Date: 4 May 1999 21:37:03 -0000
From: Electronic Drum 
Subject: ANN'T:  LONG BEACH MUSEUM OF ART PREMIERES NEW VIDEO ART IN ANNUAL EXHIBITION

Electronic Drum

LONG BEACH MUSEUM OF ART 
PRESS RELEASE 

March 26, 1999 

Contact                 Jeri Vaughn (562) 439-2119, ext. 40 

Release Date:           For Immediate Release 


LONG BEACH MUSEUM OF ART PREMIERES NEW VIDEO ART IN ANNUAL EXHIBITION 

New Visions: Video 1999 
April 9 through June 20, 1999 
Free Opening Reception April 9 from 7 to 10pm 


Long Beach, CA.  New Visions: Video 1999,  the Long Beach Museum of Art's
popular annual exhibition of new video works opens April 9 with featured
artist Thomas Allen Harris. 

Now in its fourth year, the New Visions program selects three artists and
commissions each of them to create a new video work. Each artist receives
a cash stipend and valuable production and post-production support at the
Museum's Video Annex.  The new works are exhibited at the Museum and then
added to the Museum's permanent collection of over 3,500 video tapes and
installation 

AFRO (is just a hair style): Notes on a Journey Through the African
Diaspora, a three-projector installation by Thomas Allen Harris, creates a
poetic exploration of people scattered around the world who are of African
origin.  Using material from the artist's three-month journey from Los
Angeles to Salvador Da Bahia, Brazil to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West
Africa, AFRO explores a circulating world of attraction --  a world in
which one looks for affinity within a real or imagined African community. 

Each of the three projections is a "window" through which the viewer can
see distinct scenes of African-influenced festivals taking place on three
different continents:  FESPACO o a film festival,  Festival of Iemanjá o a
religious festival and At The Beach o a queer festival.  AFRO (is just a
hair style): Notes on a Journey Through the African Diaspora, places
viewers in the position of "the traveler," leading them on the epic
journey of the artist's self-discovery and perhaps their own. 

Thomas Allen Harris is assistant professor of media arts at the University
of California, San Diego. His work has been exhibited in Italy, Venezuela,
the Netherlands, Ireland, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Australia,
Burkina Faso, Canada, and throughout the United States. 


Thomas Allen Harris 
Professor, Media Arts 
University of California, San Diego 
9500 Gilman Drive, #0327 
La Jolla, CA 92093 
tel. 619/534-1307 fax 619/534-8651