H U G E A U X | Tribute to The Humanities

The 2nd Annual

The African & American

S k e t c h b o o k 2008

works by African-American & African Artists

born 1930 to 1961

April 1 - June 30, 2008

Text

published and archived at

The Minority Professional Network

www.minorityprofessionalnetwork.com

Honoring

Otto Neals

Artists includes

Dr. Mohamed Buwe Osman (Somalia / North Carolina)

Barry Mason (New York)

&

HUGEAUX (Florida)

Featured Writers

Acknowledgements by Hugeaux Jacksonville, Florida.

Introduction / Text by Abdi-Noor Haji Mohamed Somalia / Sweden

Preface by Janaka Bowman Lewis Atlanta, Georgia.

Epilogue by Vanessa Thaxton-Ward Hampton Virginia.

Text Honorable Otto Neals New York, New York.

Text Honorable Dr. Margaret Burroughs Chicago, Illinois.

Text Barry Mason NCA New York ,New York.

.........Please allow time to download

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How to view an Art / Photography exhibition Online.

By HUGEAUX

April 12, 2006

On-line art / photography exhibitions do not deal with size, but with CONTENT.

Many of you are similar to me. We work, live; pay bills and virtually live through out computers. Now with the 1001 things to do with the computer, let me add another. As an artist/photographer I have found it very difficult to view good art, within the solitude of my created surrounding. Now there is a way. These precepts are catered to viewing art via museums, and not galleries.

Much concentration is placed upon visiting a museum to view an exhibition, not to mention the cost, wish make our concentration more direct. When viewing an exhibition at a museum, one usually has done some background research upon the importance of the exhibition. The atmosphere is non-negatively quiet (Hugeaux coined phase). The promenade is a slow stroll. Reading is a must. Many of the world famous museums give their patrons a place to escape the world for a few hours. The exhibitions are open domain and you can spend as long or as little time as you like. You do not have to have special knowledge of art.

How can this be established in our own individual havens? We must create a time for it. On-line exhibitions are very focused. They are usually obtained through a password portal, which is given to the individuals invited. This concept is similar to Unveilings, before public access.

Tips on viewing an art / photography exhibition Online:

Remember like at a museum, prepare yourself for a journey and reading.
Don’t view the exhibition as a slide show.
Read the entire Preface, before viewing the exhibition.
Try to make a comparison with other art forms, styles, objects or experiences.
Use the scroll bar, instead of the clicker.
Confine one image to one page frame.
A second introductory statement should be place one-third and/or two-thirds within the exhibition.
Re-adjust your seating and viewing arrangement at another angle for the exhibition.
Clean you monitor glass.
Right click to adjust size.
Remember unlike a museum, you will not be over-powered by size, but by CONTENT.
Choose various focal point of the image for concentration.
Pay close attention to subject matter as it pertains to history, ethnicity, culture, structure or the likes.
Pay close attention to dates, as they record different times in history.

Acknowledgements

I shall like to that God Almighty for gathering a group of good friends for such an extraordinary exhibition. This BLOCKBUSTER exhibition would not be possible without the contributions and support of Honorable Otto Neals, Barry Mason, Dr. Mohamed Buwe Osman, Honorable Dr. Margaret Burrough, Vanessa Thaxton-Ward, Janaka Bowman Lewis, Abdi-Noor Haji Mohamed etc. I thank you all.

I hope you enjoy this 2nd SKETCHBOOK 2008 exhibition as much as I did in organizing it.

Remember our Efforts are worthless without DOCUMENTATION.

Kind regards....HUGEAUX

Introduction

“I am blessed to be a human being because it is the only species that has the ability to write. An ape can be trained to speak few words but never can it acquire the skill of writing. So I am not an ape that has evolved into a man with advanced thinking ability. Simply I am a human being. I have rights to defend,

duties to undertake.........................Abdi-Noor Haji Mohamed

Somali Writer, poet, activist, photographer and film maker, living in Sweden, Europe now.

Preface

Art (is) history:

Intro to The African & American Sketchbook 2008

The relationship between oral and written (hi)stories is often discussed, but the visual often inspires and connects the two. Visual art has told stories in African and in African-American culture from the beginning of time. Additionally, storytellers and writers are motivated by images and artistic representations. In Ghanaian culture, the symbol of the sankofa bird told us to “return to the past,” to go back and reclaim that which we have lost. African American artists have reclaimed the power of historical representation through major artistic movements including the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Art Movement. Aaron Douglas’ Aspects of Negro Life (1934) reflected upon the dawn of emancipation through mural. Elizabeth Catlett’s Black Unity (1968) represented, through dual-faced African masks and a clenched fist, the connections that span both history and geography.

Artists also continue to create history through the visual realm. Kara Walker, to name just one example, utilizes the seemingly basic form of silhouette to tell complex stories about abuse and misrepresentation in African American history while confronting cultural stereotypes. African American art is not static; it moves through physical spaces and by way of various media, from walls to projectors to television and computer screens. Today, both visual and literary artists embrace the digital form to make stories widely accessible. Hugeaux’s The African & American S k e t c h b o o k 2008 contributes to and helps to redefine artistic traditions of re-presenting the past as we move into the future.

Janaka Bowman Lewis
Doctoral Candidate, Northwestern University
Atlanta, Georgia

Honorable Otto Neals

Text by Otto Neals

Otto Neals, painter, sculptor, and printmaker was born December 11, 1930 in Lake City, South Carolina.

