Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Kara Walker experience...She will NOT be ignored!!!


I don't pretend to be an art critic. But I know what I LOVE. I love when an artist actually has something to SAY, moreso than just the ability to CREATE. Truthfully, there are thousands of people out there armed with skilled hands, canvas board, and a degree in art history. There are also those without at least one of the three. However, when an individual has the "trinity" in ADDITION to an unambiguous and fearless point of view, things start to happen. Enter the world of Kara Walker.


Walker uses her art to connect the dots between antebellum America, its present-day residual effects on American culture, and what it is to be a PROUD, unafraid black intellectual post 1990. She dissects the post-colonial American Anthem, whose broad stripes and bright stars had protected the majority while imprisoning black people in the land of the free who had no choice but to be brave. She rallies on the way slavery and post-slavery has been glossed over in the American history book, reintroducing the subjects in real- and really disturbing-imagery, which is the way it SHOULD be rendered. Her visual ingredients (various incantations of Southern haughtiness, juvenile sexual degradation, fecal matter and situational despair) combine to make up the cocktail that sons and daughters of slaves had no choice but to swallow.


That cocktail is served without apologies this season as Walker's innermost thoughts come to life in her newest exhibit at The Whitney, aptly titled Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love. Her images, though only two-dimensional in most cases (save for the mixed media "films" she debuts at this exhibit), speak louder and more forcefully on the ever-persistent issue of race in this country than any three-dimensional preacher, historian or politician could. They are emphatic and erudite; the subject matter sensational and non-debateable; the result isn't agitprop but pure GENIUS. Its no wonder that the MacArthur Foundation felt the need to bestow its coveted "genius" grant to Walker in 1997.


Walker's main claim to fame thus far- mastering the 18th century art of cut-paper silhouettes and bending them to her will in the 21st century- has set many minds ablaze because she has taken this forgotten medium and applied it to the unforgettable issue of RACE in America (especially unforgettable if you're a person of color in this country). Although it sounds relatively artsy-craftsy, Papier mache it is NOT! Her black silhouettes on vast white canvases seem to speak to the typical black American's feeling of being the antithesis of what this country was seemingly planned to be while unmistakeably, inescapably being part of the whole grand scheme. However, if that were the only point she was trying to get across, it would seem too simplistic. It is what those black silhouettes are doing, having done to them, or finding themselves in the middle of that brings the point home.



While her signature and sword to date has been the black paper cutouts that gained her notoriety- and cult status- in the art world, Walker has not rested on her artistically pedigreed laurels. Now she has come of age and branched out, offering us small watercolor illustrations of her most introspective (and perhaps most specific)thoughts, leaving nothing open to interpretation. In her "Negress Notes", her subjects are beatific individuals with shrill intent and self-control; the accompanying text is always engaging, intelligently stated and appropriate- never apoplectic.

What can I say about Kara Walker? I can tell you that she is an artist that will not be ignored. I can also tell you that you won't grow weary-eyed walking through one of her exhibits; romanticizing post-slavery America "Gone With The Wind"-style is not what you'll find here. What you WILL find is Walker's version, titled "Gone, An Historical Romance of Civil War As it Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of Young Negress and Her Heart" - which had art students and critics alike dropping her name left and right when she introduced the piece in 1994. You'll have no reason to walk hurriedly through the halls of her exhibit, ignoring the artists' perspective and categorizing it as just another "black history lesson", because after spending 2 minutes surrounded by Walker's offerings, you'll figure out that it is less black history and more lesson. It is the lesson of a place gone awry, a people splintered over idealogy without regard for the humanistic experience that we all deserve. It is hell on earth, delivered ethereally though paper, watercolor or mixed media. It is personal and universal. It is emotional and intellectual. Utilizing subtle yet powerful strokes, Walker seems to speak loudly to all four components of the exhibit's title- determining her complement, decrying her enemy, decreeing her oppressor and defining her love. After walking out of the Whitney that night, I don't think I'll ever be the same.




Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love" is on exhibit at the Whitney Museum in NYC through February 3, 2008

http://www.whitney.org/www/exhibition/kara_walker/index.html

Friday, July 27, 2007

Questions for the Zeitgeist- July 27, 2007


1- After public outcry (and the withdrawal of some advertising dollars as a result of the public outcry), BET decides to "revamp" the title of their newest and most controversial show "Hot Ghetto Mess: We Got to Do Better", opting to use only the second half of the title. Given the the number of programming missteps that the network has made SINCE ITS INCEPTION with regard to what should be a positive representation of black people in this country, shouldn't "We Got to Do Better" be their mantra? Isn't BET-J sooooo much better than their parent network?


2- Beyonce tumbles head first down a flight of stairs during her concert in Orlando this week. After videos showing the fall receives 90,000 hits in less than a day, Youtube takes the footage down citing "terms of use violation". Kelly Rowland passes out while performing onstage in Nigeria. Youtube takes that footage down as well. Destiny's THIRD child, Michelle, bites it during a performance on BET's 106 and Park a couple of years ago. Once again,Youtube has removed THAT footage, citing a copyright claim by Sony BMG. Why is it that we can have access to Johnny Knoxville and his gang of Jackasses risking life and limb for shits and giggles, but the idea of seeing BEYONCE busting her well-toned ass onstage immediately elicits a "terms of use violation"? Shouldn't her record company make the same claim for all of her music videos (which, incidentally, are STILL accessible on youTube)?

(By the way, here is the ONLY footage available online of Ms. Knowles eating stagedust...But like the trooper she is, she quickly recovers...)


3- Speaking of YouTube...wasn't it a broadcasting coup for YouTube to align itself with CNN to produce The CNN/YouTube Democratic Presidential debate? Didn't it seem to make the debating process much more dynamic? Also, why- only 4 days after the Democratic debate- have only 2 of the nine projected Republican candidates confirmed their attendance at the CNN/YouTube Republican debate in September?

4- Speaking of debateable behavior...This week, former porn siren Heather Hunter writes and releases Insatiable- a novel, she says, "about a girl named Simone Young. She runs to the world of fame, because she has this insatiable desire to be famous and at the same time to be loved. She winds up in porn--pretty much fulfilling people's desires--and through porn she goes through these trials and tribulations of trying to find love in all the wrong places. At the same time she becomes an amazing, big, top adult star and breaks into the mainstream entertainment business"...
Aren't novels supposed to be fiction? Does she know the difference between a NOVEL and an AUTOBIOGRAPHY ? Moreover, once someone buys the film rights to the book (because inevitably someone WILL), which blactress would want to play "the main character"?

5- On the soft side of porn, wasn't Garcelle Beauvais' spread in Playboy both erotic and tasteful?






6- Both 50 Cent and Kanye West are both due to release their latest CDs on the same day- interestingly enough, on September 11th. Will Kanye's sales "Touch The Sky"? Will Curtis Jackson's sales yield him more than just 50 Cents?








7- Even while doing her perp-walk into court this week to face sentencing for her DUI conviction, doesn't (a supposedly NOT pregnant) Nicole Richie look STUNNING? And since Ms. Richie is STILL one of THE REAL RE-EDIT's obsessions, don't we want her to get her SH*T together?













8- Speaking of which, with her LATEST bust and arrest for drug possession, will La Lohan EVER get her sh*t together, or will she die young as she herself has predicted? The person she is referring to in the title of her new movie "I Know Who Killed Me" seems to be obvious, no?


9-Hasn't psuedo-photog and media whore Larry Birkhead (you know, Danielynn's daddy) used up every last second of his 15 minutes of fame?


10- With President Bush handing Scooter Libby (the former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney who was convicted of obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI) HIS freedom in the form of a presidential pardon, does Def Jam have a chance of success with its campaign to get Ron Isley pardoned on his conviction for lying to the IRS by way of tax evasion? Is Libby's pardon a double standard, since Lil Kim went to jail after she was convicted of the same exact charges that Libby has been pardoned for (perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to federal investigators)?




