For our first installment of Black Art at Rice, we sat down with Preston Branton, a third year architecture undergraduate student who creates visual art, working mostly with charcoal and graphite drawings as well as mixed media collage. Branton spoke on his transition to making more personal art, how he stays inspired, and the role played by animation in imagining a better world. His work can be found on his Instagram art page, @br.u.tal.
Rice’s budding student-run arts magazine ASTR* will release its second issue online as a result of the campus shutdown. Its editors talk about thriving on chaos and collaboration, and how the current situation has influenced the production of their magazine.
Two decades after his death, DJ Screw’s legacy has been captured and immortalized by 15 visual artists at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in a unique two-part exhibition titled “Slowed and Throwed: Records of the City Through Mutated Lenses.” The exhibit is inspired by the techniques of the chopped and screwed genre, which DJ Screw, born Robert Earl Davis Jr., developed in the early 1990s, and which has since become synonymous with Houston’s hip-hop identity.
Four bright yellow billboards materialized in the center of campus last week. Located in the west lawn next to Brochstein Pavilion, the first of them spells out a startling message in delicate black script: “a committee made an announcement: a better future awaits us.”
Hosted by the Rice African Student Association, “Africayé 2020: Coming to Africa” will immerse the Rice community in the sights, sounds and tastes of African culture this Sunday. The annual showcase will feature music, dance, fashion, comedy, skits, food and a newly added art gallery.
Last Friday, the Moody Center for the Arts came alive with visitors for the opening reception of “Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present.” The new exhibit, on display from Jan. 24 to May 16, features artists from Africa and its diaspora who challenge Eurocentric narratives of colonialism, migration and identity.
Last weekend, Rice Cinema hosted Indymedia 20th Anniversary Encuentro, a celebration of a global journalism movement featuring an art and memorabilia exhibit, film screenings and panel discussions with prominent journalists and creatives.
Lyle’s, the basement in Lovett College, experienced an exciting makeover last Friday as flashing red, green and blue lights lit up the stage for KTRU’s Hip-Hop Night.
