Saturday, November 27, 2010

HOMIES EMPOWERMENT: RACE, MANHOOD AND SCHOOLING

I recently made a poster for a special event in Oakland, California: "FROM THE BRONX TO THE BAY: Race, Manhood and Schooling"-- hosted by Homies Empowerment at Eastlake, YMCA.  The talk will be by UC Berkeley, PhD student, Angel Gonzalez and topics such as homophobia, sexism, violence towards women, colonialism and the meaning of masculinity will be discussed.  I wish I could make it but I STRONGLY encourage anyone in the Bay area to attend.



I am, however, super happy to have been able to take some part in the event by creating the poster for it.  The occasion called for something, simple, quick, thought-provoking and somewhat "cool" for young people from the streets to relate to.  "Old english" letters as well as Graffiti served as inspiration for this piece.

For more information and context, Telemundo filmed a short special on the area, people and issues dealt with daily, as well as the man behind Homies Dinner, César Cruz.  It's also filmed in Spanish, so my apologies for not having an alternative for non-Spanish speakers.

CLICK HERE FOR LINK

6 comments:

Aly said...

LMAO!! "Apparently "old english" letters is common and part of the everyday culture in Oakland"

I found that really funny for some reason.

It looks really good!

Uhreezuh said...
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Uhreezuh said...

Good start, but here are some things to take into consideration:

1. Missing some important anger lines on that face.

2. Interesting choice of color. Oddly that yellow works well off the solid black and white face.

3. The "Y" in the word "Bay" looks like the number four.

4. The "N" in the word "Manhood" is backwards.

5. The line breakers are awkwardly placed. I would try a different style of line breaks.

Solid idea, but the poster needs work. Please don't hate me. I only say this because I've seen some really good stuff from you. I know this was done quickly, but I feel you could have given more attention to detail.

Christian Castro said...

Sounds like a great lecture. Wish I was in the Bay area to see it.

Good job with the poster.

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Granted- I think Nathalie would tell you this is not her best work...but even so the poster has already been met with great praise and positive reviews...

Critique is an important part of the work of an artist/writer.... but pure "hate-ration" is another story ....What separates critique from hate is productive energy and direction....that is, intervening where you feel others have come short while using what they have done to build something new....whether it be a new piece of art or a dialogue around that art...

Nathalie- I like the poster because more than an image it evokes the agony of a man dealing with masculinity (something which in this society is seldom represented). What are your thoughts concerning the emotion you were trying to convey? I'm sure there are things you could have improved but I feel the message was convincing. Finally, I really liked the simplicity of this poster. I understand you were short on time but could you take us through the process a little more?

Great work compañer@...