[ISLMA-Share] Book suggestion

Tue Nov 28 15:31:51 CST 2017

Here are a few... (my apologies for weird formatting.)

Title:
Nine artists expand what 'Afrofuturism' means in the always-fleeting moment
By: Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, The, 09/07/2017
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Originally describing African American science fiction from Samuel R.
Delany's novels to Funkadelic's jams, "Afrofuturism" has grown to encompass
far more. Nonetheless, Niama Safia Sandy balances the term with another in
the subtitle of "Black Magic: AfroPasts/AfroFutures," which she curated for
Honfleur Gallery. An update of a show in Brooklyn last year, this
nine-artist version includes three Washingtonians amid a mostly New York
cast.
The most explicitly archival work is Adama Delphine Fawundu's "In the Face
of History," a wall of documents about the oppression of African Americans,
women and other marginalized groups. Atop each piece she has overprinted a
silhouette of her own head, perusing the past as shown in news clippings
about lynchings, a photo of suffragettes and the cover of "Tintin au Congo."
Pierre Bennu combines tradition and technology in ceremonial masks, modeled
on West African ones but also incorporating natural objects and bits of
today's electronic gear. The masks' purpose is contemporary as well: to
protect wearers from such menaces as celebrity culture.
History is nearly buried in Danny Simmons Jr.'s bold mixed-media
painting-collages. One is entirely abstract, but the other includes scraps
of fabric and the notoriously racist name and logo from a long-defunct
chicken eatery.
Fawundu isn't the only artist to depict the viewpoint of herself or her
peers. Jamea Richmond-Edwards's mixed-media drawing of a female nude is
titled "Consequently Vulnerable," but the figure's gaze appears far from
defenseless. In Ivan Forde's powerfully stark silk-screens, black men have
multiple, overlapping faces. The beings may be multi-headed gods, or just
guys who understand the value of keeping an eye (or more) out for trouble.
One of the most intriguing pieces is Tariku Shiferaw's large abstract
painting, which plays with the surfaces above and below a sheet of clear
acrylic. The picture may not have anything much to do with past or present,
but it vividly embodies conflicting strata and shifting perceptions.
Black Magic: AfroPasts/AfroFutures On view through Oct. 7 at Honfleur
Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE. 202-365-8392. honfleurgallery.com.
Joseph Shetler
Making a sculpture, according to Michelangelo, requires only chipping away
the marble that isn't part of the image. The same principle applies to
Joseph Shetler's art, although he works with something less formidable than
marble: graph paper. The drawings in the local artist's show at Pyramid
Atlantic Art Center, "Practico-Inert," conjure shapes and patterns by
tracing in blue pencil some of the lines on preprinted grids.
Shetler overdraws the existing framework in slightly different shades of
blue, and with somewhat different weights of line. In a series of 8 1/2
-by-11 drawings, the artist brings out circles and semicircles as well as
squares and a trapezium. The larger pieces, which include two in which
squares of gridded paper have been cut out and pasted together, restrict
themselves to right-angled forms. The possibilities are limited by the
graph, yet seem very nearly infinite.
Shetler's statement on his minimalist work invokes existentialism, but also
his Mennonite upbringing. Simplicity is both his inspiration and his goal.
"Practico-Inert" may appear to be just a collection of orderly blue pencil
strokes, but the artist sees it as "a rejection of the things that I
believe complicate our lives."
Joseph Shetler: Practico-Inert On view through Sept. 22 at Pyramid Atlantic
Art Center, 4318 Gallatin St., Hyattsville. 301-608-9101.
pyramidatlanticartcenter.org.
Sarna Marcus
Most of the pictures in Sarna Marcus's "Blurring the Boundary" feature a
profusion of globes, whether plump and meaty or small and gemlike. The
local artist calls these "seed atoms," suggesting they might be chemical as
much as biological. Yet the Foundry Gallery show definitely has a
reproductive vibe. The few pictures that don't include ovumlike forms
instead depict a child inside a cloak so protective that it has hands to
grip the youngster.
Marcus paints in oil and watercolor and draws with chalk, pastel and
colored pencil. Whatever the medium, she uses shadows and modeling to
create a palpable sense of depth and roundness, as well as fecundity.
Marcus often depicts a dramatic moment of transition or inception. In "Seed
Atom Splitting," a membrane breaches into quadrants, exposing pods that
appear ready to spill out. These pictures are a showcase for the artist's
skill at simulating three-dimensional objects. But they also are, as the
frequent flecking of red-brown drips attests, a form of action painting.
Blurring the Boundary: Drawings & Paintings of Sarna Marcus On view through
Oct. 1 at Foundry Gallery, 2118 Eighth St. NW. 202-232-0203.
foundrygallery.org. Chris Corson & Freda Lee-McCann
Offering an inadvertent contrast to Sarna Marcus's eggy paintings, Chris
Corson crafts ceramic nudes, all of them clearly male and all but one
headless. There's even a figure that peels open his skin and muscle,
splitting his chest like one of Marcus's fleshy sacs.
Corson says he focuses on the torso because it "shows the essence of who we
are." Yet the local artist also is intrigued by the surfaces, varied in
texture and hue because he employs three firing methods. Most of the skins
glimmer with sooty, metallic blacks. One is white, the better to serve as
the billboard for a few choice words from Emma Lazarus's "The New Colossus."
The selection includes six large photographs of Corson's work by Stuart
Diekmeyer. Each is different, yet all show the same sculpture, which Corson
fired repeatedly to yield different patinas. Without altering the form, the
sculptor and his collaborator write a tale of metamorphosis.
Austerely rendered in brushed black ink, classical Chinese literati
paintings most often depict serene nature. Freda Lee-McCann's "See the
Difference," also at Studio, presents one fairly traditional example of the
genre - but only as a reference point. The other pictures add color,
texture, calligraphy or gestures associated with modern artists, such as
Jackson Pollock's spatters. Granite peaks become abstract forms, their
rocky severity eroded by bright hues and collaged bits. If the similarities
between the images are always apparent, the differences are illuminating.

