Curated from the Couch is a series by Eileen Winter Palmer where she shared some of her art musings in her self-isolation during the COVID-19 outbreak.
On this beautiful sunny day I am reminded of the joyous work of American Artist Alma Thomas. She was an Expressionist painter and art educator best known for her colorful abstract paintings.
Thomas established a unique abstract style characterized by thick, rhythmic brushstrokes and rich color. Her gestural dabs of paint look like torn pieces of paper patterned into a mosaic like collage.
When I worked at the Brooklyn Museum developing programs for folks with memory loss, her “Wind, Sunshine, and Flowers”. was always a favorite stop. The vivid dancing color always brought big smiles. Michelle Obama chose a Thomas painting to hang in the White House during her tenure; It’s evident she has good taste in both art and men. 😉
Thomas had a 38 year career as an art educator in the Washington DC Public schools. She attended Howard University and received a Masters in Art from Columbia. Thomas believed that “creativity should be independent of gender or race, creating works with a focus on accidental beauty and the abstraction of color.” I have seen first hand the joy her art has inspired.
Alison Saar (American (b. 1956)
High Yella’ Blue, 2016
intaglio, pochoir on found vintage handkerchief
12 1/4 x 12 1/4 in.
Saar is a contemporary sculptor and mixed media artist, whose work frequently explores issues of race, gender, vulnerability, and self worth.
In this piece Saar creates an ‘every woman’ generic face with tears running down her cheeks to indicate commonly shared emotion of grief. Her inventive use of materials—in this instance an old lace trimmed handkerchief—adds additional richness and meaning to the work.
The artist frequently uses found objects and unconventional materials in her works that connect with the power and spirit of the material. Her use of a vintage hanky in this piece makes it more than an artwork hanging on a wall, but something we have all touched at some point in our lives.
As info:
•intaglio printmaking involves etching (scratching) into a plate and transferring the the ink that’s in the scratches onto the surface.
•Pochoir printing is essentially like stenciling.
•”High Yella” is a pejorative racial term for a light skinned person with white and black ancestry.
•Alison Saar is a biracial artist. Her mom is the renowned artist Betye Saar and her dad is art conservationist Richard Saar.
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The Beautyful Ones (2012)
acrylic, pastel, colour pencil and Xerox transfer on paper
95 5/8 x 66 7/8in
Drawing on art historical, political and personal references, Njideka Akunyili Crosby creates richly layered figurative compositions that reflect the contemporary experience. Crosby was born in Nigeria and in 1999 moved to USA at the age of 16. Her use of collage techniques metaphorically reflect themes of relocation and layered experiences.
Inspired by the Velázquez painting of Prince Baltasar Carlos, Akunyili created this stunning large scale portrait of her sister. It was made in 2012 during a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem. The Velázquez portrait depicted the young prince dressed in resplendent clothes, looking quite pleased with himself. It reminded Crosby of her sister when she had this birthday party when she was around 10 years old. Crosby commenters that “the gestures and the attitudes of posing in portraiture, especially when you know that you look good, is the same everywhere. It’s a universal thing”.
Of Note:
Crosby attended Swarthmore and Pennsylvania Academy if Fine Arts. She received an MFA from Yale ( all the cool kids have one of these—gotta get myself one 🤗) and received a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2017.
This artwork was auctioned at Christie’s and sold for over $3 million.
Today is Sunday, so being raised a good little catholic girl, I will “offer up” this post to Sr. Mary Corita Kent. 😉
Corita Kent, also known as Sister Mary Corita was an artist, educator, and advocate for social justice. A Roman Catholic nun in the religious order Immaculate Heart of Mary, she taught and eventually headed up the art department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, CA.
Sr. Corita had an innovative pop and inspired approach to both design and education. By the 1960s, her vibrant serigraphs were drawing international acclaim. Throughout the ‘60s, her work became increasingly political, urging viewers to consider poverty, racism, and injustice; her messages of peace and social justice continue to resonate today.
Corita began serigraphy or silkscreen printing as she was finishing her graduate degree. She thought it would be a good method to teach to her students, many of whom were pre-service teachers. Serigraphy appealed to Corita for another important reason, she wanted her art to be affordable and widely available and serigraphy allows for the production of multiple works, Corita also did not want any of her prints to be more valuable than the others. She did not number them and sometimes she did not even record the full size of the edition. Her prints are hand-signed though and typically were only issued as one limited edition.
Corita’s art was her activism—her spiritually-informed social commentary promoted love and tolerance. She was gifted with the ability to combine this joyous and hopeful outlook with a real political charge. Most certainly, her work is as relevant today as it was over 50 years ago.
As info:
• Corita Kent returned to secular life in 1968, but always kept her ties with the order and the Immaculate Heart community.
Dear Mama 2019
quilted and appliquéd cotton, wool and chiffon
53 x 73 x 1 in
Be prepared to to be awestruck when viewing Bisa Butler’s amazing fabric masterpieces. New Jersey-born, Brooklyn-based quilt artist—Butler‘s work is vibrant, joyful, thought provoking and technically astounding. Calling Bisa a quilt artist doesn’t quite capture her mastery of this craft, once “traditional women’s work”, in her hands it is elevated to fine art.
Her quilted portraits are inspired by family photos and historical black and white photographs; they are amalgams of individuals, composite characters whose personalities explode through opulent fabrics and mind-blowing color.
More than just the resulting picture, the materials she chooses and how she layers them, give each character depth and personality. In a recent interview Butler commented “I am inviting a reimagining and a contemporary dialogue about age old issues, still problematic in our culture, through the comforting, embracing medium of the quilt. I am expressing what I believe is the equal value of all humans.”
Butler had just opened her first show at Harlem’s Claire Oliver Gallery when all galleries were shuttered due to COVID. I hope to see her work exhibited once things open up again. The Kotonah Art Museum was planing to exhibit her work – so perhaps a ‘road trip’ by The end of the summer🤞.
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