Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / July 8, 1993, edition 1 / Page 13
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
tiftc Charlotte l&ost ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT B Section THURSDAY July?, 1993 Painting Pictures With A Meaning Local Artist Hopes To Capture The People's Republic Of China On Film By Winfred B. Cross THE CHARLOTTE POST Lee Stewart's been a mem ber of the Light Factory since 1985. He has participated In the Factory’s annual mem ber's show a couple of times before. This year's show is going to be very special, however. On Friday, Stewart will be sell ing a special T-shirt and print package that, he hopes, will help him get to the Peo ple's Republic of China. Stewart will be going to China with the Total Dance Theatre, an Atlanta-based troupe that has been chosen as Goodwill Ambassadors to China for the 1993 China/ USA Summer Festival. The group was picked by New Olympians International (NOl) Show Teams commit tee in Grand Rapids, Mich. "I've been involved with TDT since 1 was back in Mac on, Ga., where I got my first job in television. That's been every bit of 15 years," said the 41-year-old Stewart. "TDT is allowing me to go over as a visual artist and multi-media specialist. I'll be projecting my artwork — 16 millimeter film and slides onto screens as the dancers perform in front of it." Chinese festival officials are pajdng for the lodging, food and transportation be tween the four cities hosting the festival — Beijing, Nanj ing, Shanghai and Suahou. Each member of the dance troupe is responsible for round trip transportation and other incident's. Local artist Lee Stewart sits in front of one of his "OverThe Rainbow" paintings in his studio. Stewart hopes to bring back more than memories from the trip. "I'll be bringing back imag es for Charlotte - a cultural exchange through pictures," he said. "I want to show how their performing artists react to us as well as how we react to them. I've never been abroad before In my life, but I think it's going to be a beau tiful exchange. "China’s been closed off to the rest of the world except for the exchange through Hong Kong and that's about to be closed off in a few years when that becomes a part of mainland China. These peo ple are hungry for Western culture and we want to know about them. We hear about the student uprisings and the unrest. What are they doing culturally?" Stewart is selling a special print called Jade, from his "Over The Rainbow" series of work. The signed print is an 11-inch-by 17-inch repro duction of an original oil and photograph work. The five-color T-shirt incorpo rates the print bordered by American and Chinese flags and the date of the festival. The shirt is $15 while the print is $30. Stewart paints to get away from the sometimes depress ing aspects of his job. He sees a lot of destruction as a news photographer with WBTV- Channel 3. "It's not only in the black community, but in the white as well," said Stewart. "It's babies killing babies. To get away from the de pression Stewart paints im ages of other places, places of peace. "I'm basically a surrealistic t3qie of painter. I like com bining photographs and paint," Stewart said. "Romare Bearden is one of my favorites. He did a lot of photograph and collage painting together. He was amazing. And they were black Images. You could ac tually feel what he was put ting on canvass. That’s what I want people to get out of my work. I want them to get a message." The Light Factory Photo graphic Arts Center's annual members show and party will be held 7 p.m. Friday un til its over. The Light Factory is located in the Park Eleva tor building at the intersec tion of South Boulevard and Arlington. To purchase the T-shirt or print, call the Light Factory at 704/333-9755 or write Lee Stewart c/o T-Shirt or Print, 1514 Camden Road, Char lotte, N.C., 28203. Hard Work, Talent Help Shai Top Charts By Winfred B. Cross THE CHARLOTTE POST Members of the soul/pop group Shai don't mind people calling them overnight suc cesses, but they want to be recognized as much for their talent as their luck. Yes, the group did get lucky and got its first demo played on Washington, D.C.'s WPGC. radio. But it was its determination and tal ent that got it to that point. "In our case it was one of those things where we said try it and see if it works. No one really was interested In singing when we first started," says Marc Gay, 24, during a phone interview from Sacramento, Calif. "Once we started we got serious. I don't think a lot of people know that about Shai. At first we had no (record) deal and we used to practice for six hours a day. Then each individual would go home and practice what they do best - sing, write, produce, play piano or write some more. We'd do that an extra four to six hours and then go to school. I don't think people realize how much time we put in before we got signed. They just think it’s something that hap pened overnight. It may have been over night, but not without talent." And not without a little luck. The four some — Carl "Groove" Martin, Gay, Darnell Van Rensalier and Garfield Bright Jr. - were students at Howard University in Washington when they decided to record a demo. They scraped up $400 to record "If I Ever Fall In Love," a haunting a capella bal lad which features exquisite harmonies written by Martin. "He had given Darnell a copy of the song first and he had a pretty good Inclination of what the song was like. The first time we sang it in front of an audience we only did the first verse and people really reacted to it," Gay said. 'We decided to finish and pro duce it for a demo. It was the first time I had been in a studio. It's almost the same as the demo except for four changes. Those were really like the solo lines, nothing to do with the harmony or anything." Record companies weren't exactly thrilled, but radio patrons were. After per- I A *' 'fh >'«l photo by Mario Castellanos From left to right: Darnell Van Rensalier, Carl "Groove" Martin, Garfield Bright Jr. and Marc Gay. suading WPGC's programming direc tor to air the song, the station's switchboard was swamped with re quests for the song. The song spread to the stations other affiliates in Hous ton and Phoenix, becoming the most- requested song. "I was very surprised how it spread to other stations and how well it did. We didn't even have a record deal. This was before we had anything signed," Gay said. "If I Ever Fall In Love," has been cer tified platinum, close to double plati num. The song was followed by "Comforter,” the second single from ". . .If I Ever Fall In Love." The third sin gle "Baby I'm Yours," done in a "Marvin Gaye" style, is already a Top 40 pop and soul hit. Gay said the group's sound was im mediately compared to Jodeci, Silk, and Boyz II Men. "Actually it's stopped. I don't know what's happened, but as every song comes out they're finding out we not like the other groups," Gay said. That's due in part to Shai’s ability to concentrate more on the mind than the body. Yes, the songs are sensual, but not in the beat-you-over-the head- wlth-my-sexuality manner by which most groups deliver songs. Instead of singing "let me lick you up and down" or "knockin' da boots," Shai asks women to "tell me what's on your mind." "There you go," Gay says. 'That’s ex actly what Shai is all about." The name Shai (pronounced shy) comes from "The Egyptian Book Of I The Dead." Gay found the name while looking for a pledgee joining Alpha Phi Alpha's Beta chapter at Howard, opf which Gay, Van Rensalier, and Martin are members. "That's just how the three of us met. Garfield and Darnell had known each other since freshmen year because they were roommates and they had known each other all along. The rest See SHAI On Page 2B
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 8, 1993, edition 1
13
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75