11- OK, who feels cheated that they didn't plop down six hundred bucks for the IPhone?

FLASHBACK...
This week's flashback is courtesy of Lil Kim, who should be singing this to our President. "No Time for FAKE ones..."
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Friday, July 20, 2007

Questions for the Zeitgeist- July 20,2007 (Not Just) BLACK GIRLS RULE Edition,,,


This week at Room Service, Iman hosted a fete celebrating the release of Trace magazine's annual edition of BLACK GIRLS RULE! (which I lay in wait for every year!). TRACE (one of my FAVORITE mags- next to PAPER and PULSE) does an annual salute to the accomplishments and strides that black women in every industry have made and continue to make. As it is partly a beauty publication, the images they present on the cover and on the inside pages convey just how beautiful, regal and strong women of color have always been- thus the running exclamation BLACK GIRLS RULE! This year, they have the usual bevy of lovelies accompanied by some new notables; Kinee Diouf graces the cover- who along with Ajuma Nasanyana have taken the baton that Alek Wek has passed to them and continue to defy European standards of beauty simply by being unapologetically African dark-skinned babes while booking MAJOR fashion shows/campaigns. Also, while not necessarily dark-skinned, Zoe Kravitz makes her debut as a black girl to contend with. All of this thanks to Iman's guest editting of the edition. I can't say it enough: BLACK GIRLS RULE!!





But now onto what is on my mind this week in pop culture- which incidentally involves how (mostly) Black Girls are Ruling ...






1- Kelly Rowland collapsed onstage early Sunday in Lagos, Nigeria, where she had been performing. Was it really because of dehydration, or the fact that she just found out that (in the first two weeks of its release) she's only sold 140,000 copies of her "Ms. Kelly" CD? Does ANYBODY believe she can make it bump "Like This"?


2- Shouldn't Lindsay Lohan, in her latest post-rehab era, leave her hair short for a more sophisticated look?




3- Speaking of getting her "grown woman on", aren't we happy that Mary Kate Olsen is stepping out on her own and joining the cast of Showtime's runaway hit, "Weeds"?




4- Her American television debut "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America" has been torn to pieces in the press; its been called "an orgy of self-indulgence", "relentlessly self-promoting" and "vapid and condescending". Isn't that what we want in a guilty pleasure-cum-reality show? Even though she never really beeped on THE REAL RE-EDIT's radar before, after watching the show I have to put it out there: With her quick wit and self-effacing naughty/ haughty British lass persona, isn't "Posh" the most MAJOR thing going right now?

5- Speaking of "an orgy of self-indulgence", et. al...Even with all the hype, did anyone really care about Eva Longoria's wedding?

6- How brave was it for Tammy Faye Baker to appear on Larry King Live this week?


7- Now that Foxy's getting beat up left and right, Remy Ma DEFINITELY slated to do some time for aggravated assault and with Eve as her only real competition, aren't the stars lining up for a Lil Kim comeback? Isn't it time for her to capitalize on those 200 songs she wrote while she was in the big house?

8- Speaking of comebacks, when is Erykah Badu going to release at least ONE of her rumored THREE albums she's been working on? And didn't she ROCK "Love Hangover"- her tribute to Diana Ross at the 2007 BET Awards?













9- While we're on the subject of rocking the 2007 BET Awards...didn't Bey turn it out, giving the best performance of the night in $100,000 Balenciage leggings? How inappropriate were those "Robo-ho" comments?


10- While we KNOW that Eva "The Diva" Pigford doesn't have a sex tape, wouldn't that seem like the next logical step after her recent "Kylie Minogue meets Pussycat Dolls" stiptease act at a gay ball? (No, THE REAL RE-EDIT isn't going to post the video- partly because its made its rounds on the blog cycle...but also because the footage isn't of great quality!)

11- Is Iman passing the "must-book black girl" title onto the modeling world's newest "it" girl, Chanel Iman?





