SERENDIPITY #8 Nichelle Nichols - Venus Power 77

​​By happy coincidence - serendipity! - (I will get tired of this, but not before you) the exhibition is on for 23 days and since there are 23 paintings, for the sheer hell of it I will be posting about a painting every day throughout . . . ​​​

Nichelle Nichols - Venus Power 77. Acrylic, Spraypaint & mixed media on paper and canvas 70 x 100cm
​Also available as a 42 x 60 (A2) limited edition print.

Uhuru means freedom in Swahili, this of course is Uhura. Nichelle Nichols was about to leave Star trek after the first season but was convinced by trekkie fan Martin Luther King to stay as she was such a powerful role model. He is quoted as saying, "For the first time on television, we [people of African descent] will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing and dance, yes, but who can go into space, who can be lawyers and teachers, who can be professors — who are in this day, yet you don’t see it on television until now". She went on to be an ambassador for NASA, encouraging women and African Americans to join the service. There is a awful lot to admire including the first televised inter-racial kiss - with Kirk of course - and her singing career which went from the Duke Ellington Band to a  Northern soul classic. 

Honey Muffin indeed. Again another full face portrait on pasted paper, mainly done with spraypaint on a base colour and claire ligne stencil. Falling stars over the stack of soul runs from blue to red across to the clenched raised fist of female power. Two sevens clash on the right, Culture not Black Uhuru, more stars and honey muffin hearts up to the comic book representation of The Rezillos and part of the design for Destination Venus single. Full circle to venus then representing love, beauty and Nichelle Nichols. Must have been that schoolboy crush. Not that I was the only one (see Barack Obama).