Matt Eich, Norfolk, Virginia. To see more, visit his website.
An artist is a creature driven by demons. —Faulkner
September 22, 2009
September 21, 2009
Truman Capote self-portrait for sale. I’d love to give this to Jack Pendarvis in honor of his recent rendition of “Ring of Fire” as sung by TC.
Just received a handsome book in the mail, Hands in Harmony: Traditional Crafts and Music in Appalachia by the N.C. photographer Tim Barnwell. It includes lots of black-and-white portraits of creative folks and a music CD with songs by Algia Mae Hinton and Etta Baker, among others.
Above: Kasper “Stranger” Malone, Old-Time Music Week, Warren Wilson College, North Carolina.
Susana Raab’s A Sense of Place series is a love letter to the Big Three of Southern fiction—Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor, and William Faulkner. Like other literary pilgrims, she visited their museum-preserved homes, but her photographs give the impression that the writers just stepped out and will return momentarily. The catalogue (which includes a selection of quotes from each writer) is available on her website and is highly recommended. Raab has lots of fantastic photos on her site—Consumed (about fast food in the U.S.) is another favorite.
Above: “Faulkner’s Desk, Rowan Oak, Oxford, Mississippi.”
“Two Flannerys, Andalusia, Milledgeville, Georgia.” From Susana Raab’s A Sense of Place series.
September 18, 2009
“Portrait of Qusuquzah” by Mickalene Thomas is on view in Louisville as part of the
21c Museum exhibition Creating Identity: Portraits Today.
September 16, 2009
Miami-based multimedia artist Juan Maristany has a show at the Art & Culture Center of Hollywood (Florida).
Jack Pendarvis is coming up from Mississippi and what better time to revisit his Baby
Doll article from our Southern Movie Issue?
From N.C. artist Tama Hochbaum’s Alice in Wonderland series.
The R word is in the news, thanks to Jimmy Carter’s perceptive comments.
I’m editing an article right now that mentions the virtues of HBCUs (we published an article on their uncertain future in our Race Issue), which reminds me of the astonishing art that many of the HBCUs own but are unable to promote or digitize. This painting by Edward Bruce is one of my favorites. I scanned it from a catalogue, To Conserve a Legacy: American Art from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Maybe the Google books project will help people discover similar treasures. The artist was a lawyer and publisher who created the nation’s first federal arts project under Roosevelt.
“Portrait of William Friday” (1934) by Edward Bruce. Collection of Howard University Gallery of Art.
Jessica Easto (former superstar intern) recommends this exhibition
by Brian Wagner of Knoxville musicians. It’s on view at Soundbooth.
Click image for info.
This year’s Southern Foodways Symposium in Oxford will focus on Southern
“drinkways”—from buttermilk to booze. Just make sure you get up in time
for Barry Hannah’s early-morning “Outlaw Sunday” presentation.
Above: 1949 photograph by Charles L. Franck from the Historic New Orleans Collection.
September 15, 2009
Try not to love the paintings of artist Fatima Ronquillo.
Jamie Baldridge clearly has fun making art. He was, as he says,
“born to two hominids in a very small town in the Deep South
and much of his childhood was spent in tedium.” He lives in Lafayette,
Louisiana, where he apparently channels the spirit of Dali, Victorian
pulp fiction, and ancient civilizations. Above work: “Babylon.”
