The one to watch -- stream it today!
This is it, y’all, this right here: the art documentary series I’m in is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video!
Nearly a year ago, I was interviewed for the Seattle episode of “The Story of Art in America.” The series takes an in-depth look at artists producing work outside the New York art scene. You might remember the video shoot was at the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM). You — yes, you — voted for me in NAAM’s social media contest to select an artist to represent Seattle’s Black community.
Photo credit: Legit Productions
Would you be willing to help me one more time? I’d like you to go to Amazon Prime Video and leave an honest review of the Seattle episode:
Watch episode 10 of “The Story of Art in America”
Go to the video listing on Amazon Prime Video
Scroll down and click on the “Write a customer review” button
Please keep it simple and to-the-point (Amazon deletes overly positive reviews)
Ask your friends/ family/ followers to do the same: watch the episode, then write an Amazon Prime Video review.
It’s a lot like reviewing a book on Goodreads or Amazon: the more reviews, the more likely people will see the docuseries — and the first weeks are crucial to getting the word out. Enjoy, and remember to tell other viewers what you think about it!
Venturing outside
Remember when August used to be jam-packed with summer art activities? Good times. I’m told Outside still exists, so I went looking for proof.
Outside, from above: Rachel Setzer gifted me with this signed print of the Black Lives Matter street mural.
Art stores are Outside, so I risked it all to pick up a couple panels — in person! — for a commission.
Sorry about the slow news week. I’ll try to make it up to you by sharing my new favorite posters about Outside, courtesy of the National Parks Service.
Too much Outside for you? The NPS also suggests a virtual park visit. Stay safe and cool if you can, y’all.
Larry Calkins: a lot of Lincoln, a lot to think about
Abraham Lincoln: you know him, you love him, right? Well, maybe not. You don’t know Lincoln like Larry Calkins knows Lincoln.
The sixteenth American president is all over Gallery IMA; not surprising once you learn Calkins “love[s] Lincoln because he is like a god, something other.” Even some of the non-Lincoln pieces seem to take on his features: the tall, rigid chair of the sculpture “Writing Desk,” the dark patches on “Moon Boat” that look vaguely like a face in a tintype photo.
It seems apropos that the artist centers Lincoln in a way that calls up images, and nightmares, of childhood. Even now, schools present Lincoln to kids as the guy in the stovepipe hat who freed the slaves. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and led the Civil War — but only after enslaved people had led massive rebellions or freed themselves. Later, he successfully pushed Congress to pass the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery nationwide… which is great except for that little loophole prisons often use to exploit inmate labor.
Such a larger-than-life reputation makes me think of Seattle’s own image to people living outside the Northwest. Seattle still gets a lot of mileage out of being A Progressive City in a blue state. The reality is more complicated, especially for brown and black people. Given the chance to end a ban on affirmative action, this blue state decided, “… nah.” Recently, a teen author was even more blunt about being a person of color in Seattle schools: The book is titled “You Failed Us.” Larry Calkins’ work is thought-provoking, but perhaps only to those ready to do some more thinking.