Cultural icons

Celebrating Black History Month in art

by Leon Nigrosh

A CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY At the UMass Medical Center Gallery, 55 Lake Avenue North, through February 28.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH At the ARTSWorcester Gallery at Quinsigamond Community College, 670 West Boylston Street, through February 25.

It's been assumed that African traditions are passed along chiefly through oral history, storytelling, music, and performance of ritualized dance. But for centuries there has also been a continuous thread of vibrant visual communication through drawing, textiles, and sculpture that adds to all the rich and varied African and AfricanAmerican customs, which are the center of attention during Black History Month.

The Charles Houston Cultural Project, which provides opportunities for youngsters to learn about African-American heritage, is sponsoring the exhibition currently on display at the UMass Medical Center Gallery. Two dozen works from several African nations compete for attention with some equally strong visual commentary from African-American artists.

One of the most commanding works is a Kente, or men's wrapper, tightly woven in bright green, hot orange, and deep red on a white field. This cloak, nearly eight feet per side, is a contemporary version of the garments an Ashanti king would wear in the presence of British colonials. Another men's wrapper, an Adinkra from Ghana, is mill-woven white cotton stamped in black with repeated designs and symbols, thought to bring good luck and protect the wearer from evil.

To keep warm as they traveled from Sudan to Senegal, the nomadic Fulani wore heavy blankets of hand-spun sheep's wool commissioned from local weavers. The example on display is a majestic Khasa woven with a distinctive linear pattern of triangles and diamonds in black with brown highlights. Specific symbols related to the owner's family are also a part of the total design. The anonymous weaver is obviously quite skilled in his craft. Only upon close examination can you see that this blanket was actually woven in six narrow strips and then stitched into perfect alignment.

There are many more textile examples from the Motherland, but some of the most fanciful work in this show was done on this side of the ocean. Connecticut textile artist and quiltmaker Georgia Thomas has taken swatches of African cloth combined them with colorful stitched images of African masks and musical instruments. Both her Healing Cloth and her Soothing Harmony Jacket embody traditional African quilting concepts -- serving as genealogical records that might also heal the sick.

At the other end of town, Quinsigamond Community College and ARTSWorcester present a new series of socio-political, visual (and performing) art events with the work of four area artists in recognition of Black History Month.

Worcester artist Chip Harris, an artist since 1993, adeptly handles the difficult medium of pastels. It is all too easy to smudge the chalky drawings, but Harris keeps his colors clean and bold. Four of the seven pieces in the exhibit are ostensibly self-portraits. We might understand a purple head as having Anxious Moments, or a green visage expressing the notion that Serenity Has Its Moments. But what are we to make of Self Portrait #1, which offers only a large, vertical, blue fish?

Harris explains that this image has become an icon for his association with his art teacher, the late Sally Bishop, who urged him to explore his talent and his inner self. Harris believes Bishop is his guardian angel, and through this aquatic image he can still communicate with her.

Jamaica-born Elton Braithwaite communicates with his carved-wood reliefs. Much of his imagery is drawn from the indigenous cultures of the South Pacific, Africa, Asia, and South America. His Mayan Relief is a bold interpretation of the anthropomorphic creatures typical to Maya temple art. Braithwaite highlights the ferocity of his subjects' expression by leaving the background roughly carved.

Eighty-two-year-old Reggie Walley communicates through song, dance, and paint. This local jazzman has covered many bases in his long and productive life. From dancing on the street for pennies to running some of the biggest dance schools in the area to operating two of the swingin'est clubs in Worcester, Walley now spends his time playing in a jazz band and painting. Reggie Walley Band sums this up. In his mostly homegrown, naïve style, he presents a portrait of trumpeter Barney Price, bassist "Bunny" Price, and himself, or as he refers to it, "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

With Emily James reading some of her poetry at the opening reception, these shows have taken us full circle through the customs and cultures of the rich African and African-American visual and performing traditions.

The UMass Medical Center Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 856-2000.

The ARTSWorcester Gallery at Quinsigamond Community College is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Call 854-4281.