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Wooden clogs, Turkey
Wood, leather; 20th c.
Gift of Annie B. Sweet
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library Permanent Collection, S-16
The Magic Mara Light Show by Gary H. Lee. Color photograph. On loan from Gary K. Clarke, Cowabunga Safaris
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Asheville NC
Spirit of the Times—4th Century (2003)
Oak, mica, bone fossil, walnut-stained handmade flax paper, linen cord, 1800s rag text paper, Ethiopian coptic binding
Unique book
2009.4
19/150: Seal of the State of Kansas, Gift of the Sabatini Family. Ad astra per aspera is the state motto (to the stars through difficulty). The Territorial seal used the motto populi voce – “by the voice of the people” as the motto.
Lacquered Geta, Japan
Wood, velvet; 20th c.
Gift of Annie B. Sweet
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library Permanent Collection, S-12
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Karl Nelson
Northfield MN
Cloud (2005)
Hard ground etching on paper
Friends of the Library Purchase Award
Printed Image I
2006.31
Cloud made me smile. I love the way this cloud carries inside it a layering of what appears to be bricks yet it floats on without a care in the world.
–Trish Nixon
I picked this for the contradiction. Clouds are light and bricks are heavy, which asks us to consider positive vs. negative space: is it a brick cloud, or a wall where paint has chipped off in a cloud shape to reveal the bricks underneath? If it is in fact a brick cloud, I find myself thinking of all the things to which I can compare this single image: deception, cynicism, disappointment—humor.
–Heather Kearns
Yitzhak Greenfield
Jerusalem, Israel
Jerusalem of Prayer (1990s)
Collage
2006.2
I picked this because I like metaphor and language. Greenfield uses covers from “decommissioned” holy books to create these “Jerusalem collages”—land and cityscapes built from scripture—literally. Embedded in the medium itself, the holy language of Hebrew is now inseparable from this city’s foundation. It is intrinsic to the structure. The language of a political minority is often at risk of extinction. Hebrew’s survival, despite centuries of being the language of the enslaved and exiled, reasserts itself as the dominant voice in the walls of Greenfield’s Jerusalem.
–Heather Kearns
I got to meet Yitzhak and show his work in Kansas City—a true gentleman. He uses the covers taken from holy books that are being rebound. He cuts and tears the book boards to create architectural forms out of the letters, colors and words. It makes me think of creation being made by God’s word. Binders never destroy the holy books. They may re-bind them many times.
–Sherry Best
Elizabeth Linley (1754-1792) was one of the great "beauties" of 18th century England. She had a noted career on the stage, and also married the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Barbara Waterman-Peters
Topeka KS
MWS 282: The Root of All (1996)
Pastel and oil pastel on paper
Gift of the artist and Larry Peters in memory of Kendall Durst
2007.21
This piece is intense. It seems to evoke what happens in unhealthy relationships when people feel frightened and trapped. It is both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. The symbolism speaks of the “curse of Eve”—of woman as the source of sin, and the feeling that there is no escape from that curse.
Kendall Durst was a former library employee, and a collector of art and antiques.
–Sherry Best
There’s a frightening and mysterious quality in The Root of All which makes the diptych such a strong work. This work leaves me on edge. What’s going to happen next?
–Trish Nixon
20/150: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Paper, April 16, 1887; “Kansas – Views in the City of Topeka, Capital of the State”
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Yitzhak Greenfield
Jerusalem, Israel
Jerusalem of Prayer (1990s)
Collage
2006.2
I picked this because I like metaphor and language. Greenfield uses covers from “decommissioned” holy books to create these “Jerusalem collages”—land and cityscapes built from scripture—literally. Embedded in the medium itself, the holy language of Hebrew is now inseparable from this city’s foundation. It is intrinsic to the structure. The language of a political minority is often at risk of extinction. Hebrew’s survival, despite centuries of being the language of the enslaved and exiled, reasserts itself as the dominant voice in the walls of Greenfield’s Jerusalem.
–Heather Kearns
I got to meet Yitzhak and show his work in Kansas City—a true gentleman. He uses the covers taken from holy books that are being rebound. He cuts and tears the book boards to create architectural forms out of the letters, colors and words. It makes me think of creation being made by God’s word. Binders never destroy the holy books. They may re-bind them many times.
–Sherry Best
77/150: Dr. Karl Menninger’s Medal of Freedom, awarded by President Jimmy Carter, January 16, 1981. Citation: “Karl Menninger has taught us much about ourselves and our behavior. An acute observer and social critic, he has put into action what he has put onto paper. As an author and doctor, his works range from popular, written accounts of psychiatry to studies done in his own hospital, from creating homes for parentless children to reforming the penal system. With the wisdom of his years, he truly does represent the ideas of another generation – one of the future, rather than of the past.”
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Man’s shirt / How you no like me banana yes a like am too mach. Liberia, Loma. Cotton, embroidery. c. 1960s. Gift of Diana Hawks.
Smithsonian Institution NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY at 8th and F Street, NW, Washington DC on Sunday afternoon, 9 February 2014 by Elvert Barnes Photography
THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE Permanent Exhibition
Paul Peck Gallery
Visit NPG / THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE website at www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/struggle/index.html
Elvert Barnes FEBRUARY 2014 BLACK HISTORY MONTH Project