...seasons change

Peace all,

Summer's kicked off, and where am I you may ask? Well I'm up north, but only for a couple of days though. But it is a different atmosphere than in Dallas, especially with it being the month of Ramadhan, the holy month of fasting for the Muslims. When I got here I figured that I would not fast during my brief stay due to the travelling, but felt that well, maybe I would try Saturday, since it would be a full day. The biggest difference is that here sunrise begins around 3:30 AM!!!! So that's like an hour and a half difference as opposed to Dallas were it begins after 5AM. With that said, I missed my pre-fasting meal, and with the lack of sleep preparing for this trip, I decided that I will resume after I get back. I wish I could stay much longer,  I saw some excellent shots that I could've used, but my batteries needed recharging. waaah waah waaaaaaah.... Hopefully I'll be able to take some shots before I leave, but I have priorities back home...Maybe sometimes soon.

But before I left, I completed a display at my local library containing a few piece I'd finished, plus an additional piece I finished a day before leaving. The entire display is entitled Portraits of My Neighborhood, depicting the scenes that I see and wish to talk about in my area in Southeastern Dallas.

 The piece on the upper left hand is part of my Complex series, dealing with inferiority complexes in the African American communities, especially among color and class. Usually these talks are taboo in our neck of the woods, but somebody's gotta open up the discussions. It's touchy, but very needed that we get an honest discussion about internal issues as well, that is IF we want to grow and progress. Too many times people fall into the old mode of blaming those who did not follow the footsteps of the civil rights movement as the reason why Blacks are still behind in the social structures of America, but fail to look at the WHOLE picture.

 This was the first piece I did, I entitled it specifically Portrait of My Hood, which I exhibited in June's Uncensored exhibit at the Art Hotel, which resided in Downtown Dallas before their recent move to the Gallery at Midtown, in Valley View Mall. This piece has a collage on the sides, which depicted the many aspects in my area, from the lottery tickets, to condom boxes, cigar wrappers, and what have you. The collage on the bottom was my thinking, to give display a little ambience. I was a little hesitant you know, seeing that I was exhibiting things of a more mature theme, but after you see how the youth are behaving, I thought of it as a necessity to point out a few things. The other picture on the right was done in late 2012, where I used sgraffito with oil pastels. Came out nice, I think.

This piece on the right I finished it shortly before Thursday, as a complement to the other portrait, however I was unable to add any collage to it, due to the texture that I constructed on the piece, which didn't allow the pieces to stick consistently, so I just left it as it was.

So overall it's been a very interesting weekend, and it's looking up. On the downside one of my biggest and best supporters from the Highland Hills Library branch will be leaving, she'll be reassigned to another library, where she's making connections to have my work exhibited there as well. At least she'll be present for my project with the youth on July 27th. Ms. Almetta Russell has been very instrumental with my progression as a community artist, along with Ms. Letissa Milburn. They have both been in the trenches as far as the Dallas library branch is concerned, trying to get my work exposed through those channels. It's not easy being from my area, trying to break into certain arenas and bring a voice from the other side. But they've supported me, and I support my area to the fullest....This is just the beginning....

Reporting Live From Edgeville......PEACE OUT!!!

Good Night all.... www.qartworks.com

UPDATE: This blog was finished a few hours before the unsurprising verdict of George Zimmerman was handed down. My heart goes out to the Martin family or any family for that matter, but this was not a surprise in the least. At least for me it wasn't. I won't go into a long drawn out tangible over something that didn't surprise me in the least. If you've followed my blog you will know that I have put out articles from Democracy Now about the murders of the Sikhs in their temple, along with Kenneth Chamberlain, and the injustice he received, so it's no surprise that racism rears its' ugly head again, and reason goes out the window. I'm just surprised that a nation who continues to brag and boast about its intellectual prowess can't seem to figure out what type of crash course it's headed towards....oh well...some people gotta learn the hard way....peace out and THINK! 

Sum-ma Sum-ma Summahtime!!! (Scenes from the Uncensored Exhibit)





Had a great time at the Art Hotel's Uncensored Exhibit in Downtown Dallas on June 15th. Saw some amazing work, also received news that the gallery is moving from its Downtown location and heading up north to the Gallery at Midtown at Valley View Mall. Kinda saddened in a way, but happy for them, especially because there will be more space for them(and me too!) to exhibit their work, and plus being in the mall will give them a bigger presence, especially since the Gallery at Midtown holds an artwalk every third Saturday of the month.  I tried submitting my work to the gallery about a month ago, but ran into some difficulties. Hope this move will work out for them.

Some people(like me) took a lot of shots that night, although for viewer discretion, I didn't include any of the mature themes in this blog. Guess you had to be there to see it. The piece on the wall was done by Sharon Neal Bagley, one of the co-ops at the gallery. Couldn't take separate pics of the piece, so I got it all in one shot. Please excuse the lady taking pictures....lol

This is another interesting piece by Rita Barnard, entitled Ball of Confusion, a piece that also contained a book made by her describing the inspiration behind the piece. She had a lot of questions, especially after her only sister died of cancer. This made her question a lot of things in life, and she also offered viewers to add their own questions.

