype on its head is one of his
most effective strategies.<br />
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Born in London in 1963 and raised in the West Indies, Quashie immigrated
to the US with his parents at age six and grew up in Florida. He
attended college for a couple of years, but left to join the Navy
working on submarines. After his discharge in 1987 he began actively
pursuing his art career.<br />
<br />
Quashie's demanding content challenges cultural gatekeepers, sometimes
leading to censorship. The first instance back in 1995 devastated the
artist, and he stopped making art for two years. In a move that
ultimately served to sharpen his commentary, he moved to the West Coast
and started writing comedy for Mad-TV. His hiatus from art making was
short-lived, and although he continues writing for the film and
television industry, Quashie has been an active part of the state
cultural scene ever since.<br />
<br />
The artist pulls imagery from wide variety of sources that range from
contemporary pop culture to 19th century historical photographs. He
packages these images in familiar formats, ones that use both the
visual and verbal language of the media to address issues of race,
gender and social equality, or rather, inequality. Real estate
advertisements, product and package designs, billboards and coloring
books become the framework for his witty and satirical dissection of our
lingering cultural stereotypes.<br />
<br />
His seductive use of the familiar makes his work very accessible. The
viewer is lured in by images associated with comfort, ease and even
style that are then revealed to be cultural inconsistencies that create a
sense of unease and discomfort.<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="style1"><span class="style1">Quashie's ability to
manipulate the allure of the familiar is exactly what makes his work so
challenging to both the average viewer and art insiders as well.<br />
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Quashie has used the metaphor of a children's coloring book many times
and the most recent version, Plantation Coloring and Activity Book, uses
the commonplace motif to present images that appear neutral and naïve
until a closer examination reveals images of brutality and horror. The
jarring quality of the combination only adds to the power of the images.<br />
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The cover shows a smiling Aunt Jemima, her face wreathed in a
pattern of cotton bolls. But inside are "activities" like "Connect the
Dots" where the tag line reads, "Help Master whip the uppity slave and
show him who's boss!" The dots connect to form scar lines on the back of
the simplified outline of an African-American man. The image is derived
from a mid-19th century photograph - which appears in "Plantation
Digest" – now in the collection of the Library of Congress.</span></span></span></span></span></h1>
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"Plantation Digest" is a series of large acrylic and gel
transfers on board, fairly dripping with bitingly dark satire. Using the
format and slick presentation of the magazine and advertising world,
Quashie reconfigures a series of images pulled from contemporary media
with 19th century period images and text to point out the continuing
systems of gateways and gatekeepers, just as powerful now as 200 years
ago.<br />
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The plantation gates on the "Cover" served to mark a boundary,
the outer limit beyond which the most of the inhabitants were not
allowed to pass. Similar gates are still used, marking boundaries that
are just as clearly defined by race as before. With the headlines,
Quashie makes a clear connection between the overt racism of the 19th
century and the covert racism that remains in the 21st. The goal of
plantation management was to maintain a quiet, compliant workforce. His
choice of contemporary images and text points to the degree to which
that is still true<br />
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Colin Quashie speaks openly about the two ton elephant in the
living room of American culture, pulling it from the corner and placing
it squarely in front of the TV where we all have to look at it and
acknowledge its presence. What happens from there is up to the rest of
us.</span></span></span></span></span><br /> </h1>
COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-78721469493672541702012-09-12T23:04:00.000-04:002012-09-12T23:06:25.930-04:00Unexpected press<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">So much for flying beneath the radar. I hadn't planned on any press for my latest mural project...yet, but Erica Jackson, the eagle eyed arts writer for the Charleston City Paper, somehow stumbled across my blog post and webpage outlining my goals and decided to post the info on the paper's 'Culture Clash' section.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">I initially started the webpage as a way to communicate more effectively with the few people I have decided to involve at this point. I'm still in the process of trying to secure permission to have MUSC host the mural. To that end, I emailed my MUSC boss, Dave Neff, in an appeal to point me in the correct direction. I sent him a link to the site so that he could get a better scope of my intentions. He responded favorably and passed my request along until I received an email from Roberta Sokolitz, MUSC's Curator and Art Collections Manager (silly me - I had no idea they even had one). We had a wonderful conversation this morning and I sent her some amplifying information so that she could take and process the request.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">I was shocked when I received a Google Alert informing me that my name was posted on a site and saw this in the online art blog of the City Paper:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DUtTzMIwIXCIfM1ipkPEDPwSTEAnRwgXsyqwlqZq31LjhDFh6ji8lo_huU59tKeF0gpc9NRfT4cJFtWNQMoVfd5Mw34kqqycXjJnDCb5Eb0Q1W8SZ4MmO7mZ02KTQnf7p2GLV2H9gfhT/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-09-12+at+10.34.28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DUtTzMIwIXCIfM1ipkPEDPwSTEAnRwgXsyqwlqZq31LjhDFh6ji8lo_huU59tKeF0gpc9NRfT4cJFtWNQMoVfd5Mw34kqqycXjJnDCb5Eb0Q1W8SZ4MmO7mZ02KTQnf7p2GLV2H9gfhT/s640/Screen+shot+2012-09-12+at+10.34.28+PM.png" width="578" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">Gotta give it to them over there at the City Paper - they don't miss much. It's a bit premature, but I appreciate the ink. The City Paper has always treated me kindly so I can't be mad at them. Thanks, Erica. I'll make sure I contact you first when this project really gets off the ground and hopefully starts gaining momentum. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">I hope to have the list of names finalized in about a month. If MUSC grants me permission to unveil the final painting at their site, I can them make plans to start laying out the painting and begin fundraising in earnest. You can read more about the project by clicking here on <span style="color: #660000;"><a href="http://www.quashie.com/Charleston_Mural/Memorial_Mural.html" target="_blank">'Charleston Memorial Mural'</a></span>. Stay tuned! </span></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-11067554496896318142012-09-08T14:39:00.000-04:002012-09-08T14:39:58.785-04:00New Journey Begins<span style="color: #660000;"></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm preparing to do something I've always wanted to do since working on the UNC mural - a mural for Charleston to celebrate the contributions of African Americans to this historic city. In It's time to get this done. I just launched a few new pages on my website that outline the project and lists the names of the individuals that will be featured in the mural (so far). The tentative location for the mural will be at the MUSC Women's Health Center - location of the first hospital for blacks in the city. They have a gorgeous lobby that is dying to have a painting placed on its walls. <span style="color: #660000;"><a href="http://www.quashie.com/Charleston_Mural/Memorial_Mural.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">You can read about the project by clicking here.</span></a></span> More to come soon.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQSrX-19fB2YPeLii8Zm0K-avbt53h7TXQ5xtrwYIc904FMa2wrvjszR109BO7WuKezXx3URm8dvxFqf4ZGARCRrATPbMBAZpbrQAG1UMb1DGBWu1av7uPBsXNThRvj9lqU06S0WypmYo/s1600/135CannonStreet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQSrX-19fB2YPeLii8Zm0K-avbt53h7TXQ5xtrwYIc904FMa2wrvjszR109BO7WuKezXx3URm8dvxFqf4ZGARCRrATPbMBAZpbrQAG1UMb1DGBWu1av7uPBsXNThRvj9lqU06S0WypmYo/s640/135CannonStreet.jpg" width="640" /> </a><span style="color: #660000;">MUSC Women's Health Center - 135 Cannon Street </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIiuWp9HW8PGB-te_FyaEOuSgi7I5ES9AQ_A4fpeJ-Utqr3PbKH6pN5SLV_aCZoddSRVKcD-0ZCF4QM9SOMwNn0Q60bhcFhDUwzH3cyOgwWsB8YMSQSsvzgNtzJ-iscKPErvXjEXdDCkBh/s1600/Historic_Marker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIiuWp9HW8PGB-te_FyaEOuSgi7I5ES9AQ_A4fpeJ-Utqr3PbKH6pN5SLV_aCZoddSRVKcD-0ZCF4QM9SOMwNn0Q60bhcFhDUwzH3cyOgwWsB8YMSQSsvzgNtzJ-iscKPErvXjEXdDCkBh/s640/Historic_Marker.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <span style="color: #660000;">MUSC Women's Health Center lobby with example of mural</span></span></div>
COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-59389543870970014162012-06-27T22:08:00.001-04:002012-06-27T22:08:56.665-04:00New logo's<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">2 more happy clients! The first logo is for a close friend who just started an event planning business on the side.It incorporates her initials and reflects a festive mood. I see a bouquet or a table piece setting, others see a burst from a champagne bottle. Either way, she's happy with it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">The next one is for my dear friend, Orlando Jones. He is increasing his presence on the web via social media and needed a mark that reflects that. I decided to use the ever popular text emoticons to push his comedic talents. What I like most of all about this is that it can be typed on any keyboard and used in actual text messages.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-8083268555412704342012-06-26T21:18:00.000-04:002012-06-26T21:18:19.976-04:00Fuck you, pay me.<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">Trailer for a great talk on getting paid for your creative endeavors. </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vZGra65Nob4" width="580"></iframe></span><br />
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<div style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">See the full video here: http://vimeo.com/22053820</span></div>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-73938962574221993762012-06-26T10:02:00.000-04:002012-06-26T21:27:07.793-04:00Tyrone Geter Logo Design<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">Due to my graphic arts background, I often get requests to update logos for people and organizations. It's a great way to make a little extra cash, but more importantly, I love doing it. It's like a mini challenge to listen to a client and tailor a visual that incorporates everything they want their creative and professional lives to project in a simple mark.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">I spoke with my old friend Tyrone Geter about his logo, which was little more than his initials in standard font. He wanted something that reflected a more global feel to his art. I began to get a feeling how living and creating art in Africa had influenced his creativity and shows up throughout his art. He also stressed simplicity - how he was trying to deconstruct his art. With all that in mind, this is what I came up. Tyrone Geter Art (TGA) with the "G" prominent and circular for the global reach bisected in relief with the "T" & "A" to create an African styled mask. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GFle3r0z3_YTtGck1uuTXZ1-Unqr6guf00JkdKAMndQEIDL_fIacWMqfhcc_QweJmpBJ4lM39Ud4iHb9b73wjrPe4KPTY4dkJql6zL45CIMmqIBPnleXTSNKLANjHP3kBIY464UDWBnw/s1600/Tyrone-Geter-Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GFle3r0z3_YTtGck1uuTXZ1-Unqr6guf00JkdKAMndQEIDL_fIacWMqfhcc_QweJmpBJ4lM39Ud4iHb9b73wjrPe4KPTY4dkJql6zL45CIMmqIBPnleXTSNKLANjHP3kBIY464UDWBnw/s640/Tyrone-Geter-Logo.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">You can see a few more logo design jobs I have created here: <a href="http://www.quashie.com/html_title_pages/design.html" target="_blank">Quashie Design</a></span></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-47212778573550999832012-06-05T20:41:00.000-04:002012-06-05T20:41:02.301-04:00Tyrone Geter Undefined<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Tyrone Geter recently had hip replacement surgery and was getting around
with a stick, good for, he noted, keeping away dogs and writers. He was
sitting in the den in an easy chair before the fireplace which, this
August morning, was not in use, since at 10 a.m. the temperature was
already above 90. His sister Liz had come from Ohio to give him a hand
since the July operation and he had one of her hearty breakfasts perched
on his lap, a glass of carrot juice on the table beside him. And his
stick.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
After eating and talking a bit, Geter gets ready for the trip upstairs to the two huge rooms that constitute his studio.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“You better not stand behind me in case I come back down,” he says.
