Status Updates From EyeMinded: Living and Writi...

Read essay (28,29.30/37) Excellent short discussion of black aesthetic (BA) consummate aesthetic (CA) and aesthetic incarnate (AI)! Ms Jones scatters the word "aesthetic" around like confetti. BA: emphasis on personal and cultural narrative in black art instead of spectacle. It centers on heritage and resilience. CA: extremely skilled in creating harmony in form, technique. Example sculptor Martin Pruyear (1951)

Read essay (27/37) - shortest one in the book! Tim Rollings (1955-2017) conceptual artist, had dedicated his career to reaching out to kid shut out by the educational system. Kids of Survial program used art to create allegorical paintings, drawings, and sculptures by "jammin'.... the kids read texts by Kafka, Orwell and painted directly on book pages mounted on canvas. So inspiring....

Essay 26/37 Black female photographers are re-locating in the world..."making ourselves visible. The women mentioned were discussed in previous chapters 5 and 14. Strong point: women add an embedded text to the image to expand its meaning to signify ideas outside this frame work. Example: photo by Tabrizian "Her Way" reveals black woman dead on bathroom floor "See my blood is the same colour as yours." Powerful.

Read essay "Poets of a New Style of Speak" (25/37) Life in Cuba is not easy and many artists reflect that. But I find their frankness, vulgarity, crudeness not appealing ( T. Esson, L. Saaverda) The only artist I like in today's essay was Ciro Quintana (1964) (see Google). Style is comic strips, pop icons, theatrical pastiches with VIBRANT colours...just a delight to look at. His paintings are puzzles too!

Read essay (24/37) 'Critical Curators". Interesting Q&A with author/curator Kellie Jones. What's new in art in 1992? (date of Q&A) More 3-d installations: artist creates a piece instead of borrowing objects for a show. Photography: is on the rise! It is a process people identify with, pieces are cheaper to ship to other museums! KJ always practical! What is your hope? Museums will hire/train more people of color.

Read essay 23/37 "Domestic Prayer" Puerto Rican artist Pepón Osorio (1955) celebrates PRican cultural traditions of creating mini altars in the home and elevates the use of kitsch/ baubles, figurines, plastic flowers, photos...into an universal reflection: Themes: Machismo, racism in iconic works (1987) La Cama (bed) and El Chandelier (1988). Short essay but full of great insights on Osario's conceptual art.

Read (22/37) essays "In the Thick of It" Email: David Hammons has found a way to articulate blackness w/o relying on painting or sculptured figure: African hair. This was an essay that could have been an email! Worst essay so far....bah.

Read (21/37) "Lost in Translation" J.M. Basquiat (1960-1988). Essay = word salad...learned very little. Researched B. (neo-expressionst (NEX) myself! Art moved minimalist --> conceptual --> NEX. Themes: racism, colonialism, class divide. Basquait created 160 works with Wahrol. Have a look at "Ten Punching Bags" (Google). Also on You Tube there is a 53 min doc "Basquiat: Rags to Riches." Better than this essay!

Read essay (18/37) Interview with African-American conceptual artist David Hammons (1943). He has to be one of my favourites I discovered in this collection of contemporary art essays. I like his work, his vision, his aesthetic (visuals of form and beauty) and he is so honest. "The only thing that's really going on is in the street (good art). It isn't happening in these galleries."

Forgot to change page count!

Read essay (17/37). Topic was about photographers who specialise in larger than life photos. Ms Jones was curator for "Larger than Life (1987) and these were her notes. Unfortunately many artists were not to be found on Google (images) so I had to read about only 2: Andres Serrano and Albert Chong. Shortest essay so far...

Read essay (16/37) African American sculptor Marten Puryear (1943) Essay left me breathless while looking up the works of art on Google. If a museum in your area has an expo of Marten Puryear...don't miss it! (Now in Boston MFA until Feb 2026). Quick Look - see You Tube (13 min) "When Minimalist Art Collides With Traditional Craft: The Work Of Martin Puryear On Art21" You will be amazed!

Read essay (14/37) "Pat Ward Williams " (1948) photographer. Her famous iconic photo "Accused/Blowtorch/Padlock is impressive but hard to look at. Other examples of her works were not to be found via Google images. I did read b/t lines and discovered some documentary photographers: D. Lange, LaToya R. Frazier, M.E. Mark, Gordon Parks,..so all in all learned smth...but not much about P.W. Williams!

Progress should show read 208 pages instead of 20!

Read essay (13/37) "Dawoud Bey (1953) ". This is the best essay I've read so far. Bey is a MacArthur Genius Fellow and his photography proves that he is a visionary! Progression from street portraits - landscapes and my favourites "split portraits"! Core message: capture the beauty of those who rarely find themselves illustrated in this way.These photos instill a pride in the existence of a "black self". MustGoogle

Read essay (12/37) "Crown Jewels". I wasn't expecting much from Mexican artist (1959) Silvia Gruner...but I was surprised how much thought she put into "necklaces" as objets'd'art! Themes: meditation (worry beads), pers histories (jewel as heirloom), adornment that can translate one's inner thoughts! Gruner brings necklaces from intimate/bodily to public/sculptural in her work! Excellent!

Read essay (11/37) "To/From Los Angeles with Bette Saar. This is the first essay that really did not deliver. I learned more about the incredible artist Betye Saar in my own investigation in the internet that in Ms Jones's essay.

Read essays (8-9-10/37). Nr 8 was amazing essay about David Hammons (1943). An artist I have never heard of but will not soon forget! His "Spades in Chains" (1969) took my breath away. Simple elements and he created a power look at racism and racial stereotypes in USA. This work in now in MOMA. The other essay and poem were by Ms Jones's mother.

Read essay: (7/37) "Interview with Kcho (Alexis Machado, Cuba 1970) (7/37). The artist gave the interview in 1996 when he was 26 yr. I was impressed by is vision and depth understanding of art at such an early age. Ms Kellie Jones had all the right questions...so that is 60% of the success of an interview.

Read essay: "Installations by Women" (6/37) - Usually when I see an "installation" in a museum I look, scratch my head and ask myself: "...what the heck is this?" Ms Kellie Jones explains by highlighting several female artists from Aruba, Cuba, UK, USA, Mexico, Kenya, S.A, Uganda! Core message: installation is an object/idea in artist's world experience + a whiff of the abstract!

Read essay "Lorna Simpson" (pg 123/490) Ms Simpson (1960) is a an American conceptual artist renowned mainly for her photography in which she combines the photo with text (language) to add a new layer for contemplation. Best essay so far...

Read essay ( 4/33) Tracey Rose (1974) a South African conceptual artist. Famous work is "Ciao Bella", for the 49th Venice Biennale, held in 2001, was an exhibition of international contemporary art. Essay was very insightful and introduced to terms as "township art" and Ms Rose's use of "scopic gaze" in Ciao Bella. Other conceptual artists mentioned: D. Hammon, A. Piper, C. Breitz, M. Langa and K. Geers.

Read essay: "AKA Saartje" not very insightful. I had hopes that the Q&A with South African female artists would be better...but unfortunately I was glad to finish the writings by Kellie Jones and move on to the next essay.