JUMP again

2011-06-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

Art Cart - Saving The Legacy from Research Center, Arts & Cultu on Vimeo.

JUMP again -- A Forum for New World Culture.

2010-01-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture: A Blog by Ray Grist

2009-09-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

A new video featuring Edson "Café" Da Silva.

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture. A blog by Ray Grist

2009-03-28T17:29:00.001-07:00

Triptych for a Black Church, Acrylic on canvas, 1965, 15 x 36 x 30 in

REGINALD GAMMON 1921 - 2005

Mr. Gammon said, “My work is about the human condition, using the figure as metaphor to illuminate the varied aspects of man’s activities and many faces of the participants.

I have particularly chosen to paint black people for reasons that are both personal and historical, since their representation has either been ignored or maligned for the general public’s entertainment. A number of us Black artists are trying to set the record straight. Besides the fact that the art of African Americans generally dominates the American scene and have been long accepted by the international word by its vivacity and universal appeal.”

Self Portrait, Oil on canvas, 1960

Young Man With a Glass – Raymond Grist,
Oil on canvas, 1960

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture. A blog by Ray Grist

2009-02-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

An un-masking of the perceptual possibilities of the face.
Four works by Ray Grist

Face 1, oil on canvas, 11 3/4" x 9 5/8", 1995
Face 2, oil on canvas, 10" x 12", 1995

Face 3, oil on canvas, 10" x 13", 1995
Face 4, oil and sand on canvas, 8" x 10", 1995

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture. A blog by Ray Grist.

2009-01-25T14:10:00.000-08:00

Cá nao sei nada
Como um rapaz aprende
Vida com forca

Mindlessness Being
Crossing into open space
On the other side

2. The Path to the Beach, 11 1/2 9 7/8 inches,
1977 - 1979

Queres dizer
Amanha em Portugues
O tempo pasa

Watching by myself
Bird sounds mix with moving leaves
Wind blown loud whistle

3. Little Forest, 7 3/4 X 5 3/4 inches,
1977 - 1979

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture. A blog by Ray Grist.

2008-12-20T08:53:00.000-08:00

From 1977 until 1979, while living in Charneca da Caparica, Portugal, I created a portfolio of lino cuts. I did these lino cuts as morning and evening meditations. Along with the prints I wrote a series of Haiku poetry, in both English and Portuguese. The portfolio contains 6 lino cuts and 11 Haiku, 5 in Portuguese and 6 in English. The Portuguese Haiku are not translations of the English.

The portfolio is titled "Thoughts On A Passage."

On occasion, I will reproduce these prints and Haiku in the blog.

Ray Grist

Esperando já
Por que espero, nao sei
Como as ávores

What is important
Places, things, remain behind
Thoughts on a passage

1. The Studio, lino cut, 5 7/8 x
7 7/8 inches, 1977 - 1979.

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture. A blog by Ray Grist

2008-12-16T19:07:00.000-08:00


Although

my neighbours

are all barbarians

and you

are a thousand miles away

There are always

two cups on my table.

Anonymous Chinese poem.

(Teapot by Brenda Colling.)

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture. A blog by Ray Grist

2008-12-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

Frank Fournier

The thief

Gone

Forgot

One thing

The moon

At the window.

Chinese poem (Anonymous)

2008-12-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture. A blog by Ray Grist.

Until now, I have not posted my own works. Following are 6 of my newest paintings.

JUMP again - A Forum for New World Culture. A blog by Ray Grist

2008-11-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Dr. Rashida Ismaili AbuBakr is a writer of short stories, plays and poetry. She is widely anthologized and has four collections of poems. Her plays have been performed internationally as well as national. Rashida reads her poetry solo and with musical instrumentation. Much of what she read with musical accompaniment is to the jazz of the late 1950’s, 60’s, up until the 1990’s. Originally from West Africa, Dr. AbuBakr has taught French and English Speaking African Writers, Literature of the African Diaspora. She was a part of the Black Arts Movement of the 60’s in New York. She is an art and culture critic and has published essays on Langston Hughes and Mariama Ba.

During 2005 I produced a video of Rashida reading from her collection of poems, “Magic Music.” This video consisted of Rashida reading several of her poems with musical accompaniment and photos, some by the photographer, Shawn Walker. In the selection above Rashida reads "Ode to an Old Piano," her dedication to Bud Powell.

Ray Grist

ANYTHING WITH FABRIC
Brenda Colling

I asked Brenda what she did, when we met the first time. She said, “Anything with fabric.” “So . . . what’s that? What d’ya mean – anything with fabric?” That’s what she meant. Brenda does anything with fabric – from baby stroller coverings, movie sets, suits for men and women, re-weaving Kasmiri carpets, and especially wall hangings. Anything with fabric.

