Out of the Inkwell

A local note here...Now through Sept. 28, Holyoke Community College is featuring an exhibit titled "Shockers" in the Taber Art Gallerty.

The exhibition features one-of-a-kind hand-painted movies posters from Ghana from the 1980s. At that time exhibitors would bring a TV and vcr from village to village to present movies. They commissioned local artists to paint these posters on cloth so they could be easily rolled up and carried from site to site.

Often times the artist had nothing more than a title to work on and they were told to emphasized those elements that would best draw in an audience...sex and violence.

The collection is owned by Michelle Gilbert, a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College, and they are on sale for $350 each. If you search for similiar images on the web, you'll see an African firm selling these kind of posters from around $110 on eBay.

There will be a reception on Sept. 13 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. I'll be there!

©2006 Gordon Michael Dobbs. My words alone.