Black Art at the Armory Show

Photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taken by Photographer Stephen Somerstein during a speech in Montgomery, Alabama. 

By Arvolyn Hill

Over the course of five days Piers 92 and 94 are divided into hundreds of galleries housing one of the world’s top art shows. Galleries come from around the world to show their favorite holdings or showcase their favorite artists.

On Thursday, March 6^th I trekked through the thickly falling snow to the piers where art has replaced the great ships of Cunard.  Upon entering Pier 92 I realized that this was going to take time.  I saw sculptures by Stella, sketches by Picasso and a Sol LeWitt in almost every other booth. I decided to focus on the art that interested me the most.  I would be drawn to the art dealing with the African Diaspora.  Suddenly the never-ending grid of galleries became less daunting and more of an adventure.  I searched for the most prominent pieces of art depicting the black experience or by the most prominent black artists. I was pleased by what I found.

New York’s David Greenberg gallery had a wall of photos of the Civil Rights Era.  A color photograph by Gordon Parks entitled I’m not used to seeing was a devastatingly beautiful picture of African American children looking through a park fence at white children on a playground.  He was a regular photographer for Life, then the most read magazine in America, published by Time, Inc. 

Im not used to seeing by Photographer Gordon Parks

“Gordon was on staff at Life magazine and took a job photographing segregation in the south during the 60’s down in Alabama,” said Karen Marks, David Greenburg’s gallerist. “When he passed away his material was moved.  It was recently discovered.”

The picture is filled with vibrant colors, the park is lush and green, the African American children are wearing pastel colors but when you realize the photo is a perfect depiction of segregation in America I felt a tinge in my heart. What might make the photograph almost unique is that it’s in color. So many photos of the segregation in America are black and white, but thanks to Parks we get an even more realistic depiction of the vibrancy of this dark time in American history.

The David Greenberg gallery had several photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They showed a Charles Moore of photograph of King being arrested,  two cops with a tight hold. It was a startling image of the civil rights leader.  The gallery has an iconic photo of the back of King’s head as he looks out over a sea of people during a speech in Montgomery, Alabama by photographer Stephen Somerstein.  Marks said that Somerstein was a student when he took the photo.  He went down to Alabama to participate and had amazing access. Somerstein’s work about Selma is currently  at the New York Historical Society.

Dr. King being arrested captured by Photographer Charles Moore.

Marks said “A large part of who we are and what we do is social documentary.  The Civil Rights work is very important to us.  We figured this would be a good fair to work that material in.”

March 7th marks the 50^th anniversary of Dr. King’s historic march in Selma, Alabama.

I was pleased to see several works by Romare Bearden shown at the Moore Gallery from Washington, DC. A 1964 collage, Train Whistle Blue No.1, 1/6, a black and white collage uses enlarged photographs depicting black culture through jazz.  Debra Force Fine Art b had a Bearden’s patchwork quilt showing three black women using a variety of fabrics with two birds on top. The quilt, Junction Piquette made in 1972 sells for $850,000.

Junction Piquette a quilt by Romare Bearden 

I headed to Pier 94 and the contemporary art booths.  As I walked down the stairs I  saw the second pier was bigger than 92.  There was no sign saying contemporary Black Art this way.  Once again I had to search for it. I was thrilled to find work by Artist Kehinde Wiley.

Virgin of the Adoption (The World Stage: Haiti) by Painter Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley is a photo based portrait artist, painter who currently has a popular exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, A New Republic. Although I have yet to see the show,  friends said it’s a must,  called Wiley a God.  Several booths had pieces by Wiley and those pieces received a lot of attention.  Wiley is a Los Angeles native with a Nigerian background.  He paints portraits of urban black men and women wearing street clothes - pants sagging, backwards caps, tattoos, fur coats and athletic wear. The backgrounds of the paintings are vibrant patterns similar to Victorian wallpaper. Urban black people are depicted as thugs or poor; through Wiley’s brush he turns them into the kings and queens that they are. Sean Kelly, a prominent gallery,  had Wiley’s Portrait of Jae White made in 2011.  French gallery Galerie Daniel Templon displayed Wiley’s Portrait of Marc Donkeng. California Gallery, Roberts & Tilton had Wiley's Virgin of the Adoption. 

I had never heard of African American feminist painter Mickalene Thomas. Her collage-like pieces use acrylics, rhinestones and enamels to create portraits. Los Angeles gallery Susanne Vielmetter had a portrait of Sidra made 2011 of black actress Sidra Smith. Thomas’s subjects for her portraits are usually black women in pop culture.

A Portrait of Sidra by Mickalene Thomas

After three hours of none stop art I left the piers with my head buzzing.  The work I saw was strong and powerful. There were some of the most influential black artists like Bearden and Parks and today’s leading artists like Wiley.  I was pleased to see black life being documented in photo, paint, fabric and collage. These artists aren’t just black artists; they are American artists who afford us their view of black life in America. 

10 Black Hoopers is on AFROPUNK!

I am thrilled to have 10 Black Hoopers You Should Know featured on the AfroPunk website last week! This series of interviews started out as an idea and has grown into one of my proudest projects.  Its a celebration of the amazing black women and men out there who hoop because it makes them feel meditated and happy. I am thrilled to be featured on such an amazing innovative digital platform for black culture!

