By Rachel Galvin

When a group of people disappears what stories remain? And who will tell their tales? Just as rings of a tree tell its history, the wooden canvases used by artist Whitfield Lovell tell the history of the African Americans he draws upon them. These wooden boards are just one form of canvas he used in his thought-provoking exhibit now on display through May 21 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Opened on Feb. 15, the exhibit, entitled “Passages” hints at the passage people took from their homes in Africa to the ports to then be transported forcefully to the United States via the slave trade, as well as how their journey continued from there.

The images were created by Lovell based on photographs of unidentified African Americans taken between the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Movement. He also incorporated found objects to further symbolize each person’s role or indicate items they may have used in life. We can only guess who they once were and the struggles they encountered.

Within the exhibit, he had a historic “home” created as well, compete with dining room table and piano.

Lovell also installed a multi-sensory display called “Deep River,” which documents the perilous journey freedom seekers took by crossing the Tennessee River to “Camp Contraband” in Chattanooga during the Civil War. The installation includes three immersive video projections of a river filmed at night, enveloping the viewers with the sound of waves lapping surrounding a large mound of soil embedded with vintage objects, ropes, lamps, weapons, utensils, a Bible and more. Looking as if it was a forgotten campsite, the mound is filled with objects people may have used and left behind. The room is also filled with 56 large wooden foundry molds, each depicting a nameless African American lost to the sands of time, except for his attempt to revive what their life might have been like. This is just one part of the overall exhibit.

The mood of the exhibit is a bit solemn and reflective but hopeful, bringing thoughts of people’s pride of self, perseverance and determination, as well as struggle for survival and quest for freedom and home.

Lovell, a MacArthur Fellowship recipient, said, about the title of the exhibit, “Life is a series of passages, a series of trips, milestones. Good trips, bad things, all experiences — friendship, love.”

When asked what he hopes people will take away from viewing the exhibit, he said, “You know when you go to a theater and you find yourself humming a tune, something got to you…” He said similarly he hopes something reaches out to the people viewing his art and leaves them with something they can take with them, and leaves a lasting effect.

He added, “As an artist, the best thing I can do is to heighten awareness, make people feel, make people think … but, when I make the art, I’m just putting out my art. Hopefully, if I’m doing it the right way, it will do all those things. It will make people think and make people feel. It may just change some people’s minds.”

The exhibit was organized by the American Federation of Arts in collaboration with the artist. (See more pics below).

Also, upstairs in the museum, make sure to check out the exhibit of Oswaldo Vigas. The work of this Venezuelan artist incorporates such styles as surrealism, cubism and constructivism. His abstract pieces are vibrant with a multicultural and exotic feel. This exhibition comprises paintings from the 1950s to 1970s. His exhibit, also on display until May 21, was organized by the museum in collaboration with the Fundación Oswaldo Vigas and coincides with the recent launch of a catalogue raisonné of his work.

Both exhibits were introduced at a special opening night event, at which Lovell was present. Guests could enjoy drinks and light bites in the courtyard, as well as live music.

To find out more about the exhibit and the museum, visit https://bocamuseum.org.

In the courtyard…

More photos from Lovell exhibit:

Above: Vincent Castiglia with HR Giger’s work.

By Rachel Galvin

Known for his futuristic airbrushed images, H.R. Giger developed a following that has continued long after he has left the earthly plane. This Swiss artist meshed man and the mechanical with seamless precision and created something new. His work was so revolutionary that it was given a new name – biomechanical. His pieces are beautiful and transfixing while at the same time horrifying, alien and mysterious. Beyond the surreal, his almost inexplicable artwork is sublime. His is a dystopian universe filled with nightmarish imagery that caters to the sci-fi and horror-loving crowd especially. After all, he was the creator of the eighth passenger in “Alien,” which won an Oscar for special effects. That was not the only film he worked on. He worked on album covers as well. 

Giger passed away in 2014, but not before inspiring and mentoring a young artist named Vincent Castiglia. He even gave the budding artist his first solo show. Today, that artist has his own studio. He is a successful tattoo artist and uses his place also as gallery space. Now, Castiglia has many of Giger’s works on display in a special exhibit featuring several original works along with prints.

Castiglia’s work, a collection entitled “Stations of Embodiment” also will be on display in a side gallery. Employing a similarly dark theme and also steeped in symbolism, his pieces are just as captivating. Channeling Michaelangelo’s “Creation of Adam,” this artist puts his life force into every one of his paintings, transferring literally his own blood, sweat, and possibly tears, to the canvas. The canvas itself is even composed of material from the same paper company Michaelangelo himself once used. Castiglia has an RN take vials of blood from him to use as his medium, from which he creates monochromatic masterpieces. He said this collection of artworks show the stations of humanity, epiphany or transcendence. 

