Black History Month: Luvvie Ajayi-Jones
How do you make Friday even better? Make it a Black History Month Friday! Let’s talk about:
Luvvie Ajayi-Jones, also known as Awesomely Luvvie. Photo credit: Kesha Lambert Photography
I like to think of Luvvie Ajayi-Jones as the Empress of You-Know-You-Ain’t-Right observations of pop culture. She gives fair warning, though: her first best-selling book was titled I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual. I like her refusal to suffer fools. It’s fair to say she had an indirect influence on my “St. Felicia, Patron Saint of Farewells” assemblage sculptures. (Read some of the backstory here.)
“St. Felicia” assemblage sculptures in my solo exhibit at Northwest African American Museum, 2017
Some of the many reasons to read Ajayi-Jones’ work:
Her writing is concise, vivid and gasping-for-air hilarious
She celebrates Black joy, ingenuity, and critical thought
She regularly reminds her readers that she had to grow into becoming a “Professional Troublemaker,” and her life isn’t all stylish badassery all the time.
Ajayi-Jones is the only writer I know whose blog provokes comments I recommend you read. The back-and-forth between her and her readers is priceless. Hope you don’t mind cackling out loud.
Have a good weekend, and I’ll see you Monday with a new inspirational artist!
Black History Month: Derrick Adams
What are you up to during Black History Month? I’m blogging about visual and literary artists who inspire me. Let’s talk about:
I’d seen the work of Derrick Adams in art publications before, but not in person until “Packaged Black: “Derrick Adams and Barbara Earl Thomas” at the Henry Art Gallery. I came for Thomas’ work (see previous blog post), then stayed to soak up more of Adams’ paintings.
Derrick Adams, “Style Variation 27.” Photo credit: Lisa Myers Bulmash
A few things I admire about his work in this particular exhibition:
his use of acrylic paint on photographs, which feels like a type of collage
the pop culture references, especially the series recalling Black hair style guide posters
This collaboration had been on hold since 2017, and then the pandemic struck — but Adams and Thomas still managed to pull together the exhibition. Talk about persistence in the face of obstacles…
The weekend is almost here, so let’s end the week with some laughs from my one of my favorite writer/pop culture observers. See you then.
Black History Month: Barbara Earl Thomas
Thanks again for joining me during Black History Month, when I’m posting a series about Black visual and literary artists who inspire me. Let’s talk about:
Remember the previous blog post, when I made a crack about how rare it is to see a famous contemporary artist visit Seattle? That was only partly true. Barbara Earl Thomas lives here, making larger-than-life Tyvek and paper cut installations. Her work has also been translated into glass and metal. A few things I admire about her:
the stained-glass look of some of her paper work (and real stained-glass at Yale University)
her prodigious ability to convey complex narrative scenes with silhouettes
her persistence in continuing to make work before the world outside Seattle finally acknowledged her genius.
Considering the labor-intensive nature of her work (she has two assistants), she spends a lot of time working in the studio. So it doesn’t happen that often, but occasionally I get to see Thomas out and about at art events and say hi.
Speaking of being busy, Thomas continued to make new pieces during the quarantine days of the pandemic. Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to the artist who collaborated with her on one of those projects.