2008 Woodie Awards
Black Arts At NoHo Gallery
NoHo Gallery L.A. celebrates black history month with an art exhibit highlighting black culture.
Marc Howard
Issue date: 2/15/06 Section: Valley Life
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The exhibit, which will be showing through Feb. 26, features paintings, drawings, jewelry and sculptures that celebrate the richness of Black American and African culture.
Some of the more impressive work in the show belongs to Toni Scott, a painter, photographer and sculptress, whose elegant pieces affectionately examine the striking features of the distinctly African face: the broad nose, thick lips, and dark skin. Her sculpture "Mangbetu Warrior," a bust of an African female warrior, articulates dignity and inner strength in a way that the art of sculpture can.
Scott stresses that creating pieces like this one is not easy, even for a seasoned artist like herself.
"Trying to bring life to a dream is a very complicated process," she says. "Sometimes the finished work measures up; sometimes it doesn't. However, when it does, it's very rewarding."
Jimmy Cross, a cartoonist turned painter, has been putting the brush to canvas for about a year. This is surprising given the deftness with which he is able to infuse his work with both humor and black pride at once. His oil paintings are given strength by their brilliant colors. The irony in that he depicts African warriors in a cartoon-like style. These pieces include "Ready for Battle," "Zulu Fighter" and "War Dance." In each of these pieces one or two African warriors stare at the viewer, holding spear and shield.
"I started painting to express myself on another level," Cross said. "With animation you're kind of limited. When I paint, no one can tell me what to do. That's all me."
There is quite a bit of photography on display including impressive work by gallery director Dan DeBevoise and sensual figure studies by Gregory Prescott.
Marci Hill's photographs document what she saw while in Nairobi, Kenya while doing humanitarian work. The stills capture the beautiful faces of Kenyan children as well as the ugly face of the poverty in which they live. Marci is modest despite the impressiveness of her work.
"I don't consider myself a great photographer, but it's become more of a passion since I've started traveling."
A number of other formidable artists are represented in the exhibit, too many to name here. Art connoisseurs as well as casual art fans would be well-served to make the trip to NoHo to see what the gallery is showing.