His arresting piece “The Sleep” hits you like a ton of bricks leaving you awestruck at the skill used to create it and the symbolism behind it. The figures on the oversized canvas are posed like a Pieta, with what appears to be Pan, or a devil, holding a decomposing mortal man helplessly asleep in his arms, “cradled by the blind force of Typhon.” Seeds fall upward from his head toward Nature’s god above him. Everything is topsy turvy and man knows not what he truly is. “You can’t have light without darkness,” Castiglia said. This is just one of the masterful pieces on display.

Asked his process for its creation, he said. “I draw it first. Each art piece takes three weeks to three months.”

His piece called “Feeding,” like “The Sleep” is set up with one figure cradling the other. In this case it is a woman in a wheelchair who is decomposing yet nurtures a newborn, holding him or her up to her breast for sustenance when she cannot even sustain herself anymore. Set like “The Sleep” in a natural background with flora and fauna, it indicates the natural way of things, man’s, or in this case woman’s, humanity and the cycle of life.

Castiglia appropriately came from Hell’s Kitchen in New York here to South Florida a year ago and many of his clients have followed him here, clamoring for his tattoo art. He spent 23 years in the Big Apple honing his skills. But his artwork and the fact of how it is made is what truly captivated this reporter. 

Yet, this humble artist wants to throw the focus more on his mentor, Giger, who he met in the Czech Republic. He worked on two shows with him and then eventually his first solo show in 2008. Giger’s agent became his agent. Replicating some of Giger’s work creates some of his best tattoos, he said. “Giger was a dear friend and mentor” and he said he is honored to show homage to him and expose his work and originals in what is the first solo show of his work. Being with him, he said, was like “sitting at the feet of a shaman,” and he said that Giger was “communicating something with a structural truth,” and his work was divinely inspired. It is hard to believe a man created such imagery, he added. 

Castiglia started doing art at a young age. It was something he said he did “relentlessly” and that he did a lot of drawings. He found, like a lot of artists, that artistic creation was quite a catharsis for everyday life. Using blood as a medium was a way of presenting truth, including his own personal truth, onto the canvas. He called it “transforming oneself into the content” and a “direct window into the psyche.”

Castiglia got a chance to work on an album cover for Triptykon, which Giger also worked on. Giger was on the cover and Castiglia’s work was on the inside. He did not want to create vague imagery, so he interviewed each person in the band to get a sense of who they were and what they valued before doing the portraits of each. It was a mix of their personalities and specific entities he assigned to each.

He also did a portrait of Gregg Allman, of the Allman Brothers, made out of the blood of Gregg and his children. It was hung in his studio. 

There is nothing shallow about Castiglia’s artwork. They are imbrued with much symbolism, as the artist himself seems to be grappling with life’s mysteries, the eternal energy that is neither created nor destroyed, the butterfly effect that proves interconnectedness among all beings, the primordial reasoning beneath it all … love?

“It’s been an ineffable honor to be a mere emissary of displaying Giger’s work to the region.” 

Stephen Romano curated the show that is currently on display and the show will be available for viewing until Feb. 28 by appointment only. There will be a closing night party at the gallery at 2227 S. Federal Hwy., Ft. Lauderdale.on the 23rd from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information and to schedule a viewing or RSVP, visit www.vincentcastigliagallery.com.

Next, Castiglia will have Burton C. Bell’s work on display. Bell does the vocals behind Fear Factory and it is the first exhibit of his photography. It will be held on March 11. 

By Rachel Galvin

Black & White Night by Funding Arts Broward always is a beautiful evening filled with art, music, food and networking. Gathering at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale on January 9, lovers of the arts came out once again this year to sip some wine, try some hors d’ oeuvres and decadent deserts, listen to classical music performed by Dillard High School students and DJ Israel Charles, and have a curated tour of the latest exhibits in the museum. The event celebrated the 20th year of FAB preserving and cultivating arts in Broward County.

Curator Ariella Wolens began with talking about the exhibit by Kathia St. Hllaire. She was inspired by Haitian Vodun flags and a child of Haitian parents, so much of St. Hillaire’s artwork revolves around Haiti – its culture, politics and people. Her exhibit, on display until April 23, is titled “Immaterial Being.” This is a reference to a speech by former Haitian President François Duvalier, otherwise known as Papa Doc (1907-1971). In 1964, he overturned the constitution and announced himself “President for Life” and proclaimed himself an “immaterial being,” incapable of being overpowered by his enemies. Instead of focusing on the politics of the proclamation, she focuses on its spirituality, as the president was considered an eternal, spiritual force, a reincarnation of the Vodun spirit of Baron Samedi, the venerated Loa (spirit) of the dead. She also uses the title to reference the disembodied force of labor, of the people who are invisible and unacknowledged, according to the website.