FLASHBACK...Let's devote this flashback segment to Ms. Kelly- back when she could do no wrong in her solo career. Although her management team faces a different kind of "dilemma" now, remember when she and Nelly topped the charts with this "Dilemma"?

Monday, July 16, 2007

Haute Couture ups the fashion quotient!!!


High fashion has been taking an image-beating in recent years. Couture clients like Nan Kempner are dying and not being replaced with "fresh blood". The spectacle (and discipline) of haute couture collections has taken a serious fall in the public eye, as even the most serious of fashionistas have lowered their sartorial standards. Fashion plates that would never even think to shop for gear at department stores that weren't in some way associated with Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, Barney's or Neiman Marcus are stealthily finding their way into doors without these monikers. The novelty of fashion design stalwarts like Karl Lagerfeld, Proenza Schouler, Isaac Mizrahi, Fiorucci, Stella McCartney, Libertine and Yohji Yamamoto stepping off of their fashion high horses to offer their designs at places like Target, H&M, and Adidas has become commonplace; and this fall, more "downscale" offerings include top names such as Vera Wang at Kohl's, Devi Kroell at Target and Roberto Cavalli at H&M. What's a fashion snob to do, when buying off the rack seems de riguer, and flocking to couture shows are being made de mode?

I'll tell you what you do. You thank GOD that Lagerfeld and Galliano are STILL the fierce fashion queens that they are, and that they have come to save haute couture by raising the ante for couture fashion shows!!!


First, Karl Lagerfeld began the latest trend in runway excess in May when Chanel brought two Challenger 601 jets to Santa Monica airport, transforming a hangar into a futuristic terminal lounge for an over-the-top fashion show for 600 guests...


Then Galliano decided to throw his hat into the contest by holding Dior's 60th anniversary haute couture show Monday night- in the majestic Orangerie of Versailles! Picture it: the longest runway in history. A procession of the world's fiercest veteran models (do the names Naomi, Linda, Shalom, and Irina ring any bells?) wearing one-of-a-kind, decadent gowns. An A-list front row that included Charlize Theron, Kate Hudson, Harvey Weinstein, Sofia Coppola and Juliette Binoche. An after-party for 1,000 that transformed the gardens into a disco with roving musicians, tents with chandeliers and gigantic pans of paella.





Galliano gave new meaning to the term "artsy", with a breathtaking collection inspired by painters, illustrators and photographers. Complete extravagance!!!



Just when you thought the deal was sealed, Mr. Valentino steps in with a three-day couture event in Rome that kicked off Saturday with a party amid the ruins of the Imperial Forums! WHAT???!!!
Fueling what some feel is Mr. Valentino's retirement, a host of his peers were in attendance (among them were Monseiur Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Tom Ford, Diane von Furstenberg and Giorgio Armani). But it wasn't a retrospective; Valentino was definitely not going into the night quietly...






Although there were a few of his signature red couture dresses, his palette stayed within the black and off-white spectrum, with a couple of purple dresses and some really lovely pink pieces thrown in as a surprise...




And now for the Grande Dame...In the fall, the house of Fendi will host a runway show to top them all, with models strutting down the f*(U)C*^NG Great Wall of China!!!!

Fashion insiders have been asking: what's next, Louis Vuitton on the moon?

Chanel Iman sporting Jean Paul Gaultier trapezing off the Eiffel Tower? (Shown here at the Gaultier Fall 2007 couture show)



Coco Rocha in Christian LaCroix ramping through the dirt at Stonehenge? (Shown here also at the Gaultier Fall 2007 couture show)














Where will it all end? Maybe with Armani Prive or Alexander McQueen having their couture shows at a Target department store parking lot, who knows...




Questions for the Fashion Zeitgeist- the Fall 2007 Couture Edition...
1- at 5'9, under 110 pounds and with a name like Chanel Iman, did this girl have a choice to do anything BUT be a model?






2- Wasn't Ricardo Tisci's couture collection for Givenchy BEAUTIFUL!!!??





