Artist Amy Sherald is well known for her portrait work, specifically the official portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama. Recently the artist canceled a major exhibition of her work at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, citing censorship over one of her paintings. I was so moved by her passion for her work and the chance she was willing to take by not letting fear to guide her choices. This is a quick and informative read, totally worth your time. And remember get into some good trouble today.
ART AS RESISTANCE
Resistance is on my mind a lot these days and art is always taking up space in my brain so what happens when you mix them together? Political/resistance art has been around for longer than you can imagine, with the Guy Fawkes Mask (the likeness of Guy Fawkes) dating back to 1605. We are lucky that on the Central Coast we have such amazing political artists like Lena Rushing, Robbie Conal and Mark Bryan. This article by the Portland Street Art Alliance is topical and interesting giving us more history on resistance art. Dive into the world of political art, look at the world around you and get into some good trouble.
Street Art by Robert Vargas
I had a wonderful experience recently while visiting my kiddo in Bushwick, NY and wanted to share. While I was there the Bushwick Collective event was happening, which is a street art, street fair and party in the Bushwick neighborhood. While waiting in line for a cuppa with my kiddo there was a woman wearing a Dodgers hat (go blue) and a cool shirt with the Vargas Dodger logo on the front. Of course we started chatting and it turns out that the great Robert Vargas was working on a mural across the street. Robert Vargas is an LA street art icon with some of the most bomb murals around. He paints very much from his heart and honors people, whether they be famous (Shohei Ohtani or Fernando Valenzuela) or local people of the community he is in. I got to watch his process, which is more like a block party, and see how he and his team of friends and fans communicate and chat up the local folx walking by. As a fan of street art it was magical to see how this all came together, to see the people hanging out that were painted in the mural, how Robert paints directly on the surface without any doodling, projecting or gridding. It was really amazing to see someone tackling the importance or belonging and community in such a beautiful and impactful way.
Currently Robert is working on a piece in Altadena, a LA suburb that was decimated by the recent LA fires. Check out this article about what he is up to and follow Robert Vargas on instagram for more inspiration from an artist that truly cares about people and belonging.
Who are Los Four?
Thanks to our friend and San Luis Obispo artist supreme Mark Bryan for bringing Los Four to my attention. Learn more about how Los Four became a part of the Chicano/a movement in the 1970s. Learn more about them in this PBS article by by Eva Recinos
Half Time Art
Kendrick Lamar made some absolute art during the 2024 Superbowl half time show and I love it. It is so rare to see this level of art on such a huge stage with and incredibly diverse audience. Check out this article by Jason Hellerman with a breakdown of the performance.
The Guerrilla Girls
I was poking around the interwebs and came across this very cool article by the Tate Museum’s kids programming department about The Guerrilla Girls. It is an amazing read. If you don’t know who the Guerrilla Girls are you better read up buttercup cause they are the real deal.