“This is only the second time I’ve been up here since July 15.”</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
His daughter Hafizah recently cleaned out the downstairs and brightened
up the house with gold and blue and purple paint. She didn’t quite get
upstairs and things are piled up. As usual Geter has a batch of works in
progress, lots of finished older works in racks, various pieces of
machinery (printers, a gadget that spiral binds books), but to hang a
piece of art on the wall he has to pound in the tacks with a tape
measure because the hammer has disappeared.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
The dominant image in the room is a drawing of Barack Obama. Like much
of Geter’s art this drawing is a fairly traditional realistic drawing
that’s not very traditional at all. The drawing is in mostly white and
black on black paper. It’s not on one piece of paper, but a bunch of
torn sheets of paper. And the president is starting to disappear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“I thought I was done with it,” Geter says. When he thought it was finished Obama looked strong and confident.<br />
“Things had started to get complicated and there was like this fog rolling in.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Now the president looks a little lost, his head in a murky gloom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens,” says Geter, an art professor and gallery director at Benedict College in Columbia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Like most of his artworks this one has a mind of its own. Geter
considers each work a journey and he doesn’t have a map for the trip;
the art making shows him the way.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“I never start something knowing where it’s going,” Geter says. “I let it lead me.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
If the individual works are segments of a trip his overall output and
various approaches have also come about organically and often by lucky
turns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Recently he’s been concentrating on black on black drawings because
someone asked him how to work with charcoal on black paper – and there
are a lot of shades of black charcoal and black paper and he uses them
all – and he got hooked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
The torn paper works began when he was doing a drawing and tore it. He
liked the drawing so rather than tossing it he pieced it back together,
adding more torn paper. It was a long learning process.<br />
“I’d get one right and the next one wouldn’t be,” Geter says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
These torn paper pieces aren’t collages in strict sense; they’re more like relief sculptures made of paper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Another time, frustrated with a drawing of a head he was doing, he took a
walk that led him past a local nightclub where a cleaning crew was
tossing out trash – including hundreds of bottle caps. He grabbed a
couple pocketfuls, took them back to the studio and attached them to the
drawing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Starting to build up the images led him more toward sculpture. The big
jump came when he bought a little frame that had a little shelf jutting
out. He had a drawing of a baobab tree that fit into the frame
perfectly. In Africa the solitary, elephant-like tree has spiritual
significance. Although it can survive on little water in harsh climates,
it is easily toppled by storms. That got him thinking about water and
who controls water, which is always an issue in many parts of the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
He took another walk, this one around a lake near his home in Elgin and
found a rusty old water faucet handle. It fit perfectly on a hole in the
shelf.</span></div>
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“I dropped it in and it was finished,” Geter says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
The pieces grew larger, incorporating drawings in elaborate framing
devices, found objects, from rocks and sticks and bottles to small
pieces of furniture. They become true sculptures and at times
installation art pieces.<br />
“If you trace where I come from every next thing I do is completely logical,” Geter says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
(Some of these works are on display in a solo exhibition at the Sumter
Gallery of Art through Oct. 29. He also has a show scheduled for Gallery
80808 in Columbia for October.)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Along with making his art and teaching, Geter also had a parallel career
illustrating children’s books, among them “Sunday Week,” “White Socks
Only” and “The Little Tree Growing in the Shade.”</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“I never painted like an illustrator – I did the book the same way I
