Arts in New York City: Baruch College, Fall 2008, Professor Roslyn Bernstein

            Before an intimate group at the Macaulay Honors College on the Upper West Side, Frances Richey read from The Warrior, her second poetry collection.

           Beginning with a career in the corporate world, Richey saw that she lacked fulfillment and satisfaction in her life. This led her to volunteer at a hospice, where her relationships with patients brought her closer to “the reality of her mortality.” Business writing is permeated with “proposals, reports…you’re always making a case and asking for something. However, with poetry, “I could do something I love.”

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We often idealize war. When we think of war photography, we try to look for smiles of the people, welcoming the victors in the war, or the war heroes, who risked their life for the people of their countries. Susan Meiselas’s war photographs tell a different aspect of war, the millions of casualties. [Read more →]

            Amidst the clamor and flashing billboards in the heart of Times Square, The Duke on 42nd street sets the stage for Matt Sax’s explosive performance of one-man hip-hop musical, Clay.

            Behind the red velvet curtains draping the stage, a man who calls himself Sir John begins to rattle the crowd anticipating the arrival of acclaimed hip-hop superstar Clay. While the audience awaits the entrance of Clay, Sir John like a chameleon morphs into Clifford. Though Clifford’s face is hidden under the hood of his sweater, the audience’s eyes are curiously fixated on the blood smeared all over his face. This is just the start of the intoxicating performance where we are introduced to the protagonist Clifford, his obnoxious and callous father, emotionally distressed mother, his pedophilic stepmother, and hip-hop mentor Sir John. [Read more →]

Frances Richey seems like the typical mother. She is the mother of a Green Beret and feels like most mothers would feel – concerned and distressed because her son’s life constantly faces perilous situations, especially during war time. After her son, Ben, decided to be a soldier and serve in Iraq, she filled the void in her life by writing a collection of poems that portrayed her feelings to his being a soldier in an attempt to reestablish the mother-son relationship. [Read more →]

“Come inside, open up your ears up wide” to hear the story of a derelict 17-year old boy named Clifford who flees from his dysfunctional “family” and finds a home in the arms of Sir John and hip-hop. “Clay”, the one-man hip-hop musical held at the Duke on 42nd Street, certainly broke the traditional and ordinary mindset of a classic musical. Written and performed by Matt Sax, “Clay” opened its curtains with the night that Clifford is performing his major debut as a hip-hop performer. At once, we can see that this play twists time as it is loaded with flashbacks. [Read more →]

The photography of Susan Meiselas captures the political conflicts and struggles in Central America during the 1970s and 80s. What is so great about her collections is her portrayal of the struggles of her subjects. Her images seem to reconstruct history and trigger the memory of those who feel connected to the time period of the subjects. [Read more →]

Source: www.icp.org, Political dissidents arrested after the assassination of Nicaraguan dictator, Anastasio Somoza, Managua

Upon entrance to the museum of the International Center of Photography, one’s eye is instantly drawn to a gargantuan photograph portraying political dissidents imprisoned in Nicaragua.  The viewer’s eye, adequately appalled by the repugnance of the picture’s contents, fails to read the text accompanying the photograph.  While that wall of text lists many of the photographer’s accomplishments, those words do Cornell Capa no justice.  Like any artist, the story of Capa’s life is not his biography but, rather, the works that he created.   [Read more →]

Source: www.francisrichey.com

Awkwardly seated on a chair perched atop a stage in a sloppily decorated room, Frances Richey reads from her critically acclaimed poetry collection, The Warrior.  Some attentively listen while others wonder as to why no refreshments were provided.  Yet as she sets down the book to address any questions, it becomes obvious that this poet is content with her work and her ultimate purpose in writing her works is far more personal than to just woo audiences. [Read more →]

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a world-renowned museum for professional photographers from all over the world. For years it has displayed some of the most creative documentary as well as artistic images taken by experienced photographers. This year, from September 19th until January 4th, 2009, Susan Meiselas is showcasing her work at the ICP. Her work in Nicaragua during the Sandinista Revolution, documentary of the people of Kurdistan, and her somewhat interesting take on “Carnival Strippers”, really show Meiselas’s talent and passion for the art of photography, as well as a longing to reveal the truths of our world. [Read more →]

A corporate business- woman turned poet, Frances Richey has recently published her second collection of poems titled The Warrior. As her first book, The Burning Point, it has already received wide critical acclaim. Fueled by strong feelings toward her beloved son who was deployed to fight in Iraq, she began to write an anthology of poems to express her emotions. Her poetry is moving and at times tear jerking, leading one to question how Richey could have become such a magnificent poet after working in an absolutely non-creative profession. Nonetheless, Frances Richey has become a prolific and successful artist in her field. [Read more →]