Quoting Brenda, “My current works are translucent, reversible panels of silk organza. Using a combination of techniques: stitching, burning and folding, I layer and overlap the fabrics, building patterns with light and shadow.

Transparency in design is the theme. How fabric filters and diffuses light inspires my ongoing exploration.

Inspiration for these pieces includes Korean wrapping cloths and Japanese stencils.”

For more information contact brendacolling@earthlink.net.

JUMP again - A Forum for New World culture

2008-09-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

JUMP again - A Forum of New World is a continuation of the magazine, JUMP - A Forum of New World Culture, which I published in the early 1990's, and later produced as a half-hour TV program that was aired on Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN). JUMP - A Forum of New World Culture represented a group of artists -- The POW WOW Group, whose members were George Mingo, Tyrone Mitchell, Arthur Coppedge, Michael Singletary, Adger W. Cowans, H. Glenn Bennett, Ray Grist, Charles Searles, David Hammons, and Luther E. Vann. Each issue of JUMP featured one of these artists as the lead article. The rest of the publication presented a variety of articles, features and columns, which expressed an incidence of happenings, exchanges and/or events in the contemporary ART world. JUMP TV continued the format of JUMP - A Forum of New World Culture, featuring an artist for half of the program. The remaining half offered a similar variety of articles. I produced 65 shows of JUMP TV, which were aired on a continuous basis on MNN.

In this new medium, the Blog, I can JUMP again – continuing to offer exposure to some of the lesser known and under recognized, yet significant artists of our day. This opportunity offers even wider promise than print or TV. Here, print and video can be combined with even more possibilities – music, speech, color, animation, etc.

On September 19, 2008, an exhibition of the sculptural wall hangings from Barbara Delany, opened at the Parish Gallery, Georgetown, Washington, DC. The exhibition is shared with works by Perci Chester.

The opening reception was also an Art for Obama event. A portion of the sales was donated to the campaign to have Barack Obama elected as the next USA President.

"Bountiful" clay wall sculpture - Barbara Delany

The exhibition featured Barbara Delany’s ceramic and mixed media (ceramic with found objects) wall hangings. I was very much impressed and pleased to see and experience these works.

This was a very rare event since Mrs. Delany does not show her works very often. In fact, this was the first time I have seen her pieces. My impression is that her works manifest a high degree of formal and aesthetic sophistication. Mrs. Delany delves into her pieces with a need to explore and realize the strongest and fullest possibilities that each demands. Often she will take a hammer to a piece, not to destroy, but to re-arrange, to open up even more possibilities. Delany also takes unrelated forms, i.e., found objects such as pieces of gutters from houses, or pieces of a tin ceiling and combines these to enhance the ceramic.

Her sculptures, for the most part, are not such that they can be walked around and viewed from all sides. They hang on a wall. In that, they are like “paintings,” ceramic, tin, metal, plastic, instead of oil or acrylic. And, they have shape and dimension. Layers are not illusionist as they are on a canvas. They are “real” layers and volumes, and dimensions. Some of the surfaces are painted, some glazed, some the natural ceramic or metal.

Barbara Delany says, “My most recent works are assemblages, made by assembling ‘recycled’ clay fragments of some of my earlier works that I chose to break apart. In doing so, I discover exciting new shapes and forms among the broken pieces which, when rearranged or combined with found objects suggest an idea for a new sculpture. These new sculptures become reinterpretations, the result of a renewed and altered vision of each work as recombine its parts.”

As I’ve said, I was delighted and inspired by the works of Barbara Delany.

For more information contact:
Parish Gallery – Georgetown
1054 31st Street NW
Washington, DC
(202) 944-2310
www.parishgallery.com

During the last 15 or so years I have worked closely with Edson “Café” DaSilva. “Café” is a renowned percussionist from Sao Paolo, Brazil. He has worked with, and performed with many internationally renowned musicians, such as, Harry Belafonte, Herbie Mann, Djavan, Chico Buarque, Roberta Flack, Quincy Jones, David Byrne, Mick Jagger, and a long list more. We have produced a DVD video “Ancestors,” which features the trio, “Folia de Reis” – Salvador “Dom Salvador” DaSilva, Milciades “Cidinho” Teixiera, and “Café”. Follow the link for one tune from the DVD “Ancestors – Folia de Reis.”

I am Ray Grist. From time to time, I will make more postings to JUMP again, with new features, new artists, new videos, new events. You can visit my web site at http://www.raygrist.com/