artist #4: donald sultan

hello, dear readers! it's been a long time coming for this next installation in my {attempt at an} artist series, but I do hope it was worth the wait!

meet Donald Sultan. I discovered his work at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) in 2001 (during my brief stint at U of M) and was immdiately captivated by his unique perspective and choice of medium. born in 1951 in North Carolina, much of Sultan's work would be considered still life, although he "describes these works as first and foremost abstract." (read his full bio here and here) I, however, would never have pegged Sultan for a still life artist, much less an abstract one, based on my inital encouter with his work...

picture this...

...you are browsing through a photography exhibit and are suddenly, inexplicably captivated by one image in particular. you stop and stare until it finally hits you: it's a picture of you. this is exactly what happened to Sharon Collins at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. unbeknownst to Collins, her image had been captured while working as an elevator girl in 1955 and imortalized in photographer Robert Frank's most famous publication, The Americans.

in an interview with NPR, Collins mused, "He saw in me something that most people didn't see. I have a big smile and a big laugh, and I'm usually pretty funny. So people see one thing in me. And I suspect Robert Frank and Jack Kerouac saw something that was deeper. That only people who were really close to me can see. It's not necessarily loneliness, it's ... dreaminess."

(article found via jezebel)

this amazing image and story reminded me of one of my favorite 'vintage' photographers, Gordon Parks

(found here)

(found here)

(Eartha Kitt found here)

(Leonard Bernstein found here)

(found here)

(found here)

(help! I lost the link, but it's another fab myvintagevogue find)

and of course, the man himself (image and article found here)

Depression/Harlem Renaissance era photos are some of my absolute faves, and Parks has a special place in my heart not only because of his beautiful images that certainly speak for themselves. My lovely grandmother had the distinct privilege of both knowing and being photographed by Parks (or was the privilege his? :smile:) and I can't wait to have her photograph in my posession (as promised by my mother...) perhaps I will be able to share it with all of you!

(ps- major shout out to Jessica of myvintagevogue for her amazing flickr and photobucket collections! thanks so much!!!)

♥

have you heard?

3 cheers for ben & jerry! the infamous VT-based duo has renamed their delicious 'Chubby Hubby' in honor of the law legalizing gay marriage in their home state! yippee!!

'Hubby Hubby' came about as a result of b & j's new partnership with Freedom to Marry and will be available in Vermont for the next month- I wish it was available everywhere but it's still so cool!!! (image and info found here- thanks, jasmine!)

in other (far less impressive) marriage equality news, the housewife I most love to ridicule (she just makes it so easy!) has attempted an endorsement of her own. check out her no h8 campaign photo for yourself:
okay, I can't bear to show the whole photo here but, yeah, she's topless. the jezebel comments never cease to entertain (in this case, particularly the one referring to kim's 'z-list' status. gotta love it.) but on the real, what exactly is this campaign's angle? *scratches head* ah, well. it is for a good cause at the end of the day, so I suppose I can't h8. too much.

♥~L