would have painted anything,” he says. “They let me do whatever I
wanted.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Nearly all the books he did were put out by major publishers and sold
well. But the books were taking him away from his art and he was only
asked to do works with an African-American subject matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“I was just drawing and painting the same little girl over and over again,” Geter says. “I wanted to branch out.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
During the past few years, Geter has also done several large murals. The
first was for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in
Cincinnati. Tom Feelings, a Columbia artist who taught at USC, started
the mural, but became too ill to finish it and asked Geter to complete
the work.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Geter was also commissioned by the Columbia Metropolitan Convention
Center to do a mural celebrating the dance craze “The Big Apple” that
was created at a Columbia nightclub in the 1930s. He recently did
another large piece, “Look Beneath the Surface” for the Underground
Railroad Freedom Center.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
A native of Alabama, Geter’s family moved to Ohio when he was 15. He
studied art at Ohio University and taught at the University of Akron. In
1979 he and his wife Hauwa moved to Nigeria, her home country.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“We’d been married for seven years before we got a chance,” he says. “We packed up the house and went.”<br />
They stayed for eight years which surprised Hauwa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“She didn’t think I could handle it,” says Geter, who taught at Ahmadu Bello University while they lived there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
They returned to the U.S. in 1987 because their children, daughers
Hafizah and Jamila, were getting to be school age and it became almost
impossible to get hard currency in Nigeria. The family moved to Columbia
in 1999.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
His first few years in Columbia went well. He took an active part in the
arts community and provided the Benedict College art gallery with a
much higher profile. Then came 2003. Feelings, who had befriended Geter
when he came to Columbia, died. His wife Hauwa died suddenly of a stroke
in 2003. A few weeks after her death, Geter had emergency open heart
surgery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
As he slowly worked his way back from all these things, his hips began
troubling him. He had the first replaced about two years ago, but the
other has nagged him incessantly since.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“This last year or so I’ve really slacked off,” he says. “That’s not like me. “But this leg was causing so much pain.”</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
He had been considering retiring next year. Now that he has two good hips, he probably won’t.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
“I feel better than I have in a long time,” he says. “I’m looking
forward to getting back into the classroom. I like teaching foundation –
drawing, painting. I think that’s where I’m supposed to be. And I’ll
stay until I think it’s time to go.”</span></div>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-70247356272145562462012-06-04T00:06:00.000-04:002012-06-04T00:06:36.010-04:00Out of the Shadows with Winston Kennedy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">I attended a wonderful lecture at Redux Studios given by the esteemed professor Winston Kennedy. I wish that more people would have attended, but for those of us that did, we were treated to a well researched and authoritatively presented thesis on the negative history of African Americans in print. I was glad that I was able to attend and honestly, learned quite a bit. </span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-48986596557724470162012-06-03T19:48:00.000-04:002012-06-03T19:48:49.372-04:00Spoleto Art Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="p1" style="color: #660000;">
Review<br />BY REBECCA SEEL<br />Special to The Post and Courier</div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #660000;">
Who gets to tell the story?</div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #660000;">
<br />That’s
the question posed on a slip of paper in a tray under one of the
photographs in D.H. Cooper’s and Jonell Pulliam’s “Ask and Tell.”</div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<aside class="inlines left" style="color: #660000;">
<div class="inline inline-ads x33-1 ">
</div>
</aside><div class="p3" style="color: #660000;">
It is a pertinent question, and one that for
decades has been asked and answered by the vibrant, eclectic and
flourishing art produced by African Americans.</div>
<div class="p3" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p4" style="color: #660000;">
