Rashid Johnson

Seven minutes in length, the film features two black male hikers — one ascending a mountain, another descending — who encounter each other as their paths cross. Their balletic movements are at once lithe and halting, athletic and awkward, challenging stereotypical notions of the forever rhythmic elegance of the black body in space.

Bigger “Big” Thomas (Ashton Sanders) es un joven afroamericano que vive con su madre y hermanos en Chicago. Sale con una chica desde hace algunos meses, viste chaquetas punk y lleva el pelo teñido de verde; fuma marihuana y lleva siempre una pistola consigo. Sin embargo, rechaza el plan de uno de sus mejores amigos de robar una tienda cercana a su vivienda. Big desea vivir decentemente, por lo que acepta un trabajo como conductor de un pudiente blanco, Will Dalton, y de toda su familia, donde pronto entabla una relación especial con Mary, una muchacha liberal y progresiva. Sin embargo, Big se involucra sin quererlo en la escena de una muerte accidental, lo que le genera toda clase de problemas con la poderosa clase social a la que estaba sirviendo hasta ese momento. Obra basada en la novela homónima de Richard Wright, aparecida en 1940.

“Blurred Lines” arranca con el día en el que la corporación Lehman Brothers se declaró en bancarrota, evento que se considera el inicio de la crisis económica de 2008, y lo contrapone a una venta efectuada 24 horas después de una pieza del británico Damien Hirst por 300 millones de dólares. 10 años más tarde, nada parece haber afectado al mundo del mercado del arte, el cual al contrario a otros muchos sectores, no se ha visto afectado por la crisis financiera en lo más mínimo, y sufre una inflación astronómica. Los antiguos mecenas del arte (reyes, nobles y papas) han sido reemplazados por corporaciones y coleccionistas multimillonarios que en la búsqueda de inversiones han convertido los procesos de tasación y venta de obras en procesos oscuros, secretos y no reglamentados.

Jay Z performs Picasso Baby at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

On the surface, Black and Blue appears to be a “day in life” of a protagonist, played by Johnson. It begins with him waking up in bed and getting ready in the bathroom. Filmed in his home and featuring his family, Black and Blue takes its title from the Fats Waller jazz standard (popularized by Louis Armstrong), which can be heard in the video (played on the piano by Johnson’s son). The film is also connected to Johnson’s work and artistic practice, showing interspersed clips of his own as well as artworks by other Black artists (like Deana Lawson), books ( like Roy deCarava), and traditional African masks in his home.

On the surface, Black and Blue appears to be a “day in life” of a protagonist, played by Johnson. It begins with him waking up in bed and getting ready in the bathroom. Filmed in his home and featuring his family, Black and Blue takes its title from the Fats Waller jazz standard (popularized by Louis Armstrong), which can be heard in the video (played on the piano by Johnson’s son). The film is also connected to Johnson’s work and artistic practice, showing interspersed clips of his own as well as artworks by other Black artists (like Deana Lawson), books ( like Roy deCarava), and traditional African masks in his home.