JERSEY CITY - Jersey City's Annual Black History Month Exhibition will
open during a 6 p.m. ceremony in the City Hall Rotunda on Thursday, Feb.
5, 2004.
This year's exhibition runs through the month of February and will feature
an installation called "ALIWARHOL," which documents the friendship of
legendary boxer Muhammad Ali and pop artist Andy Warhol as captured by
photographer and Ali and Warhol biographer, Victor Bockris.
On display will be 24 images taken by Bockris, who has also loaned a copy
of a soon-to-be-released biography and pictorial of Ali, which was signed by
the famed boxer. He also loaned several pieces of memorabilia from the Ali-
Warhol relationship, such as personal interviews, books, and other tokens of
what has been called the meeting between The Greatest White Man and The
Greatest Black Man.
Both Bockris - who has also written a biography on Rolling Stone guitarist
Keith Richards, a history of The Velvet Underground, and With William
Burroughs: A Report from the Bunker - and filmmaker and installation
collaborator David Schmidlapp, will attend the opening.
The city's exhibit will also include artifacts, documentation and memorabilia
from the permanent collection of the Afro-American Historical Society
Museum and paintings and photography by area artists Elmira Wade, Arthur
Porter, Hazel Smith, and Vanessa Holley. The artwork will feature such
themes as life in Haiti as well as politics and spirituality.
"This exhibit highlights a unique relationship between an artist and a boxer,
both men who broke barriers in society," said Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham,
who encouraged residents to visit the display and learn more about Black
History. "It is truly an honor to have such distinctive and important work on
display in Jersey City."