The Art
Institute of Charleston’s “Manifesting Memory: Plantation Legacies of
the South” and the Gibbes Museum’s “Places for the Spirit: Traditional
African-American Gardens of the South” address race and history while
acknowledging and celebrating African-American heritage.</div>
<div class="p4" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p5" style="color: #660000;">
Perhaps
it’s disingenuous to call “Manifesting Memory” a celebration, as the
small exhibit is a reflection of contemporary attitudes toward the
atrocities of slavery.</div>
<div class="p5" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p6" style="color: #660000; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>While much of the art treats the
historical subject matter somberly, Colin Quashie’s work takes an
irreverent approach. His giant painted “screenshot” of Harriet Tubman’s
Twitter feed, called “Follow Me,” and a complete slavery-themed
“Plantation Monopoly” game are startling.</b></i></span></div>
<div class="p6" style="color: #660000; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p7" style="color: #660000; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>To see
slavery referenced in contemporary social media and popular culture is
so bizarre that you almost forget the historical context of the work.</b></i></span></div>
<div class="p7" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p8" style="color: #660000;">
In
“Ask and Tell,” Cooper and Pulliam have visitors write questions and
place them in dishes under photographs of the two artists, one white and
one black. The questions are noticeably different.</div>
<div class="p8" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p9" style="color: #660000;">
The
gardens of Vaughn Sills’ exhibit at the Gibbes aren’t full of topiaries
or tended rows of roses; the folk gardens are seemingly littered with
inorganic objects and bric-a-brac, sometimes with nary a bloom to be
seen.</div>
<div class="p9" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p10" style="color: #660000;">
It’s the design of the gardens and their link to
African heritage that are important, not their aesthetic appeal. The
documentation of the gardens and their caretakers, and the use of
exclusively black and white photography, recall Dorothea Lange and New
Deal photography.</div>
<div class="p10" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p11" style="color: #660000;">
Sills doesn’t use photography to
make pleasing compositions but to capture a fleeting glimpse of the
fading tradition of African-American folk gardens and the culture they
embody.</div>
<div class="p11" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p12" style="color: #660000;">
Art tells the African-American story in ways
other forms of storytelling cannot. With disparate objects and media,
the art of these exhibits invites introspection and honors heritage.</div>
<div class="p12" style="color: #660000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p13" style="color: #660000;">
Rebecca Seel is a Newhouse School graduate student.</div>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-78622261778116154982012-05-31T19:10:00.003-04:002012-05-31T19:10:42.010-04:00Portrait Yawn<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">I understand that a commission to execute the President's official white house portrait is not the time or place to produce avant garde art - but geez - does it get any duller than this crap?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh23r1Z5VBXY0vCbxyA7tCvk2uHJTCY4OyShS79zdhQK_oWrzfWAtaZT1VtdCgSM1fCYI6836h1RL17VhDu_-ASKeN2N8rgWepkQ2c3utr7_C5Kl0wmd0I-V-s80vMzhwKE1CvpWsCNN5GW/s1600/President+Bush+portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh23r1Z5VBXY0vCbxyA7tCvk2uHJTCY4OyShS79zdhQK_oWrzfWAtaZT1VtdCgSM1fCYI6836h1RL17VhDu_-ASKeN2N8rgWepkQ2c3utr7_C5Kl0wmd0I-V-s80vMzhwKE1CvpWsCNN5GW/s640/President+Bush+portrait.jpg" width="510" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">George Bush official portrait by </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">John Howard Sanden</span></span></div>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-8007696023497820852012-05-31T09:49:00.000-04:002012-05-31T09:49:06.450-04:00Follow Me on Twitter Poster<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">I always find it amazing to discover what images an audience will latch onto. Often times an artist has a fleeting idea that they just put out with little expectation and the audience response overwhelms you. 