Newspaper review of the art show we curated

Just a quick note today with the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle review of the art show we curated.

The link to their web page is gone now (mid May), so here is a copy of David Raymond's review in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Black artists connected through the ages
The importance of art is passed along through 'Generations'

David Raymond

(February 19, 2007) — Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest.

"Generations," the current exhibition at 1570 Gallery at Valley Manor, began with curator Jean Pope Boyle's desire to have a Black History Month exhibit, and her invitation to popular local artists Cheryl and Don Olney to serve as guest curators. The former social worker (Cheryl) and toy maker (Don) turned full-time artists had never curated an exhibit before, but they were willing to try.

All they needed was a theme — and they needed it fast, since the exhibit was due to open in a month. But they found it, inspired by a recent commission to design and create a wooden Sankofa. The West African symbol's name means "return and get it," or as Cheryl Olney interprets it, "the process of learning from the past as we build the future." This gave them the idea of generations of artists, sometimes literally related to each other, building upon one another's work.

Cheryl, "who knows everyone in town," according to Don, immediately started asking friends and professional acquaintances for work. With the quantity and the quality of the responses, the show quickly "developed its own energy," as Cheryl puts it.

That simple idea turned out to be remarkably rich. The art that arrived at 1570 Gallery truly spanned the generations, from acrylic paintings by 11-year-old Kimicah Roberson, to photographs by junior high school students, to work by professional artists of long standing. All currently live in Rochester, and most are Rochester born and educated as well.
The moment you enter the gallery, your eye is immediately drawn to the Olneys' Generations, a vibrantly painted wood piece showing several generations of African-American women in red, green and purple outfits against a glowing blue background.

The exhibit is rich in inviting, exuberant pieces like the Olneys', including the quilted piece Exotic Perennial, by former Garth Fagan dancer Frances Hare, which also hangs near the entrance to the gallery. This rare bloom is resplendent in gold, orange and brown, and its tendrils reach right out to the viewer.

These fanciful pieces are countered by striking, somber images like Eddie Davis III's two Clown Paintings — done entirely and unexpectedly in black, white and gray — and complex, thoughtful work like Shawn Dunwoody's collage Brown is the Magic Number. Full of references to recent African-American history and to education, Dunwoody's piece carries the "Generations" theme in a nutshell: If you want to move ahead, know what came before you.

While many of the pieces in "Generations" delineate contemporary African-American life, others seem to reach back through the centuries. Faruk Kaiyum's delicate silver and white-gold jewelry would befit a princess, and Calvin Hubbard's clay stoneware pieces recall ancient pottery. At first sight, Hubbard's Mother and Turtle seems to refer to some sort of folklore or creation myth, but Hubbard says his inspiration was his mother, who "proceeded slowly, but always went forth in spite of all obstacles." The piece is a tribute to persistence.

House Maid, by MCC professor emeritus Betty Hopkins, gives a black interpretation to Vermeer's iconic European painting of a servant pouring water from a pitcher. Hopkins' daughter, Leda Hopkins-Mack, is represented in the show by her two hand-woven fabrics, Red Delight and Purple Mist. And Hopkins' professional colleague, MCC faculty member Athesia Benjamin, contributes several untitled oils, the most striking of which is a large, imposing portrait of an older black couple.

José Flores' simple but haunting Darfur, an oil pastel of an African woman in native dress with a sad expression, is the last image you see in "Generations," and it stays with you, saying as much about the costs of war and racial conflict as a more obviously political image.

A highlight of "Generations" is a group of seven black-and-white photographs by students from Studio 789, the Wilson Foundation Academy Photo Club. The subjects range from Janet Jackson, to a baby in a bath, to a powerful study of a group of locks from chains formerly worn by slaves. Rodney Allen Young contributes a group of vivid color photos of Senegalese and Ghanaian natives.

"Generations" unites several generations of black artists, but since many of them graduated from, are enrolled in or have taught in Rochester schools, it also highlights the artistic creativity flourishing there. "We were thrilled not only to encourage the young people," says Boyle, "but also to combat all the negative things we hear about the Rochester City Schools."

David Raymond is a freelance writer.