I first came across Stephen Hamilton’s work at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Roxbury, Massachusetts in the 2017 show, “Black Gods Live: Work of Stephen Hamilton.” I was struck by the vibrant representations of African men and women, the handcrafted tapestries and the narratives in his work. I took to following him on social media to keep up with his practice and recently did a studio visit with him to find out more about his new work. “The Founders Project” will be on view at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Dudley Square in November, courtesy of Now and There. One can trace the development of this series in his recent work. “Portraits of the Orisa: Nigeria Series, 2016” re-imagined artists and members of the Yoruba religious community as the Orisa and other figures central to the Yoruba spiritual and philosophical tradition. The series … [Read more...] about Making Connections With Donna Dodson
Making Connections
Making Connections: With Donna Dodsen Nov/Dec 2017
WITH TAKASHI MURAKAMI By Donna Dodson On Saturday, October 14, I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Shapiro Celebrity Lecture with con- temporary artist Takashi Murakami, in conversation with Japanese art histo- rian Professor Nobuo Tsuji, moderated by Anne Nishimura Morse, the William and Helen Pounds senior curator of Japanese art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Morse and Murakami both studied with Professor Tsuji, and Tsuji worked with Morse to catalog the MFA’s world-renowned Japanese art collection. The opening of “Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics” brought them together in a lineage of friendship, mentoring and collegiality, which was evident in the mood of the panel discussion. Murakami talked about being an art- ist from the Far East. His plan was to make it big in the West and sell himself back to the East since, from his point of view, … [Read more...] about Making Connections: With Donna Dodsen Nov/Dec 2017