This young artist grew up in African American and Caribbean neighborhoods and through her work she hopes to memorialize these communities within her innovative printmaking techniques. A master of mixed media, she employs everything from fabric to beauty products, weaving them together. She even utilizes industrial metal and tires. Her work is a mix of past and present woven into one, a commentary on how historic issues have not been solved yet. She comments on topics like assimilation, subjugation, spirituality, history and more. A large-scale whirl against the wall symbolizes a hurricane and seems to pose questions. Could the spirits of those who crossed the middle passage from Africa to the states who were forced into slavery be causing the tumult of the storms we see here in the Sunshine State? Are they seeking revenge for their experience? 

The other exhibition Wolens showed to guests is called “I Had a Wonderful Life” and was created by artist Scott Covert. It will also be on display until April 23. His pieces all consist of rubbings of gravestones of people who he felt had character. The artistry of these pieces not only comes in the final product, but in the selection of the people presented and how he organizes them together on one canvas. What theme is he relaying in each? How are they related? His work is beyond just the canvas too; it is about the journey. For 40 years, he has been traveling the world to find the actual gravestones of these people and doing a rubbing of their gravestones.

In Victorian times, grave rubbing was a la mode, but it is less done these days, making his work very unique, albeit a bit macabre. Some of the gravestones include funny sayings. These final words are not mournful, but joyous. According to the website, their uplifting sentiment resonates with Covert’s attitude towards his art — each work is a celebration, a signifier of life, memory and profound experience.

For more information on these and other exhibitions at the museum, visit https://nsuartmuseum.org.

For more information on Funding Arts Broward, visit https://fundingartsbroward.org.

Photos taken by Rachel Galvin

By Rachel Galvin

In 1915, Pearl City was established for African American residents south of what is today Glades Boulevard between Dixie and Federal Highway in Boca Raton, Florida. Many of the hard-working people who resided there worked in Deerfield Beach on the farms there. The Boca Raton Historical Society said on its website that it is likely Pearl City was named for the Hawaiian Pearl pineapple since it was located on the site of a former pineapple packing shed. Originally, the streets were named Pearl, Ruby and Sapphire and were recently renamed. The area grew to include churches, schools, businesses and entertainment during the days of segregation.

But for those who lived there or whose family members lived there, the area is more than brick and mortar. It is about the building blocks of the community.

Eddie Williams said that it was a “close-knit community” where “you know everybody.” Currently residing in Kentucky, he said, “I am proud to tell people I’m from Boca Raton, especially Pearl City.

The area, he notes consisted of five streets between Dixie Road and Federal Highway.

For former resident Annette Ireland, family would come first in Pearl City. “Every woman who was an adult was your mother,” she said, adding, “Respect played a major part in our community.” She also mentioned the importance of education, religion and socializing. Some people, like her mother, were advocates; others took on leadership roles.

Pearl City was really built by hard-working people, said Alton Sears, and despite everything, the “community still survives. It strives and is resilient.”

However people viewed the history of Pearl City and what it meant and continues to mean, the place is certainly special, and its specialness and history were captured in a photography exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art called Black Pearls. The exhibit is on display until Jan. 29. It features 24 photos of some of the residents of the area. Some still live there, others have moved away.

The photographer, Washington DC-based photographer and activist Reginald Cunningham, partnered with Dr. Candace Cunningham to also capture the oral histories of current settlers and the children of the original settlers that have moved away. Those histories are available to be heard on the museum’s website.

The exhibition also includes a full-color catalog featuring an introduction to the artist by Dr. Imani Cheers and a historical essay on Pearl City by Dr. Candace Cunningham.

Reginald Cunningham, who was on-hand to give a talk with Dr. Candace Cunningham and others to a large audience at the opening of the exhibit originally on September 3, has been featured in international publications in the past, focusing on activism, music, fashion and more. He also focuses on highlighting black talent. He has a Master of Arts in Media + Communications.

The opening of the exhibit also included a party in the courtyard and many spent time looking at the photos, including many family members and some of the people who were in the photos.

Samantha Hill said of the exhibit, “It is very phenomenal, amazing. I like what I see and that a lot of individuals will know the history. It makes me feel good that it made it to the museum.” She has been here since she was 3, she said about the area, and now is 39 years old.

“One of the things I always aim to do is inspire people to feel something when they look at my work,” said Cunningham. “To have an emotional, physiological response” — he said that that is key to developing a good photograph.

He also said he learned much from listening to the community’s stories. Those who visit the museum and read about the people and see their photos are sure to learn a lot as well.

The Historic Preservation Board voted unanimously to protect the history of Pearl City in 2000, designating it in December of that year as a historic district. In 2002, the city council agreed and plans were set in place to improve the area. The $6.2 million project was done over three phases between 2004 and 2008. It was funded through federal community development block grants primarily.

