Three world-class artists of color in residence at Zion Union Heritage Museum in Cape Cod — Joseph Diggs, Carl Lopes and Robin J. Miller — share a pride in their African-American heritage which informs their art, but their styles and techniques differ widely. All practiced art full-time after other careers. Miller was an award-winning art teacher at P.S. 108 in the Bronx. Lopes was the beloved director of visual arts at Barnstable High School. Diggs was a flight attendant, which enabled him to see the world and its museums. Lopes said, “During 35 years, I taught 3,500 students, which gave me insight into my own work.” When Miller created a hands-on history project, for which her students made a mixed-media collage on paper in the style of a “jazz quilt,” honoring African-American quilting women and jazzmen, it inspired her to create her own framed “narrative quilts.” (Diggs is also … [Read more...] about HERITAGE CELEBRATION: WORLD CLASS ARTISTS OF COLOR AT ZION UNION
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STILL CONTEMPORARY: FRIDA KAHLO IN BOSTON AND BROOKLYN
Frida Kahlo was a contemporary artist, even by today’s standards. Her multidisciplinary art practice was a predecessor to today’s public relations creation of celebrity. Kahlo introduced feminism to a field sorely unequal in its treatment of women artists, and let the world know that a physical disability and pain could propel art, not limit it. Her art stood for feminism, recognition of the ability of the disabled, her politics and ethnic and cultural heritage, making her an example and heroine for women, and all people, everywhere. Her art was entirely autobiographical. The paintings told the story of her life, loves and losses. She was proud to paint her mestizo heritage — inherited from her mother — and the artificial leg she wore, making it a fashion accessory. “Appearances Can Be Deceiving” at the Brooklyn Museum and “Frida Kahlo and Arte Popular” at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts … [Read more...] about STILL CONTEMPORARY: FRIDA KAHLO IN BOSTON AND BROOKLYN