From Oct. 20 thru Jan. 16 the Bronx Museum of the Arts, on the Grand Concourse and E. 165th St., exhibits the work of 69 emerging NYC artists who experienced the museum’s incubator program. Can’t wait to check it out. Hope you do too! (If you’ve never been to the Bronx Museum, I’d say this is a great time to begin. Such wonderful art there that too few of us see. And it’s free!)
Black and Blue
2 Mar
March 2, 2021 —When I saw these two people heading towards each other while driving in Riverdale a week or so ago, I stopped at the stop sign for more than the usual instant to grab my phone and take several photos. The intensely different way each walker was protecting themselves from the wet snow speaks for itself, and what you can, and cannot, see of them does the same. (Photo by Jordan Moss)
Bronx Activist Karen Washington in The Times’ … Style Magazine!
1 MarMarch 1, 2021 — Karen Washington, a retired physical therapist, deserves coverage across the planet for her dedication to urban farming, healthy eating, social justice, and all the other work she has done in the Bronx and beyond.
But it was a surprise — a tad odd, but very cool nonetheless — that Washington (at left in photo below) and two other women, securing healthy food for all and fighting exploitation, were featured in the New York Times’ Style Magazine a couple of weeks ago. (Click below to read the article). I know Karen: wonderful, caring person, who is on the board of the Mary Mitchell Center in the Crotona section of the Bronx, the neighborhood where she also lives. In addition to the article below, you can read more about her here, here and here.
Leonardo’s Work at Bronx Museum Ignites Focus, Thought, and Hopefully … Action
26 FebFeb. 26, 2021 — The Bronx Museum of the Arts was almost empty when I was there on Wednesday, but the message of its Shaun Leonardo exhibit, “The Breath of Empty Space,” was full … and forceful.
The reflections from the glass covering of each large piece make you walk up close and wonder why the heck the curator didn’t see the reflections when they were installed. When I walked up to the piec, I didn’t understand what I was looking at. I saw various clothed body sections but I didn’t understand the action being taken. There were even cutouts from the charcoal drawing.
All this had purpose.
Though the head of a person was non-existent, that empty half-body-like section was filled with parts of me. No, I was not killed, nor did I kill, but the message I interpreted for myself is that I have some role in the tale, even if I was in bed, or at Starbucks or on a bike ride for the seven minutes that Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck. Anti-racism doesn’t mean not killing or not saying racist things. It means acting, speaking, showing up — against racism. There were other pieces created with related messages, some a little harder to interpret, for me at least, which is why I need to, and look forward to, returning to the exhibit to look, and think more. And read more about racism in general. And learn. And act.
In a video on the museum’s site, Leonardo shares his message briefly but in these minimal, intense words he offers more than any art critique can provide.
“And if you experience something lodged in your body, some guttural, visceral impression, then I wish for you to stay with that for a moment, to sit with the hurt,” he said, “so that you may leave this exhibition questioning the ways that we perceive. And at the end of this experience, we may discover ways to move differently in the world and to breathe life into this history of violence.”
The show is on until May 30. Attendance is free but you must make a reservation which is rather easy. Go if you can!
Kingsbridge Armory’s Endless Stall
18 OctIt drives me a little nuts, everytime I walk or run by the Kingsbridge Armory.
I first wrote about it in 1993; community organizers and activists with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition got involved soon thereafter; and after many starts and stops and Mayor Bloomberg’s heavily defeated proposal to make a mall out of the giant joint (more than 500,000 square feet!) without a promise of a fair wage for workers, a group that adhered to a fair-wage deal finally got a plan saluted and signed by all sides. Named the Kingsbridge National Ice Center was going to be nine ice skating rinks for pro-hockey, and locals too. But the last word I found was in 2017 here and here. It’s been six years since there was a “deal” in 2014. Argh!!!!
Bronx Documentary Center Hosts Discussion with 2 Latin American Photographers
5 AugOn Instagram, this Friday, Bronx Documentary Center is hosting discussions with two exhibiting photographers, Adriana Loureiro Fernández and César Rodríguez. Details here.
The Red I Found in Kingsbridge (Bronx)
3 Aug8.3.20 — Asked as a kid what my favorite color was, I’d always say purple. But if you look at my art (IG: @jordanmossart), begun at age 48, there’s a ton more red. It’s me, but not a me I’ve gotten to understand too well. Why did it dominate my work so far? Dunno.
I took a bunch of shots at this one fire alarm on Godwin Terrace, a street, believe it or not, I’ve never walked or run on until today. I was headed in that direction from a run in Marble Hill, which despite my decade-and-a-half life in Kingsbridge Heights, I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve walked or run through it. Anyway, the reds, pinks, oranges in here blow me away. To me, this is a kind of art I could never, or should never, create. Yes, I will use/steal aspects of its textures and colors and take photos of it galore, choosing the parts I like and even editing its color (didn’t here). But it’s not any kind of message coming through me; it’s beauty and intensity I ran into. It is, I guess, an ongoing focus of my photography. (I took a ton more shots today but this is the one I like most.)
Speaking of my red artwork, here’s a recent piece of my mixed media abstract work that I began a good while ago at the Art Students League and completed over the summer.
As you may have noticed, I haven’t blogged in months, and not consistently in the last few years. I am no longer a journalist, but I reboot my blog here to focus on art, my art, Bronx art, local issues of all kinds and creativity in general. We’ll all see where I head with it. Your input, ideas and thoughts are welcome. The Bronx matters.
Seeing Bronx Museum Exhibits Wherever You Are
31 MarMuseums, galleries, theatres, schools, concert halls … they all might be technically closed but that doesn’t mean they can’t share their art and creativity. So many have! Here’s a Bronx Museum of the Arts show I haven’t gotten to see close up yet, but am grateful for its visual video existence. Take a look:
P.S. The Bronx Museum of the Arts is sharing much of its work online via videos like above.
Bronx Matters 