Sketchbook - Rasta Woman

My talent as an artist, I believe comes directly from my ancestors. I am merely a receiver, an instrument, for receiving some of those energies that permeate our entire universe, an I give thanks for having been chosen to absorb those artistic forces. I try to paint and sculpt African people, working always to portray those characteristics that are true of their beauty, their power, and their love. We are but shadows of those who have gone before us and before I enter the world of the spirits. I hope by example, to touch a positive nerve in our youth.

Rasta Woman by Otto Neals

The Creator, I believe, has allowed us, as artists to be a bit more perceptive than others. We are able to peer inside a block of stone and extract an image. or a log may reveal a form that others may not see.

Sketchbook - There was a Time

When I stood at the base of the great temple of Ramses at Abu Simbel. it felt as though I was there before, as though I had a hand in its construction. Perhaps it is true. Perhaps some of the energy that had moved the hand of some great ancient African carver has this day moved mine. I would like to think so.

There was a Time by Otto Neals

At a much younger age, I heard voices, which I now believe were my ancestors speaking to me. Although I cannot remember the content of the messages. I am convinced that they have guided my life to this day.

BARRY MASON

Text by Barry Mason

When I am engaged in the creation of my works,
I feel a strong presence of the ancestors
directing my path in every shape, stroke, form, color, word.
Almost like I was painting in a trance
or that of an out of body experience.

Sketchbook - Ancestral Calling

Ancestral Calling by Barry Mason

I feel that it is fair to say, when artists are
in the midst of their creative transformations,
some things can and cannot be explained.
Not because the artist don’t know or ignorance.
It’s because in our own lives, we are constantly
dealing with the abstract , not everything about us is all that clear.
Thus art represents the real and the abstracts of life,
the clear and not so clear.

Sketchbook - Hurricane 2 Sudan

I just know what I know when I know it
and, then, sometimes, I don’t.
But, I do wish to and as an artist I am always in a journey to know.

Hurricane 2 Sudan by Barry Mason

And when I reach back to find some answer(s) from my ancestors,
it all comes together. I let go and let the process flow
freely -- without question, explanation or second thoughts.

Dr. MOHAMED BUWE OSMAN

Text by Abdi-Noor Haji Mohamed

Welcome to the Online Art Exibitions> Dr. Mohamed Buwe Osman is a living talent and a legend. He is a medical doctor, a painter and a poet whose work touches the inner feelings of the soul. Dr. Osman´s skills as a painter have to a large extent contributed to the understanding the establishing a link between arts and medicine which is a rare possibility to have a medical doctor with such great artistic potentiality. He writes and paints about many geners including the evolutionary stages a man undergoes from conception to birth and death. I have visited his website and found his work very impressive and glaringly outstanding which do not only pass a message across but has a healing power from which humans can benefit from. I dedicate this poem to Dr. Osman for his excellent creative work in the field of Arts and Medicine.

Sketchbook - ED

ED by Dr. Mohamed Buwe Osman

You are a doctor
You supply love
You relieve pain
You inject hope

Sketchbook - Smoking

You are an artist
You soothe the soul
You touch the heart
Your hands are gifted

Smoking by Mohamed Buwe Osman

You write poetry
You share feelings
You pass messages
Your mind is smart

We all love you Doctor

We are proud of you

Keep up the good work

Keep the flame glowing

Hugeaux

Text by Honorable Dr. Margaret Burroughs (Emeritus Director, DuSable Museum)

Excerpts from poem

"BLACK / B L A C K" .

Think BLACK / Love BLACK / Believe in BLACK/

Unite with BLACK Brothers

LOVE BLACK.

Sketchbook - A Dynasty

A Dynasty by Hugeaux

Conceptual Digital Photography

Love your BLACK Self / Trust BLACK / Follow BLACK

Register BLACK/ Elect BLACK

LOVE BLACK

Sketchbook - ARTE MECCO "The Well"

Organize BLACK / Build for BLACK / Clean up BLACK

Pray BLACK / Worship Black

LOVE BLACK

ARTE MECCO "The Well" by HUGEAUX

Conceptual Digital Photography

BLACK Hands / Rejoice BLACK / Laugh BLACK

Be a proud BLACK Person

&

Love you BLACK Self

Epilogue

I have worked in museums for over twenty-five years and worked at the Hampton University Museum for seventeen years. Living with the works of Albert Smith, Hale Woodruff, Palmer Hayden, Joshua Johnson, Henry O. Tanner, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Augusta Savage, Charles White, the murals of John T. Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett’s prints and sculptures, Samella Lewis, James Phillips and the list goes on and on has been an amazing journey that continues. I have walked by the works on display many times and even talked to some of them. I have talked to groups about them when giving tours and planned programs around them and yet each time I see them it is still a wonderful and new experience almost like looking at them for the first time. When researching the artists for a new label or working in art storage to pull a piece that another institution may want to borrow it is like making new friends or visiting your favorite Aunt.

African American art is so diverse and energizing as seen during the opening of New Power Generation 2008: A National Juried Exhibition that opened in February where we showcased the work of emerging and working artists. Hampton as well as other repositories and private collectors of art created by artists of African descent are important to the voice of the artist.

Vanessa D. Thaxton-Ward
Curator of Collections
Hampton University Museum

An African American Indian contribution to the Fine Arts through the Humanities