Upstate by Stanley Whitney
Ekphrasis: ek ‘out’ + phrasis ‘speak’ = to speak out…which is exactly what happened at last night’s Sparks! Out Loud Alive Poetry Slam and Jam as literary artists gave dramatic vocal life to the exhibition’s works.
Bob Holman, founder of Bowery Poetry Club in New York City; Glenn North, poet-in-residence at the American Jazz Museum, and many other local, talented writers gave fantastic ekphrastic performances to a near full Atkins Auditorium. From an answer-call between original visual works, spoken word response and musical elaboration, came an inspiring evening of fused artistic media that kept this audience member on the edge of her seat.
The guitarist, whom I remembered from my last visit to a favorite KC music nest, The Mutual Musicians Foundation, blended silky, echoic tones with the bongo and saxophone players—the overall impression of which seamlessly wove into performers’ words.
Each writer picked a piece from the Sparks! exhibition, wrote an original poem based on that work, then performed the artistic birth on stage.
Faith Scott had the audience moving in “Stanley’s Bebop,” a poem inspired by Stanley Whitney’s bold, quilt-like Upstate. Scott gave smooth, climaxing praise to Whitney’s own rhythm, teasing that the artist already slips “on to the next riff” while others become “just another square in the room,” as playful shouts and applause rose from the spirited audience.
On a more serious note, Stanley Banks’ “After Katrina: The Bodies are Rising” (based on Kerry James Marshall’s Memento #5), touched upon the country’s open wounds, speaking not only of the importance of remembrance, but of the nation’s continued forward movement.
My personal favorite was The Recipe’s (poets 337 and Priest) performance on El Anatsui’s Dusasa I. The symbiotic verse was as impressive as the tremendous tapestry on which it was based. Bound of discarded liquor caps and metal labels from Anatsui’s Ghanian homeland, the reflecting Dusasa I laboriously weaves the tiny reminders of commodification, historic enslavement and global capitalist expansionism into an ironically majestic and elegant amalgamation of materials. All of these themes found illumination in the joined, penetrating vocal accents of The Recipe.
The winning prize, however, went to the poet "Lou" who gave a performance inspired by Alex Hay’s pop art piece Paper Bag. At times, the artist had the crowd laughing out loud, and at others, quietly nodding in profound agreement, hanging on every syllable as a nearness seemed to crest in the room. The crowd favorite received a standing ovation and later returned to the stage with his son (also named Lou) who, filled with child-certitude, accepted the award on his father’s behalf.
Sprinkled with velvety sax solos, Holman eventually brought the evening down in an affectionate sing-speak decrescendo: “There’s got to be a way to add this all up together—the personal, the political, the art…”
You sang it, Bob.