tKIje Cljarlotte ^osst
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1997
SBiARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Exhibit has
pohtical
leanings
By Janet lyson
FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
DALLAS - If you love art
that gets in your face, grabs
you by the guts and shakes up
your sensibilities, you’re going
to love the new exhibition at
the African American
Museum.
Titled “In the Spirit of
Resistance/En el espiritu de la
resistencia,” it illuminates the
political and aesthetic lessons
that black American artists, in
the wake of the Harlem
Renaissance, learned from the
Mexican mural painters -
Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente
Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros
and Rufino Tamayo, among
them - as well as Celia
Calderon, Francisco Mora and
other artists of the Popular
Graphic WorkshopATaller de
Grafica Popular.
The African-American artists
exhibited are Charles Alston,
John Riggers, Elizabeth
Catlett (who is married to
Mora), Sargent Claude
Johnson, Jacob Lawrence,
Charles White, John Wilson
and Hale Woodruff. Apart from
emphasizing the extent to
which Mexican artists influ
enced the Americans’ efforts to
shape cultural identity, the
show provides marvelous
insights into early works by
Lawrence and Riggers, tracks
remarkable stylistic evolution
on Alston’s part and offers an
in-depth look at Catlett’s
prints and paintings.
Inspired by Marxist theories
of social and political revolu
tion, the Mexican artists
sought to create inspiring
images for the common people
of Mexico. Among other things,
their art recognized the
importance of pre-Columbian
Indian heritage. It emphasized
the people’s need for self-deter
mination and, at the same
time, solidarity.
Although Rivera and other of
his colleagues had training in
European modernistic ideas
about composition, they edso
were inspired by the monu
mental imagery of pre-
Columbian cultures and by
European social realism. From
these and other disparate
sources they forged the visual
means of communicating
information about human dig
nity and the need to resist
oppression.
For the most part, the
imagery they devised took one
of two forms - the mural or the
print - both of which were
more accessible to the masses
than traditional, European-
style easel paintings.
With both murals and prints,
their focus was on the human
figure on monumental indi
vidual forms or rhythmically
arranged masses of figures
that seem ready to burst off
the surface. The works are
replete with intensely expres
sive faces and hands, and bod
ies that
sag with grief or surge with
strength.
Not surprisingly, the
Mexicans’ political and artistic
ideals, and successful visual
strategies, struck a sympa
thetic chord with black artists
living in a country still cruelly
divided along racial lines.
Of course, any number of
white American artists and art
theorists also were persuaded
by ^cialist and communist
ide^B. Rut they did not share
the common ground of suffer
ing experienced by black
See ART page 6B
Friends planning to give ‘Bingo’ Smitfi a lift
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The outpouring of support for
Unsold “Ringo” Smith contin
ues this weekend with a bene
fit that will give him and his
family a hft - literally.
Smith, 23, paralyzed from
the neck down in a 1995 car
accident, will get a $6,000
donation from the Friends of
ECHO (Excelsior Club
Humanity Organization) to
purchase a motorized hft sys
tem. The benefit will be 5 p.m.
- 8 p.m. Sunday at the Historic
Excelsior Club. The Michael
Porter trio will perform, as
well as Delano Rackard, who
will reenact Martin Luther
King’s “I Have A Dream”
speech.
Pete Cunningham, owner of
the Excelsior, said the idea for
the benefit was an idea that
took shape quickly.
“Some of the fellows that
come here were sitting around
talking about all the things we
have at the club like the Anita
Stroud Radiothon... .The guys
were saying we needed some
thing else charitable to do,”
Cunningham said. “Mrs.
Smith had called me back in
October at the request of Jim
Richardson. I told her we could
probably do something after
the holidays.”
'True to his word,
Cunningham talked to about
eight of his patrons about a
benefit, to which they respond
ed, “let’s do this.” The group
knew what it wanted to do.
How to do it was the problem.
“We wanted to get this done
to coincide with King’s birth-
PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON
L.C. and Carolyn Smith watch Ken Whitaker demonstrate a motorized lift at the Historic Excelsior Club Tuesday.
day, so we had to do it quickly,”
Cunningham said. “We decid
ed to get 50 or 60 people to
either sell at least 10 tickets
each, or buy the 10 tickets and
donate $100. It’s not that we
didn’t want the general public
involved. We just needed to get
this done quickly.”
Cunningham said he had 47
participants as of 'Tuesday. He
said the group would have no
problem raisiiig the rest of the
money by Sunday.
ECHO is a non-profit organi
zation. Not all the people asso
ciated with Sundays benefit
are members of ECHO. “They
are either members or Mends
See BINGO on page 9B
Murphy flounders in ‘Metro’ mess
vie leview
Metro
Eddie Murphy,
Michael Rapport, Art
Evans ana Carmen
Eiogo
Directed by Thomas
Carter
Caravan
Pictures/Touchstone
Pictures/Disney
☆ 1/2
Eddie Murphy scored a huge
hit last summer with the hys
terically funny remake of the
Jerry Lewis classic “The Nutty
Professor” (☆☆☆☆ 1/2). Rut a
nagging question remained.
