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Posts published in “Arts / Style”

UK Puts Haitian Art In The Picture With Major Exhibit

By goodblacknews on October 21, 2012

Kafou - Haiti, Art & Vodou exhibition

Paintings by Frantz Zephrin are showcased in the Kafou – Haiti, Art & Vodou exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian
Haiti is often known for its grinding poverty, brutal oppression and natural disasters but the biggest exhibition of its art ever staged in the UK aims to provide more of a balance.  “When you walk in here, hopefully it is, on a simple level, visually eye-popping, astonishing,” said the director of Nottingham Contemporary, Alex Farquharson. “These images speak to a very rich culture. There is a lot of joy.”  Farquharson was speaking ahead of the opening of a major show of Haitian art inspired by Vodou, the religion which has been a central part of people’s lives since Haiti became the world’s first black republic in 1804.

Tyra Banks to Produce Television Comedy for ABC

By goodblacknews on October 15, 2012

Tyra Banks ABC Comedy FiveheadEXCLUSIVE: America’s Next Top Model executive producer/star Tyra Banks is making her first foray into scripted series with Fivehead, a single-camera comedy for ABC based on her teen years. Banks is co-creating/executive producing Fivehead withKenya Barris (Fox’s I Hate My Teenage Daughter), a childhood friend and longtime business partner with whom Banks also co-created America’s Next Top Model, now in its 19th cycle.

Fivehead, produced by ABC Studios, chronicles the impressionable teenage years of Banks in the halls of her high school and at home, focusing on her family and the long journey that took Banks from awkward teen to one of the world’s most recognizable supermodels. “In high school, if you have glasses, you’re a ‘four eyes’, if you have braces, you’re a ‘metal mouth’ but if you had my forehead? You’re a FIVEHEAD,” said Banks.
Barris and Banks will co-create together the characters and the story for Fivehead, and Barris will write the script. The two first met when they were 6-year-olds and attended school together, which gives Barris a first-hand account of the very times Banks and he will be reminiscing about in Fivehead. “To be able to witness her career was wild, but to be able to watch Tyra grow up was nothing short of nutty,” said Barris. “I am blown away by the opportunity to tell not just a great story but a story that I remember so fondly.” Banks is repped by WME. Barris is repped by Paradigm and Principato-Young.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com

Seasoned Comic Book Illustrator J. Bone Draws First Lady Michelle Obama as Wonder Woman

By goodblacknews on October 8, 2012
First lady Michelle Obama as Wonder Woman, illustrated by J. Bone.
First lady Michelle Obama as Wonder Woman, illustrated by J. Bone. (Image: Facebook/J. Bone)

J. Bone has been illustrating comic books for over twelve years, but his image of first lady Michelle Obama as Wonder Woman stands alone among his many superhero portraits. A 39 year-old comic book artist living in Toronto, J. Bone has crafted likenesses of Spider-Man, Superman, and more. Yet, Wonder Woman is particularly special to his heart, making her a fitting heroine to merge with a woman who has become a heroine to many in real life. Currently writing and drawing, Gobukan, a web-based comic, J. Bone is also raising funds as part of an IndieGoGo campaign to create a Canadian superhero series, True Patriot. Follow the artist on Twitter (@gobukan), or visit his blogs (Blah, Blah, Blog! and Man’s Adventure) to get to know his work further — but first take a moment and read below. J. Bone explains how he came to create this intriguing image of a highly notable woman.

Octavia Spencer Covers Elle Magazine's Women in Hollywood Issue

By goodblacknews on October 4, 2012

(Photo: Elle Magazine)

Bet.com reports that Academy Award-Winning actress Octavia Spencer graces the cover of Elle Magazine’s Women in Hollywood issue this month. Spencer wears a Tadashi Shoji cocktail dress in the photo, and in her article, she recounts her struggles and triumphs in the entertainment industry, including needing to stand up for herself when she was bullied by an industry icon in a room full of people.
“Early on I had to stand up to a producer — I won’t say who, but he is famous, famous. He dressed me down in a crowded office. I told him right there in front of a hundred people, ‘You don’t know me well enough to use that tone’…And then I ran to the bathroom and cried like a baby. But he never addressed me that way again. And he is known as a yeller.”
The Women in Hollywood November 2012 issue, which also features young actresses Elle Fanning and Emma Watson on two other covers, hits newsstands October 16.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Octavia Spencer Covers Elle Magazine’s Women in Hollywood Issue

By goodblacknews on October 4, 2012

(Photo: Elle Magazine)

Bet.com reports that Academy Award-Winning actress Octavia Spencer graces the cover of Elle Magazine’s Women in Hollywood issue this month. Spencer wears a Tadashi Shoji cocktail dress in the photo, and in her article, she recounts her struggles and triumphs in the entertainment industry, including needing to stand up for herself when she was bullied by an industry icon in a room full of people.