Catch u on the runway, kids!!!

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Stop Playin!!! -June 2007

STOP PLAYIN’!!!!
-(My jaded commentary on recent major pop-culture headlines- for those who have been under a rock for the last 3 months (like me!). From the inane to the political to the preposterous. Cmon y’all…STOP PLAYIN!!!)






Summer ‘07: Paris, prophylactics, and praying for forgiveness…
I’m glad that this blog gives me the forum to repeat one of my ‘catch phrases’. I use it every time I see injustice, double standards, or just plain foolishness. At the end of the day, I couldn’t care less about Paris’ long-overdue jail experience or if Lindsay Lohan EVER went to rehab with Amy Winehouse. Forget all of that; THESE are the things going through MY head this summer…


I guess I am FORCED to comment on Paris Hilton going to jail since this IS partly a pop culture blog and these days she is the biggest thing going. My whole thing is this: respected journalists who SHOULD be reporting on the catastrophe in Iraq or the potential American cultural shift of having a woman or black president are PRESSURED- either by programming managers (a.k.a., ratings whores) or by pop culture junkies (present company included!) who would rather stream TMZ.com than CNN.com- to chronicle EVERY SINGLE MOMENT of her incarceration! CNN dedicating half of their nightly news segment to PARIS HILTON? STOP PLAYIN!!!!! Watching Paris do jail time is about as interesting as hearing her repeat incessantly the only declarative statement she has ever made (“that’s hot!”). What about what Paris does AFTER she gets out of prison? How about THAT? As far as I’m concerned, unless she discovers the cure for the common cold (or AIDS), there’s nothing this woman can do that would change the public’s perspective of her as an “heir-head”

Let me put the Paris and Lindsay thing in perspective, so that it pertains to US- people of color…
FIRST it was dancing on club tabletops without panties. THEN it was the “Are Hollywood Actresses too thin?” issue. NOW it seems La Hilton and La Lohan have started ANOTHER trend, and once again it’s not an appealing one. Usually, WE are the trendsetters (and the early adopters) in this country, but thanks to two of the craziest white girls on the planet, drinking and driving appears to be "the new black" these days (or new amongst the blacks). Hollywood heavyweights like Nicole Richie, Halle Berry, Michelle Rodriguez, Shemar Moore, Vivica A. Fox, Tracy Morgan. Mike Tyson (that’s a surprise!) and Eve are partaking of the latest aperitif of 'alcohol mixed with automobile'. So in addition to being pulled over at disproportionate rates for “driving while black”, we now have to worry about “driving while black…AND drunk”? STOP PLAYIN, y’all…or visit MADD...






According to “REAL news”, counterfeit condoms are being sold in corner grocery stores (bodegas!) in Harlem. FAKE Magnum condoms being circulated in Harlem? ARE YOU SERIOUS? I mean, its hard enough to get the kids to USE safe sex, now you want to give them potentially faulty prophylactics? STOP PLAYIN!!!!! According to reports, fakes are “smaller”, have a sweet fragrance to them, and are packaged in cheap plastic squares (the real ones are packaged in heavy foil that bend to the touch…TRUST me!).
Conspiracy theorists should be all up in arms over this one. DUI may be 'the new black', but are “rogue rubbers” the new CRACK? Are those defective dick protectors being placed in poor neighborhoods (like that cheap psuedococaine of the 80s) in the continuing efforts of the right wing to rid this country of blacks, jews, and gays?
(By the way, for the complete skinny on how to verify your jimmy hats, you can contact parent company Church and Dwight at 800.575.2925, and remember to always try to get them from licensed pharmacies or reputable retail chains…Knowledge is POWER!)

