Art Notes: "In The Beginning" // "Afterglow"

“In The Beginning” Frederick J. Brown. 1971. // “Afterglow” Thomas Sills. 1959

Crocker Art Museum

Viewed February 4, 2024

In the new exhibition at Crocker, “Black Artists in America, from Civil Rights to the Bicentennial,” these two works were probably my favorite. They feel like they fit hand in hand with each other, complete with poetry penned by local Sacramento students that make viewing these works so much more meaningful. 

In the Beginning, there was a painted star and a burst of color across my empty canvas.  

Yes, I'm trying to communicate something; creativity is everything. It's not just a painting within a frame; it's my perspective being held by a frame. 

In the Beginning, there was a painted moon and a burst of color across my empty canvas. 

Sometimes, that burst of color may disappear, and my world may seem dark but still very colorful. 

Doing what I want and not caring about anyone else's opinions.  

- Aniya McDaniels, 12, Bradshaw Christian School 

“In The Beginning” is an abstract expressionist piece depicting space in vivid bursts of color, as if the Big Bang was a series of fluorescent rainbow explosions. As if life burst into being via smokey scattering plumes. 

The poem accompanying this piece was penned by a person who attends a local Christian K-12 school, Aniya. In her writing, she imagines the process of bringing the piece to life from the artist’s perspective, taking a step back to describe the art of creating itself. I don’t know if she intended to make this message, but if we take another step back, the Artist of the canvas of the beginning of all life itself can be seen as God. If this piece has an artist that held the brush to create it, so did the universe we know as is, in its vivid brilliant glory. Isn’t it crazy?? 

Afterglow, a shimmering sight, Black people's journey through the night.

Abstract strokes reveal the pain,

The struggle, the strength, the inner flame.

In the canvas of life, a story unfolds,

Of trials and triumphs, of tales untold.

A glow emerges from the darkest hue,

A testament to the spirit, strong and true.

Through the harsh struggles, we've made our way,

Yet the afterglow hints at shadows that stay.

Dullness lingers, a reminder of the past,

But within it, a resilience that will forever last.

So let the colors dance, let the emotions flow,

In the afterglow where strength and sorrow grow.

For from the depths, radiance will rise,

A testament to the spirit that never dies

- Kalare Allen, 18, Langston Hughes High School, Atlanta

“Afterglow” is another abstract expressionist piece that could very possibly serve as foil to “In The Beginning.” 

The colors in this one are much darker, with streaks of feathery black lines threading through the piece like the veins in someone’s body. The color is lighter, brighter, and more varied in the center, then gradually fade into a dark shadowy vignette around its edges. The poem accompanying appears to be written by a student at a high school outside the Sacramento area (in Atlanta) unlike other student poems in this exhibition, and for good reason. 

This student, Kalare, describes a fire never completely snuffed out, resilience that persists and hopes that remains and grows. To Kalare, this painting is the threat to life so joyously created, and it is the determination to refuse to fade and go completely dark. 

While “In The Beginning” is the explosive start to life, “Afterglow” is the fire and excitement dying down, but never letting go - resilience in full color.