Thank You, MAM -- Milwaukee Art Museum Mounts "Color Rush" Photography Exhibition

On a chilly night in southeast Wisconsin, tonight the Milwaukee Art Museum provided a warm welcome to guests who enjoyed free Thursday admission to the new exhibition "Color Rush: 75 Years of Color Photography in America."

The exhibition is a preamble to MAM's 125th Anniversary celebration set for the warmer days of spring.

"Color Rush" introduces visitors to the earliest uses of color photography, starting in the early 1900s and leap-frogging a few decades at a time. The first main exhibition room features the early 1930s photos crafted as feature magazine covers and advertising. A cover for a summer 1932 edition of Vogue popped from the walls (the closest image and timing for an Olympic-themed moment as the cover debuted when the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games launched).

My docent host (girlfriend's mother) also pointed out the vivid holiday cookie visuals shown enlarged beside the eventual use of the photograph as part of a lifestyle magazine advertisement. The exhibition has a lot of these -- fine examples, mind you -- juxtaposed with early "hard news" color photos of the Hindenburg disaster. Impressive! Another sports-related magazine cover showcased a figure skating couple in flight above an unseen ice rink. Slick!

As the exhibition advanced to the post-war years and into the 1970s, with a few sets of color slides and some Kodak history, I got that funny feeling that's hit me at other photo exhibitions. Driving home and talking about the exhibition, it hit me again, with the questions I've asked before: Why do museums decide that "art" photography requires the photographers' subjects to be destitute, drug users, or trashy? Why must "museum quality" photography appear at the dregs end, or the Architectural Digest perfect end, of the photo spectrum?

The middle ground in this exhibition featured hotel interiors, urban landscapes and other (for this blogger) ho-hum images.

I guess this is my way of saying that after the High Museum of Art exhibition "Up & Down Peachtree" (photos by Martin Parr), recent Dorothea Lange images in the news, and MAM's exhibition, I'm now tired of photos of the poor, or snapshots of "the ordinary" appearing as "art." What sealed it for me was the "behind the curtain" parental advisory slide show of brothel employees, bodybuilders and dope heads in various stages of undress. What does this have to do with the color photography process?

Fortunately, "Color Rush" includes some dramatic and (never seen by my eyes until tonight) panoramic landscapes by Ansel Adams. It was also fun to discover the surprising pumpkin patch shopper while a three-story house burned in the background in a 1970s color photo by Joel Sternfeld.

Though going to the exhibition I had no specific hopes nor expectations, it was a moderate let down that more iconic color images, or perhaps early color images from cinema, did not make the cut. In that drive home conversation, I found myself asking "what about Annie Leibovitz's landscapes and portraits?" and "what about modern color photography in National Geographic as influenced by early color images in the same or similar publications?"

Is the exhibition "Color Rush" worth a look-see? Absolutely! And the information shared in the exhibition is something I will have to keep processing to see what develops.

Photos via MAM, as well as Vogue UK and www.kpraslowicz.com

IOC Conference on Women and Sport -- Geena Davis

Just arrived at the IOC Conference on Women and Sport in Los Angeles, in the nick of time to hear Geena Davis, Anita DeFrantz and Diana Nyad speak to a packed ballroom of attendees. Unfortunately I missed the main remarks, but entered as Donna de Varona (an audience member) shared her perspective on the evolution of women in sports media.

Also heard from audience members (via Q&A session), notably one attendee suggesting a national registry for sports coaches convicted of harrassment or pedophilia, to which Nyad responded, "Why wait for a conviction? If you're fired [for one of these issues] you're out [of coaching]."

I look forward to the upcoming sessions today, featuring several IOC members and Olympic participants, and will post additional details. Thanks to the USOC and their P.R. team for the last minute credential!

Mary Lou Interview, Part Deux

As noted previously, Saturday night's LA84 XXV gala at the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Stadium (Los Angeles Coliseum) afforded media and guests some time to speak directly with several Olympians. Mary Lou Retton answered many questions posed by a circle of reporters, and I was happy to see her answers to more than one of my own questions appeared in another media outlet on Sunday.

There were lots of questions posed to Retton regarding the impact of the Games for the U.S. and for her career; I was more interested in her personal experiences in the Olympic Village (created by Anita DeFrantz, who was then an LAOOC vice president -- interview with DeFrantz, now an IOC member, to follow later this week).

Over the years since 1984, especially after working in the Atlanta Olympic Village and the Sydney Olympic Village, I was often curious about whether Retton remained in the L.A. Village after her life-altering competition ended.

Glad to get these questions answered!

Mary Lou and 60 other Olympians, too

Saturday night in Los Angeles, the LA Memorial Coliseum was decked out for the 25th Anniversary of the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad. More than 60 Olympians from LA84 and other Games assembled with hundreds of LAOOC and other Olympic officials and veterans for a gala under a perfect LA evening sky.

It was indeed a special celebration, and the hosts paid great attention to detail, bringing back some of the most iconic moments from LA84 while honoring Los Angeles' prominence in the history of the Olympic Movement.

Time Magazine's 1984 Man of the Year and LAOOC chief Peter Ueberroth read a letter from former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who wrote a note of congratulations and memories, stating, "We will never forget that LA saved the Olympic Games," referencing how the host organization and city turned the Olympic Movement for the better following a most challenging Olympic decade filled with terrorism, financial fiasco and boycotts that nearly closed the Olympic tradition forever.

Ueberroth, the architect of the new financial system that worked wonders and set a new standard for host cities, stated that when he took the helm of LAOOC in 1979, the IOC had a respectable $1 million in its bank account, and as earlier this year, they maintain an account estimated at more than $1 billion, with billions more moved over the 25 years since LA's success. Ueberroth thanked the thousands of volunteers, government and Olympic officials who contributed, and he also honored several LAOOC and LA government executives who are no longer with us.