Speaking of getting rid of blacks, jews, and gays: Jerry Falwell passed in May of this year.I’ve always been weary of organized religion’s “opinion” of the way that I choose to love, so it is with great ambivalence/ambiguity that I “recognize” the death of the “Reverend” Jerry Falwell- founder of the “Moral” Majority" (1979) and “LIBERTY University” (1971). With the proliferation of airquotes I just used, can't you just TASTE the sarcasm? Well apparently there is no moral freedom for the gays, as Falwell had spent a disproportionate amount of his time here on earth rallying against the civil liberties of the IMMORAL minority communities (you know- the gays, feminists, non-Christians, etc.) He once said “AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexualism." If we are to believe that we have a fair and just God, how can we possibly pit that belief against the idiotic dogma that the creation of this disease is divine retribution for a love that HE created? Falwell gets a resounding “STOP PLAYIN!!!!” And apparently- in the wake of his death- he has…


Someone else who has stopped playing (the role of Dr. Preston Burke on ABC’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, that is) is Isaiah Washington- after being fired from the hit show for making anti-homo remarks towards his homo co-star T.R. Knight.
Hmmmm... So let me get this right: its okay for repugnant political pundit Ann Coulter to vigorously defend her offensive anti-gay remarks with regard to a presidential candidate (the most UNintelligent epithet you can use while seemingly participating in intelligent political discourse); but let a brother slip up- then "man up" and apologize, go through “therapy” and the public tongue-lashing that came with it- and he is STILL out of a job? Makes you wanna say STOP PLAYIN!!!


VIDEO killed the R&B/pop star…









On the music front, one thing occurred to me about what I’m seeing on BET/VH-1 and the whole Viacom juggernaut lately. Here is the thought that found its way into the somewhat solipsistic bubble above my head…


Last season, Beyonce sealed it with her “videorama” for her ‘Bday’ CD, making videos for EVERY SINGLE on the album (and appearing flawlessly done in every last one of them!). Then Rihanna- perhaps taking a page from ‘Bey’, matures right before our eyes and ups the glam quotient with her uber-sexy video for ‘Umbrella’.


Not to be outdone, rapper (and trend-following DUI perpetrator) Eve- both while guesting on Kelly Rowland’s summer club-banger “Like This” AND bringing it through with the hyper-stylized video for her Swizz Beatz-produced lead single “Tambourine” - showed us what Lumineers and a BANGIN’ diet can do for your video.














My question is this…with all of this seemingly unattainable beauty in videos lately, can regular (albeit equally as talented) women like Fantasia, Faith Evans, and Missy even compete in the video game anymore? I mean, really…the bar is so high now that female artists can’t come out looking any old kind of way anymore. Any female artist that comes out now without a FIERCE stylist on her creative team is likely to be met with a resounding STOP PLAYIN!!!


One too many "Baby Boy"s...
Before I sign off, I have to say this: Any man 25 and older should cease infantilizing themselves by putting the misnomer “Lil” or any variation of “Young” in their names! There, I said it! ”. I’m going to spare Yung Joc (who just turned 24 in April), Lil Scrappy (who is 23) and Lil Romeo (who will be18 in August). However… Lil Wayne may be ‘lil’ in stature, but this year (according to a past arrest) he will be 28 damn years old!!! On top of that, he himself has fathered a “lil” girl! Lil Flip is 26, Lil Jon is 36 (YEAH, he is!). Even Lil Bow Wow (who just turned 20 this past March), dropped the juvenile-like moniker from his name and became just Bow Wow. Young Jeezy…ISN’T- he’ll be 30 in September! STOP PLAYIN!!! You all are grown ass men- act like it!


While we’re at it, let’s talk about Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson. Now, I can’t knock his hustle as far as endorsements and business dealings go; in that respect he has gotten his "grown man" on and become smart about making his money. However, Mr Jackson- who is well into his thirties- is still topping the charts with singles like “Candy Shop” and his ‘07 hit “Amusement Park”. Can’t we leave those adolescent topics to up and comers like rap chanteuse Lil Mama (who, at only 17, has a right to talk about her lip gloss) or the next “big” Lil, Lil Boosie? Mr. Jackson (and all the rest of you) please…STOP PLAYIN!!!


But I digress…for now!!!