{"id":867,"date":"2009-04-29T11:29:39","date_gmt":"2009-04-29T16:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/the-bomb\/2009\/04\/29\/jeff-hargrave\/"},"modified":"2009-05-13T22:13:51","modified_gmt":"2009-05-14T03:13:51","slug":"jeff-hargrave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/the-bomb\/2009\/04\/29\/jeff-hargrave\/","title":{"rendered":"~JEFF HARGRAVE"},"content":{"rendered":"

. . . something about the figures, in the artwork in the bottom posts, reminded us of the ‘zombie’, or really ‘black nanny’ dolls of JEFF HARGRAVE – who we happened to run into recently !!<\/p>\n

\"Jeff
\nJEFF HARGRAVE.
\nhe recently dropped by ATM GALLERY, that’s a TOMOO GOKITA painting behind him !! <\/p>\n

\"Jeff
\nJEFF HARGRAVE, has a pretty funny sense of humor, (unlike a few others, I won’t mention, in this stressed-out town !!), so, when we told him – he looked like a – black snowman – he lightened up !!<\/p>\n

\"Jeff
\namong other kinds of more traditional artwork – like painting and collage – Jeff, who hails from somewhere around New Orleans, makes his own contemporary versions of ‘Black Nanny’ dolls. this one – is the devil with voodoo pins !!
\nsexuality ? – well, y-o-u call it !!
\none thing’s for sure – it’s on fire !!
\nactually, ‘Black Nanny’ dolls are traditional<\/em>, traditional ole-time African American folk art – a combination of being too poor to buy store-bought dolls, and who wants store-bought white dolls, to hug & cherish – anyways, when that was your oppressor ?
\nthe little doll, top center, with the white bonnet & red necklace (both – added after the fact) is a classic antique American black Nanny Doll, from the south – and made much the same way Jeff’s are. hand-sewn and then turned inside-out, and painted black.
\nok. yep that’s (just a small part) of my black nanny doll collection, with a few little white dolls, thrown in, just to keep the conversation in the bookcase – lively !! the big one at the right is a souvenir doll – what you might buy if you visited the Caribbean islands, later half of the last century. I stitched the fabric doll ‘heart’ head – that’s peeking through !!<\/p>\n

\"nancy
\nNANCY SMITH, stitched doll head. 1996. ok I made that.<\/p>\n

\"bermuda
\na vintage souvenir Black Nanny doll from Bermuda, – made much the same way as Jeff makes his.
\nhe picked up the tradition & skills from his surroundings, growing up in the south.<\/p>\n

\"Jeff
\nok. we let the little devil out for some fresh air.
\nBLACK NANNY\/VOODOO DOLL made by JEFF HARGRAVE ca. 2002.
\nCollection: Nancy Smith<\/p>\n

\"Jeff
\nJEFF HARGRAVE, Black Nanny voodoo ‘devil’ doll. Jeff stuck the pins in, not I !!
\nBlack Nanny dolls were made at the same time that white folks, and black folks – were making quilts.
\nbut, they were nowhere as scary as this.<\/p>\n

\"Jeff
\nJEFF HARGRAVE – detail. contemporary, hand-painted face Black Nanny voodoo ‘devil’ doll – very traditional in the rendering & materials !!<\/p>\n

\"nanny
\nnot as scary ? take that back !!
\nwell, sometimes she looks mad and angry, and then sometimes – if you hold her just so, she is quite endearing ??
\nAmerican antique hand-sewn Black Nanny doll. The body of the doll is based on an old & very worn-out !! pair of commercially made (store-bought) black mens socks – stuffed with raw cotton. The face, the red nostrils and red mouth, with white teeth, is hand-embroidered, while the eyes are (real abalone) & I guess therefore store bought – shell buttons, what buttons used to be made of, before plastics.
\nCollection: Nancy Smith<\/p>\n

\"close-up
\n. . . think on, what the maker of this doll – was feeling !!<\/p>\n

\"black
\nsitting up, feeling the homey vibes – she seems to strike a happier countenance !!<\/p>\n

\"doll
\n. . . dig that bosom !! and, the hands posed just so, on the hips !!<\/p>\n

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH<\/p>\n

you can see JEFF HARGRAVE with a few more of his contemporary Black Nanny dolls, in 2005: here !!<\/a>
\n(you’ll have to scroll down a bit)
\nwe first saw Jeff’s Black Nanny dolls at a small exhibit way – back in the day, at ATM gallery, when it was on Ave B in the East Village. Jeff says he doesn’t make too many any more – if any !! – he says – he hates doing all that tiny stitching !!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. . . something about the figures, in the artwork in the bottom posts, reminded us of the ‘zombie’, or really ‘black nanny’ dolls of JEFF HARGRAVE – who we happened to run into recently !! JEFF HARGRAVE. he recently dropped by ATM GALLERY, that’s a TOMOO GOKITA painting behind him !! JEFF HARGRAVE, has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}