The Swings

Last week I attended the Dutchess County Fair for the first time in my life. I traveled up to Rhinebeck, N.Y. for the fair which has been around since 1845. It was a mega country fair with tons of agriculture, fried pickles and classic carnival rides. One of which I snapped a photo of and it landed on the front page of The Millbrook Independent today! See below.

Click here for all my pictures from the Dutchess County Fair in the Independent. 

How I made my Tepee Garden

How I made my Tepee Garden 

July 20, 2013

Two years ago I decided that I needed a tepee in my life. I was really into the blog HonestlyWTF and they had a DIY post about how to make your own tepee. I instantly feel in love with the idea and decided to get to work.

Building the tepee structure with my dad.

I first built the tepee for my Burning Man themed graduation party in 2011, check out the post here. My father and I went into the forest and cut down the trees ourselves and a family friend provided a few more tepee poles to use. With fabrics I found at the thrift store I sewed together a cover for the tepee. I used denim, velvet, my childhood Star Wars sheets, and floral prints to name a few. I made a patch work quilt for the structure.
The tepee was a hit at the party; it became a peaceful hang out amongst all the fun. My friends had intimate conversations; face painted, gave each other massages and even slept in the tepee.

Graduation Party 2011

After the party was over with all the work that went into building it I had no intention of taking it down anytime soon. The tepee eventually became apart of my family's property. In the winter we decorated it with Christmas lights. It survived snow, rain, sleet and hail, but eventually the quilt wore out. I decided to take the quilt cover off and let the tepee stand as a skeleton.

Christmas in the tepee

This summer I decided to give the tepee new life by turning it into a tepee garden.
In the early spring I started gathering seeds, planning how the garden would be structured and what would grow inside of it. I decided to grow climber plants up the tepee poles such as morning glories, cardinal climbers, black-eyed susans and beans. The inside of the tepee garden would have a mix of herbs and vegetables including lavender, sage, oregano, dill, cilantro, peppers, peas and tomatoes.

Baby cilantro in a eggshell 

I got the idea from the Free People Blog to make an egg crate garden to start my seeds. In the egg crate garden I watched my baby plants begin to grow in their eggshell homes. Some plants did well in the eggs other didn’t make it. I learned quickly that gardening is a process of trial and error. You are never always going to get it right the first time. But the seeds that did well flourished like my cilantro, beans and peas.

As time went by the plants started to outgrow their eggshell homes and the temperature was warm enough to finally plant them outside.
My Gardener Guru and good friend Nikki Jimmo came over to help me break ground. We overturned the dirt in the tepee so I could sit inside and have plants surrounding me at all angles. We planted beans and pea seeds directly into the soil as well as placing the egg starter plants in the garden. Getting everything in the ground was a lot of work but we could only imagine what it would look like when it was in bloom at the end of the summer.
Slowly as the days began to get warmer my plants started to grow. I remember the day the baby pea plants just popped right out the ground. Their presence was reassurance that this was really happening my tepee garden was growing.

Planting sage, lavender and mint. 

All of the plants growth was staggered different plants peaking at various times. The peas came in the late spring, dill and cilantro grew in the early summer, while the lavender and sage flourished in the mid summer. The tomatoes arrived by mid July and the morning glories blossomed in early August. Watching each of my plants grow from seed to full shape I learned to appreciate each stage of its life. Evolving from tiny sprouts, to vines and finally a bright flower full of light.

Although summer is coming to an end the tepee garden hasn’t peaked.  The cardinal climbers vines have grown to the top of the tepee but still need to produce red flowers. I am hoping in time for my birthday in September.
Spending the summer weeding, planting and eating the harvests of the tepee garden has been a healing experience. Every morning I look forward to running outside and seeing something new that has grown or bloomed. It has served as a peaceful sanctuary for me anytime I am upset, stressed or sad. As soon as I step inside the tepee garden and rub my fingers with the lavender and smell their sweet scent whatever was bugging me feels far away. The tepee stands tall in my yard, it has a presence. It’s a symbol of my presence on earth.

More photos of my tepee's evolution below. 

 

Reporter in Marthas Vineyard: Looking for Obama

After reading the MVtimes I discovered that Obama would be giving no public events while vacationing in MV. Meaning I would need to be prepared at every moment all the time.

Reporter in Marthas Vineyard: Looking for Obama by fastapasta featuring a leather satchel

H&M , $16 / H&M sleeveless shirt, $31 / Brave Soul cotton stretch shorts, $18 / Converse sneaker / Leather satchel / Cat ring, $4.64 / THAT SHIT CRAY NOTEBOOK

MV: The Flea Market

This would be my go to outfit for going to an outdoor flea market. I love the idea of the cuff earrings with the baby doll dress and a big floppy hat.

Reporter in Marthas Vineyard Day 2 by fastapasta featuring gemstone jewelry

Dress / Warehouse crossbody purse, $84 / H&M , $4.59 / Gemstone jewelry / Paper crown / Diptyque Bougie Eucalyptus Candle