Art Scenes

International artist Eric Adjetey Anang is no stranger to lecturing students, he has been traveling across the nation speaking about his artistic process and helping groups create a unique collaborative work of art. Eric is originally from Ghana, Africa, where he worked at his grandfather's workshop since his youth. What did this workshop create? Coffins, but not just any coffins. "Fantasy Coffins" are coffins designed specifically for the destined user and are accordingly related to their life's aspirations, profession, and family. Okadii  and Okutso are elements used to create a one of a kind personal coffin. Okadii  are symbols which relate to that person's stance in life, such as the symbol of power: an eagle, for a Cheif. Okutso  relates to that person's clan or family.  In 2003 Eric took over his grandfathers shop and continued the Fantasy Coffin tradition. Never intending to become rich or famous from the process, Eric does not fi

Taken at the San Fransico Museum of Modern Art Every new generation is tasked with understanding previous tragedies of their world, of contextualizing something they did not live through and can, therefore, view objectively. In the San Francisco MOMA exhibition, “German Art After 1960,” this is the underlying message—the art of a generation growing up in a post-World War II Germany.  Artist grappled with this task in different ways, in technique, style, and form. Yet in all cases, they found a way to translate their relationship they felt with the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II. Each artist had a different perspective from which to view the results of the war, from being a student in Berlin during the Cold War (Georg Baselitz) to losing her homeland to the Nazi occupation (Magdalena Abakanowicz). To emphasize these differences, each artist was given their own space--almost an entire room, in which their works were displayed. Walking through these installations was

Saturday, April 6th at the Sacramento State Art Symposium, Dr. Crasnow discussed “Occupied Time: Palestinian Time After the Intifadas”—her work following the Palestinians concepts of time in art. Dr. Crasnow follows the themes in art after this event, in which nostalgia is replaced by frustration as new generations must face hardships such as the Intifadas of 1987 and 2000.  To illustrate her point, Dr. Crasnow used art spanning over time from the 1948 Palestinian exodus, also known as the Nakba, to the first and second Intifadas. The Nakba was caused by the creation of the Israeli state and led to the displacement of over 700,000 persons. Artists post-Nakba showcased the longing for a life they had lost, and still hoped to get back. Below is one such artist Sliman Mansour, who was born just one year before the Nakba and uses peaceful images to encourage the morale of those still waiting for independence and a home to call there own after their displacement. Slima