richardmurray

Black History Month 2023 Q&A

What Black artists have inspired you, and what about their work do you find inspiring?
For writing: Zora Neale Hurston+ August Wilson+ Dwayne McDuffie
For drawing: Jean Michele Basquiat 
For sculpting: Dahomey sculpture artist , Edmonia Lewis
For dance: Sammy Davis Jr, Gregory Hines, Michael Jackson
For photography: Gordon Parks
For Music: Louis Armstrong, Marvin Gaye, Sweet Honey on the Rock, Sade 
I have more but they came first to mind

Zora Neale Hurston for cognizing the value of Black Art that was being forgotten or lost during her own time, while creating art that cherished an aspect of the Black community that wasn't as in favor as other black artist or white owned media cared for.
August Wilson for the way in which Black communal life is presented complexly while unaffrontingly, I find too many Black artists write Black people as weapons. 
Dwayne McDuffie for influence on Milestone and his width of imagination.
Basquiat for his unique art way and being a fellow New Yorker, surviving for a time, the life of an artists, which can be tough
Dahomey sculpture's for an art work I like a lot they made and it is poignant to me personally.
Edmonia Lewis for never quitting while having two elements of herself that she had to accept met various resistance, and her cleopatra is magnificent.
Sammy Davis jr for how multitalented he was while always a dancer at heart
Gregory Hines for how he always presented tap dance in a street way
Michael Jackson for making dance mandatory in musical acts after him
Gordon Parks for how long it took him to begin to make it, in his 40s but he never stopped trying and reached out creatively when he did, not settling
Louis Armstrong for being relevant artistically while watching his art form change/grow/morph throughout his entire life
Marvin Gaye for telling it like it is with his art
Sweet Honey on the Rock for the soul in their voice
Sade cause she never forces the sound. 
I have many Black artist I am inspired by. 

I hope I can do as they did to me to someone else Black.

What are some of your favorite artworks that depict African American culture?
The People Can Fly written by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated by Leo and Dianne Dillon. Virginia Hamilton in the spirit of Zora Neale Hurston kept alive stories that many Black homes had forgotten on their own intention. And she rewrote them lovely. Leo Dillon cause working with his white wife, Dianne, they just had a great sense of making art that didn't seem imitative but was accessible in intent to all. 
A few private works in my home.

In what ways do you think art can be used to foster understanding and appreciation across cultures?
Art by default is messages from one or many individuals about their heritage<what they carry > or culture < what they grow> to whomever access it. 
I argue that art is meant to convey, the comprehension or appreciation some want art to instill in those who access art must come from the accessors themselves. 
I like the works of Ravel or the marches of the national socialist part of germany. But neither of said artful acts is why I don't attack french people or why I don't concur to the Nazi party. 
Art unfortunately is asked to be the peaceful bludgeon and that is unfair. 
The best way to utilize art is to allow art, the freedom of art. Said freedom will generate art work that you may oppose or dislike heavily, in my case Birth of a nation by Demille. But, it exposes the truth of the communities that create them. 
And rightly or wrongly, the truth is the beginning to any peaceful comprehension or appreciation between any, even if said duo is never reached in part or whole by one who access art. 

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https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sunset-children-stories

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https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/20th-anniversary-deviantart-Black-and-White-856152910

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