Art

‘An Archeology of Silence’ Exhibit at De Young Museum is Something to Talk About

Kehinde Wiley’s new exhibit “An Archeology of Silence” made its U.S. premiere at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. The exhibit, which opened in March, runs through Oct. 18, and is free to all Bay Area residents on weekends.

Published

2 years ago

October 2, 2023

Oakland Post

Artist Kehinde Wiley captures the sadness of unjustified deaths of youth in his collection “An Archaeology of Silence” at the de Young Museum. Photo by Daisha Williams.

By Daisha Williams
Post Staff

According to his website, Kehinde Wiley is an American artist born in Los Angeles in 1977 and is best known for his portraits that render people of color in the traditional settings of Old Master paintings.

The recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts, Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, and France’s distinction of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, Wiley earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, his website reveals.

In 2018, Wiley became the first African American artist to paint a presidential portrait when he was selected by former president Barack Obama.

Wiley created “An Archeology of Silence” during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the death of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020.

Wiley’s 25 works include sculptures and paintings large and small.

Walking through the exhibit feels surreal. Wiley has effectively captured the beauty of Blackness in the face of tragedy: the works evoke feelings of sadness, helplessness and admiration. The rooms are silent, except for occasional whispering, though there is a guided audio tour available while browsing the exhibit.

The paintings are vibrant and brightly colored, consistent with Wiley’s established art style. The room otherwise is dark, causing the paintings to stand out, shining a light on the way that Black bodies are often only really seen in the wake of their deaths.

Especially now, in the age of technology, people are able to view traumatizing acts of hatred inflicted on Black people by simply turning on the television. Wiley states, “That is the archaeology I am unearthing: the specter of police violence and state control over the bodies of young Black and Brown people all over the world.”

For the premiere of this exhibit to be in the Bay Area feels fitting, in part because of the vibrant Black community that lives here, and also due to the fact that the Bay has seen its fair share of violence inflicted upon Black bodies.

Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, states:

“Utilizing the historical visual language of the dying hero, Wiley’s portraits of Black youths render visible previously obscured victims and survivors of systemic violence. In the Bay Area — a place that has resisted violence against Black people, as evidenced in the Black Power movement and the current Black Lives Matter movement — Wiley’s work has deep resonances. They ask each of us, how are we implicated? And how do we take action?”

In collaboration with Live Free USA, Wiley will continue his series of conversations associated with the exhibit at 1 p.m. on Sept. 16, this time discussing reparations. The event is free with seating in Koret Auditorium on a first-come, first-served basis. It does not include access to the exhibit.

From San Francisco, the collection will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston from Nov. 19, 2023, to June 19, 2024; Pérez Art Museum in Miami from July 26, 2024 – Jan. 12, 2025, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art from Feb. 22–June 22, 2025.

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Activism

Griot Theater Company Presents August Wilson’s Work at Annual Oratorical Featuring Black Authors

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Published

2 months ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Late playwright August Wilson. Wikipedia photo.

By Godfrey Lee

Griot Theater Company will present their Fifth Annual Oratorical with August Wilson’s “Half a Century,” at the Belrose on 1415 Fifth Ave., in San Rafael near the San Rafael Public Library.

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20^th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Previous performance highlighting essential Black American authors included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry with Langston Hughes.

The play will be performed at 3:00. p.m. on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m., and on Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, go to griottheatercompany.squarespace.com/productions-v2

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Activism

MLK Day of Service Volunteers Make Blankets and Art for Locals in Need

“Everyone has an opportunity to participate,” said Glenda Roberts, kinship support care program manager at CCYSB. “Our nonprofit organization and participants recognize how important it is to give back to the community and this is serving. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, ‘Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.’”

Published

3 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the nonprofit.

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard

The Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) and Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (BMBC) are collaborating with a team of volunteers for a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, Jan. 20 that will wrap the community’s most vulnerable people in warm blankets and provide them with an uplifting gift of art.

Volunteers will kick off their activities at BMBC at 11 a.m., making blankets for the unhoused people served by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and art for those in convalescence in Richmond.

Others will get to work preparing a lunch of chili, salad, a veggie tray, and water for participants, offered courtesy of CCYSB, while supplies last.

“People of all ages are welcome to participate in the MLK Day of Service,” said Roberts. Volunteers can RSVP via phone to Glenda Roberts at 510-215-4670, ext. 125.

CCYSB Boardmember Jackie Marston and her friends donated the materials and supplies to make the blankets and art projects. The nonprofit is also providing the day’s complimentary lunch, as well as employees to volunteer, under the direction of CCYSB Executive Director Marena Brown.

BMBC, led by Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez, is providing the facility for the event and volunteers from the church, which is located at 684 Juliga Woods St. in Richmond.

Located in Richmond, CCYSB is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that serves eligible children, youth, and low-income families with a variety of wraparound services so they can thrive. Programs include academic achievement, youth mentorship, truancy prevention and direct response.

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Art

Vandalism at Richmond Ferry Terminal Saddens Residents

Residents have been lamenting the destruction online. Ellen Seskin posted photos of the vandalism to the Facebook group, Everybody’s Richmond, on Jan. 12, saying she encountered it while out on a walk. “It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

Published

3 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Graffiti mars the walkway at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Photo by Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” stated the post on NextDoor.

The post referenced images of graffiti at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Not just on the terminal, but also on public artwork, on trail signs, on public benches and the boardwalk.

On Wednesday, the Standard stopped by to see it for ourselves. The good news was that it appears the graffiti on the terminal and on the artwork, called Changing Tide, have been cleaned for the most part. But graffiti remained abundant in the area around the relatively new ferry terminal, which opened to the public just six years ago.

Graffiti artists tagged benches and the boardwalk. Cars that had done doughnuts in the street marked the cul-de-sac just outside the historic Craneway Pavilion.

A ferry worker told us the graffiti had been there since before he started working for the ferry service about a week ago.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers who did not want to be named in this report called the scene “sad,” as “they’d done such a nice job fixing it up.”

“It’s sad that all this money has been spent and hoodlums just don’t care and are destroying stuff,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon the graffiti would be removed. The Standard reported the graffiti to the city’s graffiti abatement hotline. We were prompted to leave a message reporting the address and location of the graffiti.

“It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

In the comment section responding to Seskin’s post, local attorney Daniel Butt questioned why there aren’t cameras in the area.

On Nextdoor, one resident suggested searching to see if the tags match any accounts on Instagram, hoping to identify the perpetrator.

On its website, the City of Richmond says residents should graffiti immediately call Public Works graffiti removal and/or Code Enforcement at 510-965-4905.

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report.