The event afforded attendees and media access to speak 1x1 with Ueberroth, IOC Member Anita DeFrantz, Edwin Moses, Greg Louganis, Bart Conner, Nadia Comenici, Evelyn Ashford-Washington, Henry Tillman, Peter Vidmar and Mary Lou Retton. Emcees for the night included ABC Sports veterans Keith Jackson and Jim Lampley. Also spotted on stage, where they assembled 60 Olympians, were Janet Evans, Mark Spitz, Billy Mills, Wyomia Tyus and Rafer Johnson.

Johnson, who lit the 1984 Olympic Cauldron, also took time to answer questions about his experience climbing the stairs in that perfect moment of the Opening Ceremonies (I will post video of that conversation and others throughout the week). Johnson repeated that moment, sans stairs, igniting the night before spectacular fireworks capped the night.

Posted now, part of the conversation with Retton. More to follow as time permits (heading to the beach then back to LAX and ATL)!

Michael Jackson R.I.P.

Very sad to learn today of Michael Jackson's death. Given the enormity of his star power, it's surprising he did not perform at Olympic festivities during his career, though he did perform in several Olympic stadiums on various tours.

My earliest memory of Michael Jackson is actually from a cemetery, but not connected to the "Thriller" video. Rather, when I was six years old, on Christmas Eve of 1978, my grandmother, dad, sister and I went to the cemetery in northern Oklahoma City to place flowers at a family headstone, and one of The Jackson Five Christmas songs was on the radio in our red station wagon. We sang along, and my dad explained (I think) that the main singer was only a few years older than my age when the song was recorded. "That kid can sing [but not me]!" I recall saying [and thinking].

A few years later, the Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney duet "Say, Say Say" was all the rage, and I vividly recall donning my first Walkman in the 4th Grade with a "Thriller" cassette playing and an "Air Supply" and "Styx" cassette in my back pockets (though one of my top five favorites was on the air much earlier). I don't recall trying to learn the moonwalk, but classmates of that era may call me out if they are reading. Steve Martin offered up about the funniest "Billy Jean" spoof on the short-lived NBC enterprise "The New Show."

The closest the "Victory" tour got to Oklahoma was Kansas City or Dallas -- it was THE top story on all four local news stations (hundreds of miles from either tour stop), a definitive lesson of the publicity machine from a time before "publicity" entered my lexicon.

Lots of other memories -- songs, lyrics, satires, tabloids, music videos, tours, jokes, stories, other favorites (there are many) --learning of Michael Jackson's untimely end adds another curious mile marker to the "where were you when ..." collection including the "Miracle On Ice," Reagan assassination attempt, John Lennon's death, the Challenger explosion, Murrah Building, 9/11.

During college, there was a made for TV movie about the Jacksons, and we had a great debate about most loved (or loathed) Michael Jackson tunes. When he performed the Super Bowl a year or so later, most agreed his best work was humanitarian.

"There's a choice we're making, we're saving our own lives. It's true, we'll make a better day, just you and me."

Michael Jackson, R.I.P.

(images via http://www.mjsite.com/, http://www.askfactmaster.com/Michael_Jackson, http://www.jacksonmichael.info/)

So Money, Baby!

Though their website does not seem to have it archived, NPR aired a "Morning Edition" report this week during which they reported news from BOCOG (Beijing's Olympic organizing committee) -- in spite of their carmine-hued national flag and gargantuan spending/budgets, China's Games emerged in the black with a whopping $176 million profit.

According to the Associated Press, some of this profit is to be attributed to hefty sales of souvenirs, coins and stamps.

Stamps?

Reading that stamps helped clear BOCOG of decades of debt made me chuckle as it was like searching for a needle in a haystack to find a post office, let alone collectible philatelic items, in Beijing!

During my month-long Games assignment last year, we encountered only two post offices -- both temporary counters set up for international visitors -- with one each at the Beijing International Media Center (BIMC ... short for "you couldn't get IOC accreditation consolation destination") and one in the massive Main Press Center/International Broadcast Center (MPC/IBC). They did have some interesting postal collectibles. But not enough stamps were moving to explain even a small percentage of Beijing's reported Games profit (thinking there was one person in line mailing a post card -- everyone else was e-mailing home, methinks).

Speaking of their profits, Beijing's results are right up there with another most profitable Olympic enterprise: The Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad at Los Angeles. Almost 25 years ago the City of Angels welcomed the world with tremendous success, to the tune of a $235 million profit, according to the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games (SCCOG).

Their site details how this tremendous financial windfall created a vast Olympic legacy enjoyed over the last 25 years (and for the foreseeable future).

In just a few weeks, SCCOG and the L.A. Sports Council are throwing a party to celebrate "LA84-XXV" -- the 25th anniversary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

It hardly seems possible it's been a quarter of a century since the grand Opening Ceremonies, and this celebration on the floor of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. David Wolper (the man who brought dozens of grand pianos out of nowhere into the stadium -- the single moment that got me hooked on the Games) is the producer of the evening's festivities to commence July 18. They even got the Millennium Biltmore Hotel to roll back prices to $84 per night for the weekend!

My hope is that timing will permit travel to the LA84-XXV gathering, and will certainly blog about it more. Anyone else going? If so, drop me a line and we'll get toast the Games inside the 1932 and 1984 Olympic palace.

We'll also have to do the same at the Bird's Nest in 2033 -- marking calendar now to dust off Olympic stamp collection then, too.

Credit: Bird's Nest photo via Olympics.org; LA Memorial Coliseum photo via SCCOG; Monopoly card via Parker Brothers and Bankrate.com