Georgia Trees & The Upper Room
Quotes and Black Art | Thursdaysº
Quotes and Black Art
Your Curated Art Museum
“Come for the art, stay for the quotes.”
“She comes to me in snatches — I remember pieces of her laugh, the look she gave when she was upset. Sometimes I sniff the bottle of perfume of hers that I saved, but it doesn’t come close to the robustness of her smell. It is her, flattened. This is what it’s really like to lose. It is complete and irreversible.” — Zinzi Clemmons, What We Lose, 2017
A Snippet:
Did you know that What We Lose, the 2017 debut by American author Zinzi Clemmons, is based loosely on the author’s experience of caring for her dying mother?
Learn more . . .
Quotes and Black Art
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 (week 68)
When grief strikes (and things fall apart).
202. “Self-Portrait” (1934) by Malvin Gray Johnson
Greensboro, North Carolina, artist Malvin Gray Johnson (1896 - 1934)—who died too young (at age 38) and was described by art historian Kenneth G. Rodgers as “the most significant artist to come out of Greensboro, North Carolina”—on tryin’ to truthfully embody that struggle to get free:
“I have tried to show the escape of emotions which the plantation slaves felt after being held down all day by the grind of labor and the consciousness of being bound. Set free from their tasks by the end of the day and the darkness, they have gone from their cabin to the river’s edge and are calling upon God for their freedom.”
203. “Until I Die | Georgia Trees & The Upper Room” (1997) by Radcliffe Bailey
Contemporary mixed-media artist, Radcliffe Bailey (1968 - 2023), who often focused his art themes on healing from family trauma, on learning to break free from the ties that bind:
“I’ve always felt, like, the only way I can heal myself is to go back through my memory, learn from memory.”
204. “Be” (2022) by Shantell Martin
Southeast London philosopher, visual artist, and cultural facilitator Shantell Martin (b. 1980) (best known for her large-scale, black-and-white line drawings, often made in front of a live audience—including a 75-minute working session in 2016 at Art Basel, Miami, with Kendrick Lamar), on how to create authentically:
“Take your time, do what you love, be honest with yourself and others around you.”
The Silver Lining?
When grief strikes - make sure you grieve too, but in your own way. But don't be afraid to reach out to others for support, as no one does it alone, plus sometimes you just need a shoulder to lean on.
(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)
Georgia Trees & The Upper Room
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