We’ve been very lazy this month and didn’t do as many K & L activities as we would have liked so we are cramming a bunch of random activities in this one post.

New activity – The Art of Silkscreen Printing

Barbara: I frequently check the Dallas Museum of Art for exhibits I’m interested in. This month they have an exhibit on Silkscreen Printing called: X Marks the Spot: Contemporary Screenprinting at Brand X Editions. I knew nothing about this type of art and was hesitating until I saw one of the artists was named Alex Katz (my surname) and there would also be a panel talk on it offered to DMA members – so off I went.

This exhibit was fascinating to me. When I looked at the art, I had no idea how much work went into its making. For example, one of the artworks by Rashid Johnson looked like a large mosaic and while I could probably see maybe a dozen colors it actually had probably 20 times that many.

One of my favorite pictures shown below had 25 colors of ink while it looked to me like maybe 5 if I stretched.

 I can’t begin to explain the process of screen printing but one thing that struck me was how much work the studios had to do to accomplish the vision of the artist. For example, during the talk we learned of an artist who came in with a picture of a few orbs and had a vision of making them some shade of blue. The studio worked on the inks and came up with varying shades of different colors, including blue. It took them a whole lot of hours to do so. The artist wound up choosing the blue shade. I summoned up my courage up to ask a question of the panel which was why their “architect” did not receive credit. In other words, when I see a painting “by” Picasso, he chose the design and mixed the colors to get what he wanted. So if an artist creates the design but has someone else create the colors, why isn’t the art labeled “by” both the artist and the architect? They explained it away but I could tell the panelist kind of agreed with me. In any case, I highly recommend the exhibit.

New Activity: Louisiana: Food and Film

Louisiana restaurant: New Orleans Crab Shack

When we think of Louisiana, food comes to mind, especially Cajun munchies. However, since both of us avoid “spicy” foods, we thought we’d try a shrimp po-boy. The shrimp was fried and tasty – especially when dipped in their cocktail sauce. However, since a po-boy is traditionally served on a crisp French roll, our roll was quite hard and therefore difficult to eat it as a sandwich. So, we just ate the shrimp and enjoyed our sweet potato fries. The food was tasty and the young guys who were working there were friendly and attentive. However, what made our outing memorable was looking into the history of the po-boy (which started out as the poor boy sandwich).

Po-boys can be found throughout Louisiana and are said to represent the cornerstone of New Orleans cuisine and a proud working-class ethic. Created in 1929 by the brothers Bennie and Clovis Martin, the sandwich was popular with streetcar drivers and motormen. When their union went on strike, their plight was made easier when the Martin Brothers decided to give away the sandwiches free to the strikers. It is said then when a striking union member entered the restaurant, Benny would call to his brother, “Here comes another poor boy!”

Louisiana film: Steel Magnolias

Laura: This 1989 film was a comedy/drama whose plot revolves around the friendship of a tightly knit group of women, who spend a lot of time gossiping at the beauty parlor owned by one of them. Their antics and dialogue were delightful and funny -so many great one-liners! But the movie’s laughs give way to tears as tragedy takes over. The film takes place in Natchitoches, Louisiana and put that city on the map – leading to a Steel Magnolia tour that still is active today. I liked the film, but what I really liked was having all those great actresses in one film: Sally Fields, Julia Roberts (her first film), Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis. That’s the true strength of this movie in my opinion. Plus, the title was right-on! A steel magnolia is a woman who exemplifies both traditional femininity as well as uncommon fortitude (Wiktionary) – one who faces adversity with poise, grace and dignity.

New activity: REMOTE TRAVEL THROUGH FILM TO KENYA

Barbara: We both tried to find a restaurant with Kenyan food but most of the nearby African restaurants featured food from Nigeria or Ethiopia so instead I watched a movie that took place in Kenya. The Constant Gardner is based on a novel by John Le Carré and tells the story of a bureaucrat in Kenya whose wife discovers a money motivated tragedy taking place there and the resulting consequences for them both. It certainly did not make me want to visit Kenya although what happened in the movie could well happen in less fortunate areas in the United States. As a movie it was good, but at several points I wanted to shout at the screen “just go home” at several points. I guess I just couldn’t be as selfless as the main characters were.