Three visual art exhibits are up-and-coming and not-to-be-missed next week in the Triangle. Andre Leon Gray’s circumventing the pigment opens at Artspace gallery on Friday, May 7 and runs through May 29. The exhibition showcases Gray’s mixed media work and, as he says, “explores the pigment fixation of our culture and how it affects one’s […]
olufunke moses
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Take a seat
Poet Ruth Forman says, “poetry should ride the bus.” More specifically, she says: poetry should drop by a sweet potato pie ask about the grandchildren n sit through a whole photo album on an orange plastic covered lazyboy with no place to go. If we think of poetry as a form that should be transported, […]
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John Hope Franklin: ‘An old man needs to be radical, too’
We wore nice clothes back then. Mama combed all of our hairbraids and hair ribbons for the girls; brushed-out waves for the boysgreased our faces and made sure we knew to sit still, say please and thank you (and preferably, no thank you) and be quiet. We were going to old peoples’ housesat least this […]
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Telling stories
Michelle McCullers Segbefia is recounting the “epic tale” of how she met and married her husband, and thus begat Eden. Her lips are pursed–sassy-like, as she fixes a pear-shaped face to prepare for her narrative. Around her neck she wears a string of red baubles (this is the only word that can accurately describe the […]
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Showing our ass
If you’re white, you’re all right. If you’re brown, stick around. If you’re black, stay back. For most black people, this short rhyme is as much a part of our individual psyches as it is a part of our collective imaginations. W.E.B. DuBois termed it “double consciousness,” Ralph Ellison wrote “I am an invisible man,” […]
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In steppin’
“We all have a love for folk music of all kinds to the point of hysteria,” reads the bio of Dominic “Sparky” Suchyta, bassist for Michican-based Steppin’ In It. The acoustic quartet also includes Josh Davis on acoustic guitar, who remembers at age 13 having an interest in folk music, but being “overridden by a […]
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In rising
Local lit-celeb Haven Kimmel is at it again. Publishing that is. Author of the bestselling memoir, A Girl Named Zippy and the follow-up novel The Solace of Leaving Early, Kimmel returns with a narrative that bridges the gap between fact and fiction in her latest novel, Something Rising. Rising centers around the coming-of-age of 10-year-old […]
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Designing confidence
Steven Wainwright is a cornucopia of color. Today he models a kaleidoscopic display of sweatshirt, slacks and jacket, haphazardly mimicking an artistic arrangement. His hat is a curious felt creation: an upside-down funnel with a dome and a curved extension from which a skeletal leaf stands at attention, braving air currents and ridicule alike. Wainwright […]
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In delectable words
In the second local installment of literary delights for the sweet-of-tooth, Manbites Dog Theater hosts Mouth Candy: Say Ahhh, this Friday at 8:15 p.m. Founded by Indy sweetheart Jenny Canipe, the collective started in Greensboro as an outlet for writers and readers to perform their work. The evening of fiction, non-fiction, music and poetry features […]
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In masquerades
Scary things are happening this Friday, Oct. 31 at April & George Art Gallery and Wine Bar in downtown Raleigh. For instance, costumed patrons who visit the venue will find themselves shot (shot I say!) for a measly 15 bucks. Really, though, it’s not what you’re thinking. The holiday event is actually a literacy benefit […]