A couple weeks ago I visited the Else Gallery to look at the exhibit,
Pump Up the Volume! by Jane Dickson and Joe Lewis. This exhibition goes from January 27-February 26, 2016 and the reception was on opening day from 5-7pm. Shortly following the reception on the same night was the Artists' Talk, which went from 7:30-8:30 pm. The overall reason for the artworks was for the artists to celebrate the global rise of hip hop from its earliest movements they had witnessed in the South Bronx. The only wording placed on the walls was the title of the exhibition itself that covered a large portion it next to the door, in a graffiti font.
Most of the works were done in oil on different materials, such as paper, yupo, linen, and canvas. A great majority of the works were portraits of either 1, 2, or 3 people at a time. These pieces were all up against the wall except for a couple: one piece, which was a shoe designed as a lamp, was on a table against the corner. Behind the show were prints on polyester that told a story of the choices you make in life and how you live it will reflect on where you will end up in the future. The second piece was placed in the center of the room; it was simply a horizontal, open book that read "THE N WORD" in a large, black font.
Additionally, there were two pairs of gold record discs hanging from the ceiling. To me, I read this to be that music was, and still is, a heavy influence in the hip hop culture, and the artists who can preserve the music will keep it "golden". To add to this, hip hop music was playing in the room, which went well with the overall atmosphere.
A great strength that I was able to see in this exhibit was that it totally correlates with February being Black History Month, so the timing for it was perfect. I felt that we can grasp a sense of hip hop form the area, and in a way, I can tell that the journey for the movement was definitely a hard and challenge-filled one, especially with the violence and racism, but in the end, it was worth the struggle.
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| Title |
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| Shoe Lamp |
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| A lot of portraits |
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| Music is "golden" |
Nice job, Aires. Your last comments on how hard it was and still is to have the culture accepted is the main reason I wanted the show to come to Sac State.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your photos and comments! I was sad I didn't get to go, so it's neat being able to see the variety of work that was there. :)
ReplyDeleteNice post Aires.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures. I really liked how you displayed them in your post. I also, liked your commentary on the exhibition.
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