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B M & T ••• November/December 2014 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 24 Hello Readers. Please get out to see these landmark exhibitions: The Museum of African American Art Nijart International and The House of Nijart in association with The Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles are pleased to announce Persistence of Vision: The Art of Nijel Binns. This exhibition, which runs through January 4, 2015, marks the first major solo show in Nijel's 30 year career as a fine artist. Persistence of Vision: The Art of Nijel Binns will examine Nijel's portrait sculp- tures in bronze and plaster, as well as paintings and works of lit- erature by the artist/author. S p a n n i n g three decades of portraits of cele- brated figures, Nijel's sculp- tures capture the likes of people he has met such as Michael Jackson, Shirley Temple, and The Honorable Mervyn M. Dymally and showcases new bronze portraits of Frida Kahlo, Jean Michel Basquait, Cesar Chavez, Malcolm X and many others. Nijel is well known for his iconic Mother of Humanity® monument which is a 16 ft. tall bronze sculpture of a woman standing on top of the world holding a feather of peace. As a writer, Nijel Binns authored Championship Kenpo with martial arts masters Steve Sanders (Muhammad) and Donnie Williams in 1983. This book became the first major publication by African-American writers in the field of martial arts. In 1990 Nijel Binns broke new ground with his con- troversial book Nuba Wrestling: The Original Art. This was the first docu- mented work of scholarship that proved that martial arts had its origins in Africa instead of Asia as was popularly believed. His follow up book to Championship Kenpo was BKF Kenpo: History and Strategic Principles, also with Steve Muhammad and Donnie Williams. Nijel has also authored numerous articles for Black Belt, Karate/Kung Fu Illustrated and Inside Kung Fu magazines. He is a practicing martial artist since 1968. Nijel's upcoming public art commissions include a Los Angeles Cultural Affairs contract for a bronze Fallen Officers Memorial to be installed at the Hollenbeck Police Station in Los Angeles. The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles Highly regarded as both a leading practitioner of conceptualism and an influential educator at the California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles-based Charles Gaines is celebrated for his photographs, draw- ings, and works on paper that investigate how rules-based procedures construct order and meaning. Working serially in progressive and densely lay- ered bodies of works, G a i n e s explores the i n t e r p l a y b e t w e e n o b j e c t i v i t y and interpre- tation, the s y s t e m a t i c and the poet- ic. His grou- n d b r e a k i n g work of this period serves as a critical b r i d g e between the first genera- tion concep- tualists of the 1960s and 1970s and those artists of later generations exploring the limits of subjectivity and language. The first museum survey of the early work of a career that now spans four decades, Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974-1989 includes rare and never-before-seen works, some of which were presumed lost. Charles Gaines: Gridwork 197-1989 is presented in conjunction with Charles Gaines: Librettos: Manuel de Falla/Stokely Carmichael at Art+Practice, a new art and social services non- profit in Leimert Park. This exhibition, which runs Februry 7-May 24, 2015, is organ- ized by The Studio Museum in Harlem and curated by Naima J. Keith, associate curator. The Hammer's presentation of Gridwork 1974-1989 and Librettos: Manuel de Falla/Stokely Carmichael at Art+Practice are organized by Anne Ellegood, sen- ior curator, and Jamillah James, assistant curator. The organiza- tion of Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974-1989 is made possible by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. TWO AFRICAN AMERICAN GREATS EXHIBITING – LOS ANGELES BY PATRICIA ANN JORDAN