Artist Samantha McNulty created these two exciting pieces called Escape. They were done with screenprint and other mediums. This gave me some ideas about some things I am working on, especially with the screenprint.



This was a nice piece about Bob Dylan. I can't remember who the artist is who created it, but they also included some 3D glasses, to give it a certain feel when you look at it. I didn't try it out though.



This is my piece Hardwired 101, which is a look into addiction. I want to get the people to start looking at addiction in an emphathetic way, instead of casting judgement on people for either becoming addicted or not rehabilitating as quick as we would like for them to.  I'm pleased with the outcome, but I want to do more, and increase the scale.

Another patron looking at my second entry entitled Portrait of My Hood. This piece gathered alot of attention and compliments for the theme and styling. The sides of the canvas have collage ranging from lotto tickets to condom boxes, depicting scenes and thoughts about the area I live.

I enjoyed this piece as well, although the name and the artist escapes me. My sincerest apologies to the artist.



This is one of the funniest and best pieces there. It's an assemblage entitled The Nut Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree. It's filled with some of the most peculiar statements that former President George W. Bush made while in office. The one that got me was the statement that he wanted to shake the hand of the brave Iraqi who had his hands cut off. I'm still tripping over that one.



  

Overall is was a great event, and what a way to cap off a great first half of the year artwise for the Q. I was blessed to participate in 4 shows, two at the TVAA Gallery earlier in the year, the TVAA New Members and the Wildness of Nature exhibits, and two with the Art Hotel Collective's exhibits The Whole Enchilada and Uncensored. Not bad for someone who basic is not known in the art scene. I had hoped that my work would be considered for the New Texas Talent show at the Craighead Green Gallery, but that looks bleak. Am I down? Honestly, yes, but not too down.  I've enjoyed the openings I've crashed at the Continental Gin Studios, Waleed Arshad, Jamaal Stafford, Kijana Martin, Janice Thacker, Jerome Bolden, and others that I've had the privilege to meet and greet and share infomation. I may take a break from it all, especially in getting ready for Ramadhan, the Islamic month of fasting, which should start in July, but I do have a community program in late July, where I will be helping the youth in creating collages.  Hopefully I can resurface in late August, when the Art Hotel Collective opens up at the Gallery in Midtown...who knows? Take care all... www.qartworks.com

                                          

Yeah...I'm Here....(Hardwired 101)

peace all....Been a while but I've been busy, that's all I can say at the moment...LOL....Anyway I want to briefly mention a show this upcoming Saturday in Downtown Dallas that I'm exhibiting two pieces in...the name of the exhibit is UNCENSORED...oooooooh....that's all I can say on that note.

This gives me a chance to touch up on some issues that's been kicking my head around, and I finally found an avenue to let it all loose...Now that's not saying that I don't feel comfortable with the TVAA Gallery in Downtown Dallas, but as I stated in an earlier post that you do have to know your audience when you venture into certain galleries, for everyone has different tastes, along with different limits, and I have no problem at all with that. While submitting my pieces at the gallery, I got a glimpse at a couple of pieces from other artists...I began to wonder if I should even participate because of some of the subject matter that were present. Truth is although the exhibit is uncensored, I do keep a personal censorship in what I present, for reasons I won't go into detail here. But after thinking about what I could represent here, I wanted to be there even more. My work which comes from personal/firsthand accounts, along with other things I've read or was told, is more geared with the struggles of the common human, especially from my neck of the woods, which I call Edgeville. At any time in my area I can be hit up for anything from food, money, even bus passes. One on the weirdest incidents came from a person who asked me for money for gas for his car. He's in a car, I'm walking, but he's asking me for gas money. Then he gets mad when I explain I don't have money. Beginning to think this consistent begging for things is more psychological than anything. I mean I believe that many people who panhandle are doing so out of panic of the mere mentioning of a KRMNL economy. But I guess if you're trained to think that these people had your best interest in heart, I can understand why the sudden panic when it becomes apparent that they can care less....

This is an excerpt of a work that will be presented at the exhibit entitled Hardwired 101...It's an introductory look at addiction of all sorts. It's a 20 x 20 piece that I can say I loved working on, but after looking at it, I wanted to increase the size...God Willing I will be looking into making an even larger piece. I can't get all that I wanted into the piece, so it encourages me to make more pieces centering around this topic. Hence the 101...This is just the beginning, God Willing...

There's another piece entitled Portrait of My Hood, but I don't think pictures will even justify that one...I may post it though...

It's going to be interesting though...that's all I can say....Yeah...I'm Here....Deal with it....

Salaams and Good Evening.... www.qartworks.com

Brother Ali - Work Everyday