The explosion of rap music and the street culture from which it sprang have had an indelible influence on our lifestyle today. We see it in our language, fashion, advertising, role models, and most notably, our contemporary art. Beyond Bling: Voices of Hip-Hop in Art examines this phenomenon as seen through the art of ten of the most exciting, innovative and diverse contemporary artists working in the 21st Century. Featuring a painting of an African-American male as the new art historical icon by Kehinde Wiley, a sequined, baroque image of the African-American woman by Mickalene Thomas, the Asian-influenced graffiti art of Gajin Fujita, and neighborhood women from a mural featured in New York's Times Square by Sofia Maldonado, among many other outstanding works, this fascinating book highlights how the new art of this Century reflects the influence of hip-hop culture and its undeniable mark on society at large. Contents: Matthew McLendon - Come as You Are; Interview with Michael Anderson; Interview with Vince Fraser; Interview with Gajin Fujita; Interview with Luis Gispert; Interview with Sofia Maldonado; Interview with Mickalene Thomas. AUTHOR: Matthew McLendon is the Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. 75 colour illustrations

"Published in conjunction with the exhibition Beyond Bling: Jewelry from the Lois Boardman Collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California (October 2, 2016 -February 5, 2017)"--

An illustrated collection of the wild and outlandish jewels associated with hip-hop music showcases the cultural phenomenon of bling with an assortment of gold-and-diamond-studded pistols, platinum teeth, jewel-encrusted goblets, and more, accompanied by entertaining sidebars and facts.

It's time for career-minded individuals to get beyond whatever imaginary line they're standing behind and live out their own success stories. Christopher Franklin is the founder and CEO of Titan Financial Services, Inc., one of the leading African American–owned financial management firms in the sports industry. Today, he's at the top, managing the financial assets of the rich and famous, and lecturing on wealth management all around the country. But, his road to success was not easy. Coming from a modest upbringing in a small West Virginia town, Franklin encountered plenty of roadblocks along the way. He has managed to change roadblocks to opportunities that have made him a star in his field. In Access Now, Behind the Line, Franklin shares the keys to unlimited possibilities and opportunities—all those things he wishes someone would have told him "way back when."

Metal clay artisans who love a challenge will love this book. Master instructor Carol A. Babineau presents 25 original projects that reach far beyond the expected to expand your technical abilities and imagination. Integrate sterling silver, ceramics, and enamel; use armatures, molds, tube rivets, and cold connections to make earrings, bracelets, pendants, pins, toggles, and more.

In this Book, the focus will be on redefining the concept of luxury and what it means to us. In the future, luxury will not mean expensive, fancy and branded. As we already know, resources all around the world are becoming scarce. It will not come as a surprise that the fate of humankind appears to be intimately linked to the availability of matter and energy. This is not new. We have to find and develop ways to use them as best as we can. This is where we redefine luxury. Luxury will be the use of material and construction techniques in the best and most sturdy method. We must build to make things last. This is to preserve the remaining resources in the future, and we will be considered as a luxury. we will try to show their ways and solutions to minimize its negative impacts, especially for the future generation and the world. With changing some attitudes that branding systems use and have adapted to, we can provide a method for luxury brands to create value shared by business, communities, individuals, and be control in seizing the opportunities for leadership in the current socio-economic and technological environment and their trajectory for the future.

In Jamaican dancehalls competition for the video camera's light is stiff, so much so that dancers sometimes bleach their skin to enhance their visibility. In the Bahamas, tuxedoed students roll into prom in tricked-out sedans, staging grand red-carpet entrances that are designed to ensure they are seen being photographed. Throughout the United States and Jamaica friends pose in front of hand-painted backgrounds of Tupac, flashy cars, or brand-name products popularized in hip-hop culture in countless makeshift roadside photography studios. And visual artists such as Kehinde Wiley remix the aesthetic of Western artists with hip-hop culture in their portraiture. In Shine, Krista Thompson examines these and other photographic practices in the Caribbean and United States, arguing that performing for the camera is more important than the final image itself. For the members of these African diasporic communities, seeking out the camera's light—whether from a cell phone, Polaroid, or video camera—provides a means with which to represent themselves in the public sphere. The resulting images, Thompson argues, become their own forms of memory, modernity, value, and social status that allow for cultural formation within and between African diasporic communities.