Chris Corson: Speak to Me and Freda Lee-McCann: See the Difference On view
through Sept. 23 at Studio Gallery, 2108 R St. NW. 202-232-8734.
www.studiogallerydc.com.
style at washpost.com
Source: Washington Post, The, 09/07/2017
Item: wapo.740a5428-924d-11e7-89fa-bb822a46da5b

Leah Krippner
Librarian, Harlem High School
I am currently reading *Pacifica* by Kristen Simmons

On Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 3:20 PM, Email list for the Illinois School Library
Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> What about Artists?  She isn't looking for novels.  I think she is looking
> for art work.  possibly in the Afrofuturism area.
>
> On Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 3:01 PM, Email list for the Illinois School
> Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
>> A few more dystopia featuring black main characters-
>> The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson and Orleans by Sherri L. Smith
>> Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (or other books by the Okorafor)
>> Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older isn't exactly dystopia, but more urban
>> fantasy, and definitely features artists :)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 2:38 PM, Email list for the Illinois School
>> Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>>
>>> Try this list as a jump off:
>>>
>>> http://blog.leeandlow.com/2012/08/30/diverse-dystopias-a-book-list/
>>>
>>> Leah Krippner
>>> Librarian, Harlem High School
>>> I am currently reading *The White Bicycle* by Beverley Brenna
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 2:30 PM, Email list for the Illinois School
>>> Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>>>
>>>> A little obvious, but Octavia Butler comes to mind: Novelist does list
>>>> her as dystopian:
>>>>
>>>> Parable of the talents (Nov 1998)
>>>> Author:Butler, Octavia E.
>>>>  Adult
>>>> Series:Parable books, 2
>>>> Description:It is 2032 and Lauren Olamina's daughter Larkin narrates
>>>> the story of her mother's life as she spreads the word of her Earthseed
>>>> philosophy. As Larkin describes how they attain their goal of reaching the
>>>> stars, she denounces her mother.
>>>> Book Appeal Terms:Definition of Appeal Terms
>>>> <http://support.ebsco.com/help/?int=novp&ver=live&lang=en&feature_id=Appeal>
>>>>
>>>> Genre:African American *fiction*; Dystopian *fiction*; Science
>>>> *fiction*; Social science *fiction*
>>>>
>>>> *Mary Spevacek*
>>>> *Teacher Librarian*
>>>> *East Aurora High School*
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 1:24 PM, Email list for the Illinois School
>>>> Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I have a student looking for books on "black dystopian artists"
>>>>> Anyone have suggestions of books or artists to look for in books?
>>>>> jpr
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> Jacob P. Roskovensky
>>>>>
>>>>> Library Media Specialist,
>>>>> Charleston High School
>>>>>
>>>>> President,
>>>>> Association of Illinois School Library Educators
>>>>> Formerly known as the Illinois School Library Media Association
>>>>>
>>>>> 1615 Lincoln Avenue
>>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=1615+Lincoln+Avenue+Charleston,+IL+61920+(217&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>> Charleston, IL 61920
>>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=1615+Lincoln+Avenue+Charleston,+IL+61920+(217&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>> (217) 639- 5012 <(217)%20639-5012>
>>>>>
>>>>> CHLE-ZCH
>>>>>
>>>>> @jprosko
>>>>> roskoihls at gmail.com
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>> This email was sent by a staff member of Harlem Consolidated School
>>> District 122.
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Caitlin Greener*
>> Librarian
>> Niles North High School
>> 847-626-2182 <(847)%20626-2182>
>> *Currently** Reading Bubonic Panic: When Plague Invaded America** by Gail
>> Jarrow*
>> <http://north-niles-hs.beta.libguides.com/nnlibrary>
>> Find us on Instagram @NilesNorthLibrary
>> <https://www.instagram.com/nilesnorthlibrary/>
>> Find us on Twitter @NilesNorthLib <https://twitter.com/NNirc>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Jacob P. Roskovensky
>
> Library Media Specialist,
> Charleston High School
>
> President,
> Association of Illinois School Library Educators
> Formerly known as the Illinois School Library Media Association
>
> 1615 Lincoln Avenue
> <https://maps.google.com/?q=1615+Lincoln+Avenue+Charleston,+IL+61920+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1615%2BLincoln%2BAvenue%2BCharleston,%2BIL%2B61920%2B(217%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E&entry=gmail&source=g>
> Charleston, IL 61920
> <https://maps.google.com/?q=1615+Lincoln+Avenue+Charleston,+IL+61920+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1615%2BLincoln%2BAvenue%2BCharleston,%2BIL%2B61920%2B(217%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E&entry=gmail&source=g>
> (217) 639- 5012 <(217)%20639-5012>
>
> CHLE-ZCH
>
> @jprosko
> roskoihls at gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> ISLMA-Share mailing list
> islma at list.railslibraries.info
> For list archives and subscription options, visit:
> http://list.railslibraries.info/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/islma
> To unsubscribe, send a message to:
> islma-leave at list.railslibraries.info
>

-- 
This email was sent by a staff member of Harlem Consolidated School 
District 122.
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