L O O K:
Ken Moore: Another Conversation in Black Surreality
Frederick Holmes & Company showcased the paintings of contemporary artist Ken Moore last year in his first-ever solo show in the Pacific Northwest. This month, the Pioneer Square gallery is bringing back his impressive collection of paintings for a second month-long exhibition. A resident of Los Angeles and an owner of The Howling Monk jazz club, Moore paints in a colorfully vivid blend of Cubist & Surrealist styles, and frequently incorporates motifs reminiscent of his love for jazz music into his work in addition to themes around the culture, history, and myths of the African Diaspora.
Born and raised in Southside Chicago, Moore began nurturing a talent for painting and drawing as a young child. He recalls that his favorite day of the week was Sunday, the day on which his father would bring home a pressed shirt from Chinese Laundry on 43rd St, “Each shirt was packaged with a thin piece of cardboard. One side was very glossy white, the other side was very dull grey…the cardboard was mine to use as I pleased. The cheap cardboard may as well have been a sheet of expensive Strathmore drawing paper…” Moore continued to develop his talent and eventually studied at The Art Institute of Chicago under Ray Yoshida.
In this solo Seattle exhibition titled Another Conversation in Black Surreality, Moore’s 25 paintings dating from 1973 to 2018 will encompass the gallery’s entire first floor. In his artist statement, Moore references an essay by James Baldwin titled Many Thousands Gone in which Baldwin described the ‘Negro in America’ as “that shadow which lies athwart our national life” and further as “a series of shadows, self-creating, intertwining,” and finally as people who do not “really exist except in the darkness of our minds.” Moore goes on to say that “Baldwin’s descriptions contain an unsettling mysterious quality; a surreal quality that is not uncommon in most African American cultural expression; a conscious worldview I call Black Surreality. As a "Black Man" I assume this consciousness comes into everything I do - including my art.”
W A T C H:
Atlantics by Mati Diop and Keepers of The Dream
In honor of Oscar season, which dismayed us with its glaring lack of diversity, specifically in the Best Director and Best Films categories, we sat down with local filmmaker and cultural critic Charles Mudede to ask him what film should have been in the running this month. His top pick is a Senegalese film from up-and-coming director Mati Diop. This past year Diop made history with her first feature film Atlantics, and its presence at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Not only was Diop the first-ever female black director to compete at Cannes, but she also was the first to win, and took home the prestigious Grand Prix award.
Atlantics portrays the plight of Ada, a young 17-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. She is set to marry a wealthy man, but is in love with Souleiman, a poor construction worker. After Souleiman’s sudden disappearance, Ada must contend with a life without him, and allegations arise of her involvement in a crime that Souleiman may have committed. The story weaves in themes of death, escape, and migration, and does so in an ethereal, and sometimes fantastical way. Throughout the film, the backdrop of Dakar and the luminous (and at times, looming) sea stand out, and are as important as the two main characters themselves, who were both first-time actors.
“It’s really shocking to me that this film, which stunned critics and viewers at Cannes Film Festival this year, was just completely ignored by the Oscar committee. It should have at least been in the running for best foreign film,” said Mudede. “It’s a beautifully haunting film that portrays a side of the African experience that is not typically seen in cinema. It’s both a romance and a sort of ghost story. So often the African films that get noticed portray war and violence (films like War Witch, Beasts of No Nation, The Pirates of Somalia), but this film gives us another dimension of what it means to be African, and it’s an important film to consider. It deserves much more attention than it’s getting stateside.” Sadly Atlantics’ release in theaters has also been minimal, but it is now available for streaming on Netflix and is an absolute must-see.
Mudede also encourages everyone to head to The Film Forum for the upcoming screenings of Keepers of The Dream: Seattle Women Black Panthers, a series of short documentary films from Patricia Boiko and Tajuan LaBee. This series of five short documentaries shares individual stories in varied Seattle settings significant to the SBPP, and features an original score by SassyBlack. Following the screening on 2/7 will be a Q&A with filmmakers and a panel discussion with Vanetta Molson-Turner, Youlanda Givens, Winona Hollins Hauge, and Phyllis Noble Mobley, facilitated by Malika Lee. The panel Q&A will be filmed and shown following the 2/20 and 3/6 encore screenings. More details on screening dates and times are available here.
T A S T E:
Edouardo Jordan & Nyesha Arrington’s Creations
Acclaimed chef Edouardo Jordan will be hosting a series of eclectic culinary events all throughout the month of February highlighting an array of talented African American chefs, winemakers, and food writers. In case you missed his culinary event Soul of Seattle, which he hosted in partnership with The Junior League earlier this month, there are still several dinners coming up. Of particular note, Jordan will be teaming up with L.A.-based Nyesha Arrington, who will be preparing a multi-course menu at Salare on February 27. Arrington was a star contestant on Top Chef, and has worked in multiple Michelin-starred kitchens in Las Vegas and L.A. Most recently she opened and ran restaurants in Santa Monica and Venice. Her vibrant creations weave in an array of traditions and uniquely local ingredients. Jordan will also be hosting a dinner with Woodinville winemaker Bertony Faustin of Abbey Creek Wines—the first noted black winemaker in the Pacific Northwest—for a multi-course dinner and limited-edition wine release tonight at Salare, and a vegan dinner with writer Bryant Terry on Sunday February 16. All of these dinners are sure to be delicious, festive, and thought-provoking! More details are available here.