Category Archives: abstract expressionism

Frank Stella, Agha Shahid Ali: Moby-Dick into ghazals

Posted on February 21, 2014 by wcd2

Feb 20, 2014 Stella’s “Fedallah” isn’t anything like Melville’s: not the “tiger-yellow” apparition “with one white tooth evilly protruding from its steel-like lips,” but a fluid, dancing figure, with some dark streaks and shadows, it’s true, but otherwise resplendent, impressive. … Continue reading →

Posted in abstract expressionism, adaptation, Arabic, Classics, Middle East, Modern art, Near Eastern poetry, Poetry, twentieth century art, Twentieth century literature | Tagged Agha Shahid Ali, Ain Ghazal Variations, Call Me Ishmael Tonight, Frank Stella, Melville, Moby-Dick, Protractor Series | Leave a comment

Langston Hughes, Jacob Lawrence

Posted on February 8, 2012 by wcd2

February 8, 2012 Langston Hughes never went to Black Mountain College, but maybe he didn’t need to. 1948-49 was emblematic. A no doubt incomplete list of what happened during those months: in June 1948, Langston Hughes moved into 20 East … Continue reading →

Posted in abstract expressionism, collaboration, Cuban poetry, Media, Modernist poetry, print medium, Remediation, Translation, twentieth century art, Twentieth century literature, Visual arts | Tagged Arno Bontemps, Ben Frederic Carruthers, Black Mountain College, City Center, Cuba, Cuba Libre, Haiti, Home in a Box, Jacob Lawrence, Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes, New York, Nicolas Guillen, One-Way Ticket, Poetry of the Negro, Street Scene, Troubled Island, William Grant Still | 21 Comments

Black Mountain College

Posted on February 1, 2012 by wcd2

February 1, 2012 It’s a shame it was so short-lived. 1933-1957. Only 24 years. But maybe that’s the life-span one would expect from an entity like this: a mid-size player. That’s what Black Mountain College was. It didn’t have the … Continue reading →

Posted in abstract expressionism, Arts communities, Contemporary Art, Dance, Educational institutions, Experimental poetry, Interdisciplinarity, Modernist poetry, Music, Twentieth century literature, Visual arts | Tagged "Migration series", Alan Shapiro, Asheville, Black Mountain College, Buckminster Fuller, Charles Olson, Ellen Bruant Voigt, Heather McHugh, Jacob Lawrence, John Cage, legal persons, Merce Cunningham, NC, PBS "American Masters" series, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Stephen Dobyns, Warren Wilson College | 1 Comment

Frank Stella re-mediates Moby-Dick

Posted on December 28, 2011 by wcd2

December 28, 2011 The numbers speak for themselves. Begun in 1985, the Moby-Dick series is still ongoing, with one or more artworks corresponding to each of the 135 chapter titles, over 300 of them at this point. They are mostly … Continue reading →

Posted in abstract expressionism, Chinese art, epic, Japanese art, Near Eastern poetry, Nineteenth-century literature, print medium, Remediation, twentieth century art, world literature | Tagged "Near East Series", Australia, Frank Stella, Herman Melville, Islamic decorative arts, Japan, Moby-Dick, MOMA, Robert K. Wallace, Roberta Smith, world literature | 168 Comments