Today is June 19th, or Juneteenth. Today in History, slavery is outlawed in U.S. territories (1862); and three years later Union General Gordon Granger declares slaves are free in Texas (1865) later to be adopted as the 13th Amendment; Photos of “The Magnificent Eleven” taken by Robert Capa during the D-Day landings at Normandy are first published in Life Magazine (1944); Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space returns to Earth (1963); Civil Rights Act of 1964 passes 73–27 in the U.S. (1964); Bexit negotiations begin between United Kingdom and the European Union in Brussels (2017); The United Nations announces that over 70 million people in the world are displaced, asylum seekers or refugees around the world, the highest-ever number in 70 years (2019); June 19th, at last, has been adopted starting this year (2021) as a federal holiday in the U.S., Juneteenth National Independence Day, celebrating the emancipation of African-Americans who had been enslaved –A minor eulogy in the mortuary of reparations against the otherwise growing trend of walking back of Civil Rights progress and the newest wave of voter suppression.
Today is the birthday of Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist and philosopher (1623); and the anniversary of the death of Lee Krasner, American abstract expressionist painter (1984).
Welcome to the .126th edition of Prescriptions. Here is our review of the week in the arts.
Sean Scully
Between Heaven & Earth
Entre Ciel et Terre: Fusing the traditions of European painting with the distinct character of American abstraction, Sean Scully is renowned for his expressive and spiritual use of color and form. On view through June 19, 2021 at Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris.
Ornella Mazzola
Women of Meridione / Strength in the Deep South
Places with a strong soul, where the sea connects with the strength of women… In the South of Italy, passion, dignity, spirituality, and suspension can be seen through the cracks of the walls. Ongoing series by Ornella Mazzola.
Mollino/Insides, Exhibition view, Photographs by Carlo Mollino, Collezione Maramotti, 2020 / Photo Roberto Marossi
Mollino/Insides
Collezione Maramotti in collaboration with Museo Casa Mollino presents a group exhibition that brings together paintings by Enoc Perez and photographs by Brigitte Schindler and Carlo Mollino. Featuring Enoc Perez, Brigitte Schindler, Carlo Mollino. At Collezione Maramotti through July 4, 2021.
Pablo Tosco
World Press Photo 2021
World Press Photo recognizes the best visual journalism of the year, awarding the images and stories of photographers in eight categories. This year we announce the 45 participants from 28 countries, the winners and the exhibition schedule which will run throughout the year.
César Cuspoca
Afterglow / Korebaju, While the Earth Remains
In this immersive installation Afterglow: Korebaju, While the Earth Remains, César Cuspoca creates a ritual space using elements of the local environment to evoke life’s simplicity in the Amazon Rainforest. Curated by Sandrine Servent at Mina Raven. Through July 24, 2021 on Artpil’s Online Viewing Room.
RaMell Ross / Hale County This Morning, This Evening (still)
A Matter of Black Lives
In celebration of Juneteenth, we revisit some recent articles and profiles: Martin Luther King Jr. honoring his life and the Civil Rights Movement with photography by Bruce Davidson and Gordon Parks, among others; A simple reminder of the often forgotten or ignored Universal Declaration Of Human Rights on its earlier anniversary; the acclaimed feature documentary studying the light, mood, movement and Black life in the American South, Hale County This Morning, This Evening by Director and Photographer RaMell Ross.
Natalia Kepesz
PROFILES
Sean Scully’s exhibition Between Heaven & Earth at Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris; Ornella Mazzola’s ongoing series, Women of Meridione / Strength in the Deep South; Enoc Perez, Brigitte Schindler with Mollino/Insides at Collezione Maramotti; César Cuspoca and his work Afterglow / Korebaju, While the Earth Remains, curated by Sandrine Servent at Mina Raven currently on view with Artpil’s Online Viewing Room; and the legendary photographers Bruce Davidson and Gordon Parks capturing Martin Luther King Jr. along with Richard Avedon and James Baldwin’s searing monograph, Nothing Personal, and others including James Baldwin, Newsha Tavakolian, Henry Taylor, and RaMell Ross featured in A Matter of Black Lives.