Can Murphy do two quality
films in a row.
No, he can’t. Murphy’s latest
film “Metro” is a near disaster,
ranking with ‘Reverly Cop III.’
Well, it’s
not that
bad. At
least
R rigitte
Nielson
isn’t in
this pic-
t u r e .
That’s one
of the few
saving ““'■Phy
graces this film has. Tlie other
is Carmen Ejogo who portrays
Ronnie Tate, girlfriend to.,
Murphy’s character. Slie’s a
fresh new face that’s going to
get some notice.
Not that she turns in a great
acting performance. No one in
this movie does. That’s
because none of the characters
are given much to do. None are
developed more than surface-
deep. The story doesn’t deviate
much from the average action
adventure script of the last 10
years. Nor does director
Thomas Carter (“Swing Kids”
and star of CRS’ “The White
Shadow”) leave an5fthing to
the imagination. Every bit of
the action is telegraphed a
mile before it happens. You
know when a character is
about to be killed. You know
when a killer is going to
appear. You know when the
bad guys are going to get
theirs and you know who’s
going to give it to them. Carter
delays the obvious on a couple
occasions, but, it’s still obvious
when it happens.
Murphy plays Scott Roper, a
cocky hostage negotiator who
isn’t afraid to place himself in
danger to save lives. He even
tually has to train a partner,
Kevin McCall, portrayed by
|Michael Rapaport (“Higher
ILeaming,” “Zebrahead”). He’s
an expert marksman on a
SWAT team who wants to be
Murphy’s successor.The two
are a likable pair, but their
relationship never develops,
much like the rest of the
movie. You don’t know if they
like working together, hate
each other or what
have you. They
simply exist in a\
two-hour space.
It’s a very, very vio
lent two-hour space. A
multitude of automobiles
are smashed, crashed and
blown to pieces. Hostages
are held at gun point, slapped
around , shot and mutilated
Art Evans, too good
actor to associated with a
film like this, is undone by
a creepy, but cliched psy-^i^
chotic jewel thief (creepilyN
played by Michael Wincott)..
You really have to see the j
cable car chase scene to
believe that many people
would drive in the path of
a runaway cable car,
going in the wrong
direction, mind you. And this
is a Disney film.
Also, I can’t remember the
last time Murphy has used the
“F” word so profusely. Maybe it
was his HRO special
“Delirious?” No, I think it was
the movie “Raw.” Actually, if
you combine the two this
would still rank first in “F”
word use. Did I say this is a
Disney film?
Yes, it is, and it is continuing
a streak of bad live-action
films by that company, if you
don’t count the “101
Dalmatian” remake. This will
not kill Murphy’s career
(which he just got back on
track last year) and it may not
even slow it down. Sometimes
the movie going public will like
such a film because there is
nothing else out. God, those
would have to be some movie-
starved folks.
Main library to host a bumper crop of storytellers
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The North Carolina
Association of Rlack
Storytellers, South Central
Region, is sponsoring a story
telling festival this weekend at
the main branch of the public
library.
The event, the 1997
Stor5ftelling Harvest, is 4 p.m.
Saturday. Six local story
tellers - Annette Grier, Elisha
Minter, Cheryl “Sparkle”
I Mosley, Connie Ellington,
Nooma Rhue and Mona
Ferguson - will be performing
in the Main Public Library
Auditorium, 310 N. 'Tryon St.
Admission is free.
Wekesa O. Madzimoyo of
Fayetteville, NC, president of
the state affiliate of the
National Association of Rlack
Stor3rtellers will perform “Love
& Justice,” a tribute to Martin
Luther King.
Mosley, representative for
the South Central Region and
president elect of the state
affiliate, is excited about the
event.
“I think this will help pull
together storytellers that are
professionals, those who are
looking to get into the profes
sion or just as a hobby,” she
said. “We have people in differ
ent professions (she’s in bank
ing) who enjoy storytelling.
They enjoy the oral tradition.
Our goal is to promote and
perpetuate the art of stoiy-
telling.
“As storytellers, we educate
and entertain through the oral
tradition,” Mosley said. “What
we try to do is preserve and
pass on historical traditions,
morals, cultural myths, leg
ends - things about our histo
ry and our culture.”
North Carolina is the only
state affiliate of NARS, which
was established in 1984 by
Mary Carter Smith and Linda
Goss. It is the parent organiza
tion of “In The Tradition. .
.Festival of Rlack
Storytelling.”
The state affiliate was estab
lished Nov. 18, 1995. North
Carolina is divided into five
regions. West, North Central,
South Central, North East and
South East.
'The South Central Region
was established in 1996 and
encompasses Lincoln,
Mecklenburg, Union,
Cabarrus, Stanly, Anson,
Montgomery, Richmond,
Moore, Lee and Scotland.
Mosley hopes to establish a
chapter in each of the region’s
counties.
The Storytelling Harvest is
the South Central Region’s
first event.