‘We Have to Make Forms That Celebrate the Possibilities’: Torkwase Dyson

Torkwase Dyson’s suite of paintings shown at the New Orleans Museum of Art in 2020, inspired by the environmental crisis of the Gulf Coast. It was called “Black Compositional Thought: 15 Paintings for the Plantationocene.” Credit… Torkwase Dyson.

“The paintings introduced a range of blue colors — oceanic, but resisting a direct reading.”

This review bristles with strange energy, coercive structures, geographies of enclosure, and the verb catalyze. But of all the advanced art talk on display, my favorite specimen is “resists a direct reading.”

(Siddhartha Mitter, “An Artist’s Gateway to Freedom and Possibility,” New York Times, 11-10-22)

(c) 2022 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.
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2 Responses to ‘We Have to Make Forms That Celebrate the Possibilities’: Torkwase Dyson

  1. I really like the paintings, but the self-conscious art critic language is hard to take! Thanks for the interesting post!

    Liked by 1 person

    • JMN's avatar JMN says:

      We’re on the page about high-falutin language. I confess I get pleasure from such verbiage, but it did seem a bit over the top in the article. I’m always glad for your input. Cheers and regards! Jim

      Liked by 1 person

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