Art and Social Justice

I am honored to be speaking at UCLA today on Art & Social Justice.    

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Coldplay's Viva la Vida

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Frida Kahlo Viva la Vida 59 x 50.7 cm. oil on masonite 1954 Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico. Coldplay's lead singer, Chris Martin, was inspired by the life and art of the Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, while recording Coldplay's latest album: Viva la Vida . Martin was struck by the appeal to life gouged into the watermelon in the foreground of Frida's Viva la Vida which he viewed on a visit to the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City, Both Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera were involved in revolutionary politics in the Americas. Both artists felt it was their responsibility to point out and help change the injustices in society. But the band has used another painter's work to stand in for their inspiration. Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People graces the cover of Coldplay's new album. Though, the painting has been tagged by Frida, Chris, Banksy or perhaps Ricky Martin in white paint with the phrase "Long Live Life!" The undamage...
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Cherry Blossoms and Kamikaze

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by Gregg Chadwick While glancing at the schedule for this week’s National Critics Conference (May 25-28, 2005) at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles, I came across the description for Elizabeth Zimmer's "Kamikaze Writing Workshop." Obviously the word "kamikaze" has shifted in tone and meaning since it first entered the American vocabulary during the last years of WWII. I doubt that Zimmer’s criticism class will make a fiery plunge into the conference hall as a final project. But I was reminded of the important work being done in the fields of aesthetics and history by Emiko Ohnuki – Tierney at the University of Wisconsin. Cherry blossom send off. Kamikaze means "divine wind" in Japanese, and originally referred to a miraculous typhoon that saved Japan from a Mongolian invasion force in the 13th century. The Japanese Navy used this term to describe their suicide attack planes. In America, the word "kamikaze" describes actions that are...
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A Toast to Hannah

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Communicating the loss of a loved one is never easy. It is best done in person but words alone can also provide light in a difficult time. With deep sadness I have to send  on  news about the death of our beloved family member Hannah Johnson. Hannah passed away Sunday night in a traffic accident, and her husband Matt is fighting for his life in a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. ( Update on Hannah's Husband Matt:  Matt is coherent, awake, conversant and stood up today!!) Hannah believed deeply that all are created equal and that we all deserve an equal share of human rights. Hannah worked tirelessly for marriage equality in California and New Jersey.  Pictured in this New York Times photo from 2009 is my courageous family member Hannah Johnson tearing up as she applauds a New Jersey Senate committee vote on a bill to legalize gay marriage.  The struggle continues in New Jersey and in California photo  by Richard Perry / New Yor...
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