OAKLAND ART OPENINGS
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY
Reported by DeWitt Cheng
09.05.08


African American Museum and Library : Banned and Recovered.

Artists: Jody Alexander, Michael Bartalos, ?Milton Bowens, David Broom, Victor Cartagena, Mitchell Confer, Luis Delgado, Jordan Essoe, Rodney Ewing, Clinton Fein, Liz Hager, Charles Hobson, Justin Hoover, Richard Kamler, Lisa Kokin, Naomie Kremer, Pat Lenz, Jose Ramon Lerma, Malcolm Lubliner, Kara Maria, Mary V. Marsh, Barbara Milman, Douglas Minkler, Eileen Moderbacher, Sasha Mosalov, Daniel Newman, Penny Nii, Priscilla Otani, Joe Sam, Vered Shomron, Anne Hicks Siberell, Elizabeth Sher, Sandra Ortiz Taylor, Bryan Keith Thomas, Kathleen Walkup, Kazuko Watanabe, Tanya Wilkinson, Noah Wilson, Jan Wurm.

Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: This is the second half of the two-venue show on the theme of censored books, created by independent curator Hanna Regev, in order to preserve, protect and defend the First Amendment (you think W is interested?); the other part debuted in San Francisco at Center for the Book several weeks ago. Photos from that event on August 15 can be seen here .

This show at AAMLO features nearly 40 artists, each of whom takes on a single once-censored work, or deals with the issue of censorship in a broader way. Great reception-- the refurbished Carnegie-built Library is a marvel--?but sweltering inside with the large crowds. Some must suffer so you can surf. Plan to spend some time reading about the various reasons books that are now considered classics got in trouble at one time or another with our primitive forebears. Show is up 'til December 31. For more information, click the link above or visit the San Francisco Center for the Book website.

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Grand entrance to literary Parnassus.

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Coffered ceilings, Roman-style. Banners are part of permanent exhibit on black history.

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Artwork by Anne Hicks Siberell on general theme of censorship.

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Malcolm Lubliner with his painting on Remarque's antiwar novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. Script is the title in German. Note war photos.

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Jordan Essoe & painting/collage.

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Jan Wurm - depiction of Lady Chatterley & friend on army blanket.

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Doug Minkler & poster based on Marx's The Communist Manifesto.

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Naomie Kremer's DVD-projected-video piece on the dictionary.

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Sasha Mosalov assemblage on books banned in Russia during his childhood.

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Art by Michael Bartalos, Jordan Essoe, Doug Minkler (l to r).

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Murals.

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Books you need to be protected from; trust us.

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Jose Ramon Lerma's piece on The Grapes of Wrath

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Milton Bowens' piece on Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn.

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Articles and content copyright Alan Bamberger 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
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