Wesley Clark My Big Black America was acquired by the Asheville Art Museum. This acquisition was a collaborative effort between Galerie Myrtis and C. Grimaldis Gallery both based in Baltimore, MD.
“The piece, My Big Black America, was my tribute to the election of President Obama. I, like many other artists, wanted to create a work that spoke to that momentous occasion but I didn’t want to do a portrait. It took me two years of working through ideas and presentations to come the one we see today. While working through these ideas, I began to realize the event was bigger than President Obama. It was the first time I, and many other Black Americans, said “our” country, “our” president. It was the first time we felt that we had a claim– an acknowledged claim. Listening to Carrie Mae Weems’ Art 21 talk, helped me to take a step back and realize that. So for me it was all about pride. The aged and weathered nature of the wood, brings a sense of time, of work-worn living, and speaks to founding of this country– the labor, the industrialization– it’s all in there.”
– Wesley Clark
Read. Think. Act. is a series of three puzzles based on two quotes by Malcolm X, designed to actively engage viewers. Once solved, the crossword puzzle reveals a quote by Malcolm X, while the circled words in the word search present a quote by him. The third section is a slide puzzle portrait created to be a team exercise. These puzzles are typically done individually, yet at this scale they are transformed into a group activity; the underlying concept being the building of community, advancing further, faster.
(via Galerie Myrtis. Photo: Copyright © 2018 Galerie Myrtis Fine Art & Advisory, All rights reserved.)
