Comments on: Remembering through Contemporary Art http://ncartmuseum.org/untitled/2011/09/remembering-through-contemporary-art/ The NCMA Blog Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:52:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: On Tour | ArtNC News http://ncartmuseum.org/untitled/2011/09/remembering-through-contemporary-art/#comment-105103 On Tour | ArtNC News Wed, 15 May 2013 21:18:44 +0000 http://ncartmuseum.org/untitled/?p=2667#comment-105103 [...] public and were pretty good at it. Shifting back to art, I wanted to show them Michael Richard’s Tar Baby vs. Saint Sebastian, and they again shared very mature insights, though I think other works might have been more [...] [...] public and were pretty good at it. Shifting back to art, I wanted to show them Michael Richard’s Tar Baby vs. Saint Sebastian, and they again shared very mature insights, though I think other works might have been more [...]

]]> By: Barbara http://ncartmuseum.org/untitled/2011/09/remembering-through-contemporary-art/#comment-50428 Barbara Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:42:40 +0000 http://ncartmuseum.org/untitled/?p=2667#comment-50428 This piece is amazing on so many levels. It calls on us to remember the valiant Tuskegee airmen, who put their lives on the line during WWII, with unimaginable bravery & skill. It also invites us to remember those lost on September 11, including not only heroes like firefighters, and ordinary folks stepping up in crisis ... but also all the innocent people who unfortunately happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tremendous talent was lost that day ... and Michael Richards, his own form shaping this extraordinary and beautiful sculpture, truly embodies that loss ... The title is so striking too. Many kids today don't know the Brer Rabbit stories, or about the Tar Baby (with Brer Rabbit, stuck fast to the unwanted Tar Baby, crying to the fox about to eat him "Don't throw me in that briar patch!", when that's all he wanted all along...) Meanwhile, long ago Saint Sebastian surrendered himself to martyrdom -- he was shot through with arrows for his beliefs (and his status as Christian)... and yet he miraculously survived -- for a time, because he was soon after stoned to death. Makes us wonder how Michael Richards thought the Tuskegee Airmen were connected to the Tar Baby, and to Saint Sebastian ... Thanks, NCMA, for highlighting this evocative, beautiful piece,especially as we mark this season of commemoration of our terrible tragedy 10 short years ago ... This piece is amazing on so many levels. It calls on us to remember the valiant Tuskegee airmen, who put their lives on the line during WWII, with unimaginable bravery & skill. It also invites us to remember those lost on September 11, including not only heroes like firefighters, and ordinary folks stepping up in crisis … but also all the innocent people who unfortunately happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tremendous talent was lost that day … and Michael Richards, his own form shaping this extraordinary and beautiful sculpture, truly embodies that loss …

The title is so striking too. Many kids today don’t know the Brer Rabbit stories, or about the Tar Baby (with Brer Rabbit, stuck fast to the unwanted Tar Baby, crying to the fox about to eat him “Don’t throw me in that briar patch!”, when that’s all he wanted all along…) Meanwhile, long ago Saint Sebastian surrendered himself to martyrdom — he was shot through with arrows for his beliefs (and his status as Christian)… and yet he miraculously survived — for a time, because he was soon after stoned to death. Makes us wonder how Michael Richards thought the Tuskegee Airmen were connected to the Tar Baby, and to Saint Sebastian …

Thanks, NCMA, for highlighting this evocative, beautiful piece,especially as we mark this season of commemoration of our terrible tragedy 10 short years ago …

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