FYI, my laptop keyboard is not functioning (I am actually on a friend's computer) so that is why I haven't been posting. I have no idea when I am going to get it fixed...as you know technology isn't first on my list at the moment...I decided to purchase a Navajo spindle instead...3ft tall. OH YEAH...I will have to get the posts together for travel up here to this computer.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oh, it was a lovely (and really cold) evening at the opening way back when on January 21. Yes, I know this is a day picture of Peltz Gallery...what good would a night time picture do? You wouldn't be able to see what it looked like. So, let us not get all fussy and make-shift continuity editors OK? (This is not a question...even though there is a question mark...it's a test for you).
You can see Mutope Johnson there in the back giving a short talk about his work. When Townsend and I arrived, there was a talk going on by attending artists (oops...how come I am always late to these sort of things? Again...not really a question). It had started before the "official" opening time because it was a group from the Art Museum.
This is artist Rosemary Ollison, who, after seeing Della's television interview where she was standing in front of my work, said that she MUST have a picture in front of the infamous piece. Clearly, I was not in top blogging form because had I been, I would have made EVERYONE stand in front of that thing.
You can see gallery owner Cissie Peltz in the background (she is the only non-African American person in the picture facing the camera...you can find her). In the foreground is artist George Williams, Jr. and curator/artist Della Wells (wearing a Sonji cowl...crocheted by Sonji from hand spun wool by Sonji...mmmmhmmm...very warm and stylish if I do say so myself...do I really need to finish the run on sentence? You know what's coming. And no, I did not make the hat, it is a commercial object, but still very attractive on the curator).
Oh, and look...super stylish attorney and businesswoman Genyne Edwards and what is that she is wearing? Mmmmhmmm...I will say it...an equally super stylish, one-of-a-kind (very warm), Sonji cowl...Sonji knit (yeah baby...I knit now despite my issues, the wool called for it) from Sonji hand spun wool.
And all the way from Washington, D.C., artists Amber Robles-Gordon and Jamea Richmond Edwards. (Why aren't these fantastic women wearing Sonji cowls...how did they get into this post without them? Of course, next time ladies...you know what you have to do).
Portia Cobb Heyward and THE Brad Bernard (both Sonji cowl-less, but still looking great...once again, this shan't happen next time, right?)
And Della (appropriately attired) in front of George Williams, Jr.'s work.This is definitely a flash-from-the-past...October 2009, to be specific about the flash point. I was cleaning out my drafts/unfinished posts and found images from a great visit to the Kohler Art Center in October 2009 that I never posted (how could that be?). My goddaughter and I went to experience an exhibit I knew she would fall in love with, the work of Xenobia Bailey. This was the third (or fourth, or fifth) time I had seen the exhibit and it was fresh every time. Her work is exciting, accessible, comforting and graphically stunning as well as complex...the kind of complexity that doesn't take itself too seriously but makes a strong comment. I love constructions that create a space that envelopes you...not like a hug, but rather more of an environment that surrounds you as a viewer/participant and transports you. Installation art is a difficult medium and Xenobia's work is an example of parts making the whole succeed. Her work is separate pieces that stand strongly on their own, but when combined enhance her Neo-funk vision of life. 
Kamwas obsessed with this tea setting and the crocheted "living room" area. It had a feel of a classic tea setting in a pristine living room...you know "don't-go-in-there-and-break-anything" vibe, except you can't break a crocheted environment (the china, yes admittedly). My girl is a budding ceramicist. She told me once she loves clay like I love paint. So, I know she isn't joking.
All the pieces, according to Xenobia's gallery talk, continuously evolve, year after year. Nothing is complete. As a viewer, I get much better insight hearing an artist talk about their work instead of simply reading about it or hearing a curator or gallerist or critic discuss the work. I also recall her discussing the development of her fiber obsession ranging from all natural handmade fibers which then turned into using more cost effective acrylics in order to make the work she does currently. Funny to look back on it, having developed my own wool obsession in the following few months. Hmmm.
And her insanely amazing crowns leave me speechless (-ish). She has an etsy site as well for a select few pieces from time to time.
And, proof that I actually met her (cuz I am a super social butterfly baby)...here is the fantabulous Xenobia Bailey in our living room petting the studio assistant, Julie. Xenobia was great fun. Della Wells and I picked her up in the morning from her residency loft in Kohler, stopped to take Julie out, then met Mutope J. Johnson (hey, I'm diggin' the look of this new blog) at the Maharaja for buffet and then we spent a gazillion hours at area thrift stores...ah, it is all coming back to me now. Good times, great work. If Xenobia Bailey's work (or her person) come to a city near you...don't walk...run to go and see it again and again.
Milwaukee Public Television's "Black Nouveau" interviewed Della Wells, the guest curator of the exhibit, along with gallery owner, Cissie Peltz. Della is standing right in front of my piece for much of her interview. Plus, you get a short preview of other work throughout the segment including Reginald Baylor, Mutope J. Johnson, Evelyn Patricia Terry, Sharon Kerry Harlan, Zeph Farmby, George Williams, Jr, Trish Williams, etc. Click here to view the interview on YouTube or you may also watch it on the MPTV website (whichever suits your fancy). It is the very first segment following the introduction. Plus, following that segment, there is a great piece about the Milwaukee Art Museum's exhibit of internationally renown artist Chakaia Booker's work you might want to check out as well.
