ARTE: Where are you POTUS

I need for the president to speak out and up on national police reform and police terrorism.

ARTE: LETS TALK: EJ HILL

We had a magical night with EJ HILL last Saturday.  The open conversation between Hill and everyone else in the room was engaging to say the least, in the case of this emerging performance artist the best way to describe the night was "he was present"

Recorded live via U-stream the night of the conversation.

Above images courtesy Treyvon X

ARTE: F#CK THAT

a million times yasssssssss

ARTE: KENTRUAH'S RADIO INTERVIEW

Kenturah's radio interview about her solo exhibit Narratives and Meditations

ARTE: Kenturah's Radio Interview

Kenturah has a great interview on OFF RAMP with John Rabe.  Click the photo to read/listen!

ARTE: B.A.R.

Last week installation artist and sculptor Theaster Gates hosted the first Black Artists Retreat in Chicago.  This also served as an introduction to the many projects Theaster has in progress.  The Black Cinema House, Archive Library, Blair House, Dorchester Artist Housing Collaborative, Hyde Park Art House, and the Kimbark Warehouse are all located on the south side of Chicago and will serve the communities they reside in, in a most immediate way.

The retreat was an opportunity for artists of many generations to meet, talk and plan for collaborative initiatives and ideas for the future.

Kenturah Davis and MJP were lucky and honored to be invited.  Were looking forward to the wonderful new things that will come out of it!

All photos below by Kenturah Davis

MJP & Carrie Mae Weems in dialogueTheaster GatesDinner at the Kimbark WarehouseB.A.R. guest & Curator Amanda HuntArtists - Kenturah Davis & Terence NanceArtists - Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems & Todd Gray

ARTE: Friends of Free Expression

These Ai Weiwei new phone and ipad covers are stellar. Staying true to his idea of free expression you can put various quotes from the artist on the backs of your devices.  They are genius and starting at just $15 there is no reason not to get one! Here is what Friends of Ai Weiwei had to say.

"This is the first in a series of high quality gelskins and cases designed to personalize and protect portable devices. Proceeds go to help fund our efforts to raise awareness to the challenges Ai Weiwei faces with the Chinese Authorities and promote free expression via art and activism around the world. Thank you for your support and following."

Get them at friendsoffreeexpression.com/collections/skins-and-cases

ARTE: TED TALKS VIRTUAL CHOIR

Read this article on Huffington Post over the weekend about the Virtual Choir.  This video is a new collaborative project between Huff Post and TED Talks. Many people coming together to do something they love and create something exceptional.

ARTE: Printed Matter LA Art Book Fair Recap

Picked up some goodies at the Geffen's Printed Matter LA Art Book Fair! It was a fun time and they had the best food trucks out front...finally got to indulge in a sweet treat from Coolhaus LA (the first food truck inspired by amazing design and architecture and ice cream!)  The weekend was a total success!

       

ARTE: Be Beautiful Project video recap

Love all the beautiful people that turned out and are posting things like this! THANK U to kingjaythree

ARTE: SF'SS Young Folks Edition

We hosted the the Peapod Art and Music Academy premiere of there short film Love, Life and Hate.  The film was shot by a group 13-14 year olds that live in Watts.  They interviewed other teenagers in there neighborhood to create a short documentary about the things they deal with in love, life and hate as a teenager in 2011.  I was really proud and blown away by what they presented.  With students like these the future is so bright for America.

The young film makers with Chris Stamp and there graffiti wall

LOVE 

LIFE

HATE

ARTE: KEITH HARING QUOTE

See, when I paint, it is an experience that, at its best, is transcending reality.

ARTE: OCCUPY LA ART

LA TIMES gets it right on this one…we were at #OCCUPYLA facilitating art classes with the youth down there, we were located right next to the Wish Tree where anyone can right down there wishes and hang them around the trunk. A large percentage of the teenagers that stopped by wished there was no violence in there community.

Other things that are worth mentioning are the People’s University (where class was in session when I dropped in), the Library, Meditation and Free Yoga, the Theatre Co., Kids Village, the free solar powered wifi tower and a plethora of other creative things springing up by the minute.

ARTE: Jerry Saltz x Generation Blank

Art Critic and judge on the Bravo reality show "Work of Art" Jerry Saltz recently pinned this article titled "Generation Blank" for his column in New York Magazine.  Have a read on Jerry's take about the new generation of artists, art schools and lack of voice in today's art.  Were inviting you to share thoughts on this one, so leave a comment below. 

"The beautiful, cerebral, ultimately content-free creations of art’s well-schooled young lions."