People gather in Pearl City during Martin Luther King Jr. day and in other times, and many people are moving back to the area that they once called home. Some had moved nearby but still attend church in the area. No matter where they live now, it seems most still recall Pearl City warmly and wish for the area to continue to be preserved for people in the future. It seems that getting the word out about what makes the area important and still vital is essential to meet that goal, and is something that Cunningham certainly advanced with his exhibit.

For more information on the exhibit, visit www.bocamuseum.org.

About the Artist:

Photo above: Jody Harrison Grass, chair of the Boca Raton Museum of Art’s board of trustees; Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer; TCM host Ben Mankiewicz; Boca Raton Museum of Art exec. director Irvin Lippman and exhibit curator Thomas A. Walsh

By Rachel Galvin

With an entourage of fans in tow, Ben Mankiewicz went room by room through the Art of the Hollywood Backdrop exhibit still on display at the Boca Raton Museum of Art on December 10 enjoying the oversized backdrops that told the stories of the golden age of Hollywood. This beloved Turner Classic Movies (TCM) host had plenty to say about the exhibit, saying it exceeded his expectations after hearing all the hype about it. He was at the museum for a special meet and greet event in which fans could have a chance to talk to him and he could see the displays before going on to do a talk at the nearby The Boca Raton (formerly the Boca Raton Resort & Club).

“It’s dazzling,” he said of the exhibit, adding that the turnout was also impressive. It made him realize that fans of this art form are all over the country, that such an exhibit did not need to necessarily only be in places like New York or Los Angeles. He also said the exhibit is for everyone from the dedicated cinephile to people who just like movies, who will be left “slackjawed” after seeing an inside peek into what it takes to make the movies.

Thomas A. Walsh, who also attended the exhibit event that brought Mankiewicz to the museum, was the co-curator of the exhibit, along with Karen Maness. “It’s great to get Ben here as an endorser of our efforts,” he said. “He’s got a rich legacy in film and has the DNA of Herman Mankiewicz.” Herman Mankiekwicz, known as the co-screenwriter for “Citizen Kane,” was Ben Mankiewicz’s grandfather. And that was just one well-known name in the film industry in his family tree.

Walsh went on to say, “This is just terrific exposure for the museum,” adding, “This is a culmination of a long successful run.”

He said before bringing the exhibit here, he shopped the idea around to many museums. “They thought it was a lovely idea, but couldn’t figure out how to do it” (since the backdrops were so large). “Boca lent itself to it well.”

The crowd who assembled for this particular event were of all ages and most were avid fans of Turner Classic Movies. “I have never been here before,” said a very excited Diana Hubert. “I saw this on Facebook and (TCM) is the only channel I watch.”

Also in attendance were museum members, sponsors and dignitaries, including Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, who said in a video produced by News Travels Fast, “These backdrops are works of art in themselves, and it is so wonderful that they are here at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.”

The golden age of moviemaking could not have been possible without backdrops and the many dedicated creators that brought them to life. Who could imagine movies like “Wizard of Oz,” for example, without using backdrops at the time?

Many of such masterpieces were ready for the trash heap, only to be rescued. Two hundred and seven backdrops were saved from being thrown in the trash after Lynne Coakley, the president of JC Backings, one of the largest companies to rent out such backdrops, decided to donate them to the Art Directors Guild instead of tossing them. The guild, under the direction of Walsh, who is also the Art Guild President, has been working to preserve these precious items since. One of the recipients of some of the backdrops was the University of Texas Austin.

The collection of backdrops that is on display in Boca Raton is accompanied by videos showing how they were used and other written information. The videos also talk about the creators behind them and the process of making them. The artists of these backdrops were usually not listed in the credits at the time. Much like the workers who helped craft the greatest pieces of the Renaissance masters, these artisans would be lost to history … until now.

Twenty of the backdrops are courtesy of the Texas Performing Arts Hollywood Backdrop Collection at the University of Texas. The Motion Picture Academy in Los Angeles has also loaned two works: the 1952 backdrop for “Singin’ in the Rain,” made famous by Donald O’Connor’s comic performance of “Make ‘Em Laugh;” and the tapestry backdrop for “Marie Antoinette” (1938), which was reused in “North by Northwest” (1959) in the auction house scene.

There are so many iconic backdrops on display that serve as perfect photo ops. Here, you can see large-scale the grandiosity of Rome as seen in movies like “Ben Hur;” the Austrian Alps used in “The Sound of Music;” the majestic Mount Rushmore, which once served as a location in “North by Northwest;” and more. The backdrops all were used from 1938 to 1968.

The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop will be on display until Jan. 22, 2023. For more information, visit https://bocamuseum.org.

More photos soon on the Let’s Talk Magazine Facebook page.