'Follow Me on Twitter' was such an idea. I thought that it was funny and relevant but didn't consider it a serious piece - so much so that I left it out of the 'Plantation (plan-ta-shun)' exhibition at Redux. I recently included it in the latest exhibition at the Art Institute of Charleston titled 'Manifesting Memory - Plantation Legacies of the South' and quite a few people have relayed that it is their favorite piece. I had a request for a poster so here it is:</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIijJNhzb2blVx7zHu8wEUFktOzroYUkvINcFNSKZQH7TpCHOkmrJlK4okvDfZxHzvy6q_7MysAvTv7FnlUk4owvGgxeTNjkrZg3jTBbWL90maGaj7DiEx1VF0hLHsE0uzByE0p4EoGXox/s1600/twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIijJNhzb2blVx7zHu8wEUFktOzroYUkvINcFNSKZQH7TpCHOkmrJlK4okvDfZxHzvy6q_7MysAvTv7FnlUk4owvGgxeTNjkrZg3jTBbWL90maGaj7DiEx1VF0hLHsE0uzByE0p4EoGXox/s640/twitter.jpg" width="426" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.quashie.com/retail_store_art/posters/retail_store_posters.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It can be purchased by clicking here.</span></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-49692747633798445122012-05-22T10:17:00.000-04:002012-05-22T10:17:40.761-04:00Psychology Today post on exhibition<span style="color: #660000;">Arthur Dobrin, a professor at Hofstra University who teaches applied ethics, had a chance to see the 'Plantation (pla-ta-shun)' exhibition at Redux and wrote a post on his reaction to it:</span><br />
<br />
<i>Helping us to remember correctly: The Art of Colin Quashie</i><br />
<br />
<i>Charleston is a beautiful city and a lively destination site filled
with hot restaurants and nightlife. Charleston is also said to have the
port of entry from more than half of the slaves brought to the United
States. There is one museum dedicated to slavery in the city. While
nicely done, it fails to convey the horrors of slavery. Whips and
shackles seem more like art objects rather torture devices.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Although
there is mention that in the South up to 50,000 slaves escaped each
year up until the Civil War, you learn nothing about the Stono
Rebellion, the largest slave uprising on the British mainland prior to
the American Revolution, or the Denmark Vesey Conspiracy, in 1822, which
precipitated a vicious backlash by whites and led to 35 hangings.</i><br />
<br />
<i>What
art that is available in the City Market reflects the stylized view of
the South. Billowing skirts against black skin and blue sky that
idealize the Gullah culture of the South Carolina Lowcountry are the
main motifs. Charleston is surrounded by the nostalgia of <em>Gone With the Wind</em>. Many housing sub-divisions are called Plantation something or other, a nomenclature that strikes my Northern ears as chilling.</i><br />
<br />
<i>The shock of slavery and <a class="pt-basics-link" href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/bias" title="Psychology Today looks at Bias">racism</a> was best conveyed to me by the work of Colin Quashie, a contemporary artist living in Charleston. <a class="ext" href="http://www.quashie.com/html/" target="_blank" title="http://www.quashie.com/html/">http://www.quashie.com/html/</a><span class="ext"></span>
“Plantation,” the exhibit of his work at the Redux Contemporary Art
Center in Charleston, struck me in the gut. His work is described as Op-Ed
Art. In it Quashie brings together the past and the present through
creations such as <em>Plantation Monopoly</em> and a riff on the J. Crew catalogue that features items such as a chic black tie that is a hangman’s noose.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Quashie’s
work doesn’t go down well with a chamber of commerce and it hard to
imagine the tourist office directing traffic to his studio. Psychic pain
and historic truths aren’t good for business. But artists aren’t meant
to make us comfortable but to break through the frozen seas of
self-satisfaction. Quashie is very good at bringing an ax to the
collective unremembering</i><br />
<br />
<i>I was granted permission to take photos of the exhibit, so I assume that it is OK to include two that I took.</i><br />
<br />
Original Blog post can be read by clicking here: <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-i-right/201205/helping-us-remember-correctly-the-art-colin-quashie" target="_blank">Psychology Today </a><i><br /></i><br />COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778674669949932177.post-46333225874031160142012-05-12T22:24:00.000-04:002012-05-12T22:24:26.520-04:00Carolina Arts Blog<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">Tom Starland made the trip to see the exhibition before it closed - glad that he could meke it and see the work in person that he decided to put on the cover. Wrote some nice comments - Once again, thanks Tom, for everything. Hope our paths cross again real soon.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">You can read his blog post here: <b><a href="http://carolinaarts.com/wordpress/2012/05/10/a-trip-to-charleston-sc-to-see-colin-quashies-exhibit-at-redux-and-the-french-quarter-art-walk/" style="color: #660000;" target="_blank">Carolina Arts Blog</a></b></span>COLIN QUASHIE ARThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02789063045931254062noreply@blogger.com0