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We were in NYC for the week and got to see the exhibit — Powerful, rich, bold work in a genre I have not had much exposure to — so thanks for steering me to it. Overall, it had a primitive, almost muscular feel to it. The colors were strong. It came off two-dimensional in a good way.
We breezed by the long line waiting to get into the Sleeping Beauty fashion exhibit. It was comfortablly uncrowded but well-attended nonetheless. After I’d viewed the art work I sat and watched some great footage of Cab Calloway performances and some great jitterbug/jazz dancers.
As for why the interest in the exhibit is less than the mainstream art that is popular in museums, my take is that, as a country, we are rooted in slavery as much as freedom. There is tension in it. Prejudices are passed on from generation to generation and even though education works to irradicate prejudice it is deeply rooted still. It will take many generations to come before we see oursleves as one people — both here in the US and hopefully ultimately globally. We forget that as a country/culture we are young yet and don’t know what we’re missing. Culture resists evolution. Someday, somewhere, somehow…
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