“Early on I had to stand up to a producer — I won’t say who, but he is famous, famous. He dressed me down in a crowded office. I told him right there in front of a hundred people, ‘You don’t know me well enough to use that tone’…And then I ran to the bathroom and cried like a baby. But he never addressed me that way again. And he is known as a yeller.”

The Women in Hollywood November 2012 issue, which also features young actresses Elle Fanning and Emma Watson on two other covers, hits newsstands October 16.

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Tracee Ellis Ross Launches New Website With Focus On Fashion, Health and Well-Being

By goodblacknews on October 2, 2012

“Girlfriends” and “Reed Between The Lines” actress and style icon Tracee Ellis Ross launched traceeellisross.com on Monday, offering a digital outlet for her fashion, beauty, health-consciou, humorous and inspirational posts.  The site, which is part of the Women’s Influencer Network, is chic and well-designed, with its clean-meets-modern layout.  The site also seamlessly loops in all of the actress’ social media profiles (twitter, facebook, instagram, pinterest) for easy shareability.  Check it out by clicking the link above.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

"Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe" Exhibit Opens at Brooklyn Museum

By goodblacknews on September 29, 2012
Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe Portraits by this artist in this Brooklyn Museum show. (Librado Romero/The New York Times)

Mickalene Thomas’s brash, exuberant paintings don’t care what you think of them; they are much too busy simply — or not so simply — being themselves. Their sense of independence is driven home by this artist’s invigorating exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, along with the realization that the museum’s populist program sometimes hits the nail on the head.
Organized by the Santa Monica Museum of Art in California, and substantially expanded in Brooklyn, “Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe” is a show of broad appeal, free of dumbing down. It has examples of the large, color photo-portraits and clusters of the small, truculent collages that function as studies for Ms. Thomas’s paintings while being works of art themselves.

“Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe” Exhibit Opens at Brooklyn Museum

By goodblacknews on September 29, 2012
Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe Portraits by this artist in this Brooklyn Museum show. (Librado Romero/The New York Times)

Mickalene Thomas’s brash, exuberant paintings don’t care what you think of them; they are much too busy simply — or not so simply — being themselves. Their sense of independence is driven home by this artist’s invigorating exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, along with the realization that the museum’s populist program sometimes hits the nail on the head.

Organized by the Santa Monica Museum of Art in California, and substantially expanded in Brooklyn, “Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe” is a show of broad appeal, free of dumbing down. It has examples of the large, color photo-portraits and clusters of the small, truculent collages that function as studies for Ms. Thomas’s paintings while being works of art themselves.

Dwyane Wade Hosts Fashion Fundraiser In Miami

By goodblacknews on September 29, 2012
Dwyane Wade attends the Night on the RunWade For Wades World Foundation at Moore Building on September 27, 2012 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by John Parra/WireImage)
Dwyane Wade attends the Night on the RunWade For Wades World Foundation at Moore Building on September 27, 2012 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by John Parra/WireImage)
NBA champion Dwyane Wade has hosted his first fashion fundraiser Thursday evening in Miami for his philanthropic organization, Wade’s World Foundation.  A Night on the RunWade included live performances, a scrumptious three-course dinner, and a fashion show featuring clothing from the likes of Dsquared2, Versace and The Webster. The Miami Heat player made his catwalk debut and wooed the audience with a backward somersault as he walked the runway.

Harlem School of the Arts Gets $5 Million From Herb Alpert

By goodblacknews on September 25, 2012
A dance class at the school in 2011.A dance class at the school in 2011. (Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times)

The Harlem School of the Arts, a community arts school that has faced major financial hurdles in the last few years, has received a grant of more than $5 million from the Herb Alpert Foundation that will allow the school to retire its debt, restore its endowment and create a scholarship program for needy students.