I just read this blub written about Jerry Gant on a web site.
It left me speechless……………
No quite the opposite
This short promotional piece, for Jerry Gant’s new film “Bulletproof Ambition.”
This promo………Closes with…………….
Who is Jerry Gant? Does anyone really know? “
Ill answer this for the writer,
Tons of people Know Jerry Gant,
Newark Knows Jerry Gant
The New York times knows Jerry Gant,
it has written about Him and his work several times
what does the New York Times Know that we don't
Nothing
Those who don’t know Jerry Gant
can only make assumptions about Him.
I know Jerry Gant
And if you really looked at Jerry Gants work, you will see Africa,
You will see Newark
You will see family, life, love and more
If you really look at Jerry Gant,
You will see the African American experience, one of suffering, passion and ultimately transcendence.
If you were to walk around with Jerry Gant, whose manner of dress supplies panache and color to Newark’s some times depressing surroundings. You would see quite the opposite of a man that puts off a dark aura. With dipping shoulders and dark glasses
Who is Jerry Gant? Does anyone really know? “
Were you to observe Jerry Gants interactions with the people of Newark, that he has spent his whole life loving and giving a voice too………..you would see how positive this man is. You would hear him try to liven up every one he speaks too, regardless of if they are in the city council or in a rehab.
Were you to really know Jerry Gant you would follow him from Church on Sunday.
You would laugh with him as I have on so many occasions and leave feeling renewed.
Yes this tendency of the art world and the world at large to color any strong Black man as the other….as a darkness………has to be curtailed
The same way the writer questions, who is Jerry Gant, is the same way the public is asking who is Barrack Obama…………..
Their must be some thing very unsettling to the world at large about a African American male who knows who he is……..where he wants to go….and how he wants to forge that journey
Jerry Gant is the line in the sand in Newark, he is truth.
He is the rock that others break themselves upon
And there are different kinds of truth is the world………….. I would hazard
But if you don’t like this truth…………. it can be somewhat jarring
But if you embrace this truth you would learn, grow, and see
What Jerry Sees
If Newark were to look for a artist that most represents it, it would be Jerry Gant
There is this tendency to describe any African American male, who is self-aware and assured, as arrogant, dangerous, or walking around with a chip on his shoulder.
“Black young-aging man caught between the civil rights era, gang culture, and contemporary black fatherhood, with no place to hang his hat
What does that mean?
There is nothing confused about Jerry Gant.
He doesn’t walk between the civil rights movement,
He is a part of it
He isn’t caught between gang culture,
He just isn’t a victim of it
He just hasn’t run from those high-risk kids, like much of the rest of black middle class
He talks to those kids,
He sees them And, imparting the wisdom that only a man that has truly lived, can depart.
No place to hang his hat on?
This is perhaps the most offensive of all
Jerry Gant hung his hat on Newark many years ago, No artist in this city has had a more visible presence or impact. On the people of Newark
They see Jerry every where he walk and he is a reassuring presence
A light in a storm
Some people make art for shows, and for others
Some people use Newark’s resources and honesty, and then flee
Who is Jerry Gant? Does anyone really know? “
Jerry Gant makes art for the people; his fulfillment is only a byproduct of that commitment.
Jerry Gant bothers some people because he has remained true to himself.
He has refused to bow and scrape and remains Jerry Gant
He is a lion in a art world of lambs, of compromise, And of pretense
Who is Jerry Gant?
If the presence of this old lion scares you
Then just look closely at the faces of the people that Jerry has adorned Newark with
The faces
If you cant see, any one that you know in those faces
Your mother, your sister, your daughter
Then you wont see the reassurance and continuance
Perhaps you shouldn’t be writing about the guy if you don’t know him
Who is Jerry Gant?
He is the keeper of the flame
He loved Newark when Newark didn’t love itself
And if he is scarred and torn
He isn’t worn,
He isn’t bitter,
He is a man that rejoices in the knowledge and the love that the world has provided him
And he is stronger because of it
Jerry Gant is the part of the African American story that speaks of putting your buckets down wear they lay.
And I mean that in the sense of living in Newark of loving Newark Warts and all
I am not speaking of acceptance of circumstance
But transcendence
But you would have to know jerry gant to know this………….or look at his work, really look at his work
As I have
Article below
Newark artist Jerry Gant will screen his new film “Bulletproof Ambition”.
Many of us know Jerry Gant through his hip hop work; some of us through his found object industrial art creations. Some of us know him as the guy we meet on the street, bouncing down Broad surrounded by a dark quality emphasized by his sunglasses and dipping shoulders.
Gant is subversive, silently mad, the epitome of the “Black young-aging man caught between the civil rights era, gang culture, and contemporary black fatherhood, with no place to hang his hat, and barely catching enough sleep to make it from one art project to another to paying the rent. Who is Jerry Gant? Does anyone really know? “
Bulletproof Ambition” is a glimpse into the life and art of Newark born artist Jerry Gant spanning 2004-2009. Bulletproof Ambition offers snapshots of the accomplishments made by the artist and the man. The viewer is invited for an in-depth look at the difficulties faced by the artist who continues to create pioneering works of substance. Bulletproof Ambition is a portal into the “process of creation” guided through the eyes and words of the artist.
Food and Drinks – Donation $10.
Gallery hours during Open Doors 1-5pm daily with evening hours for programs. Regular Fall Gallery Hours Tuesday thru Thursday 1-5pm or by appointment.
Thank you thank you thank you for responding to something that I found quite disturbing. When I saw the original posting by Sumei I had to reread it several times. How presumptuous to portray someone you admittedly don't even know in such a stereotypical manner and with such a negative personal characterization! Not to mention that I assume the whole point of the posting was to promote the film screening and the author chose not to make any reference to the filmmaker and exec producer Tim Brown - even cropping him out of the photo that originally showed Jerry and Tim together. No other reference on the site conveyed an editorial perspective on the personality or personal life of any of the other featured artists. As someone who has worked closely with Jerry for several years and consider him a friend and a colleague - I was offended both personally and professionally. Jerry is constantly approached by members of the arts community to participate, create, contribute snd support their endeavors in some way and even when there is no personal or professional gain for him he complies. Yet the absence of reciprocity in supporting his endeavors or acknowledging and celebrating his accomplishments is blatant. So for me the choice by the author to use this platform to speculate about Jerry personally rather than highlight and commemorate his significant professional accomplishments or to provide exposure for the filmmaker who is an emerging artist - is to say the least - somewhat suspect. Again thank you for presenting what we both know is a much more accurate characterization of our colleague, friend and brother! I love you both! Linda
ReplyDelete