Cosmic Cool 'women' of Robert Pruitt comes to the Studio Museum of Harlem (photos)

Is it possible to be a metamorphosis, while the remaining strongly punished at the same time? Series of crayon Robert Pruitt, titled simply "Woman", shows such not possible an existence - is everywhere.

Pruitt portraits of contemporary African-American women enter science fiction, hip-hop, black power in the 1960s, culture of the comic and romantic loyalty to realism. Conjure influences cultural build identity, Pruitt presented female force from inside collide with external forces to create a captivating and fantastic portrait.

Pruitt, who lives and works in Houston, Texas, uses pencils told as their medium of choice, a drawing made of coal and clay material. His wife, based on his friends and members of the community, enters a world of fantasy somewhere between a music video, tutorial of steampunk and exploration of colonial Africa.

While cultural infused portrait painter Mickalene Thomas permeates his subjects with style, Afrofuturism and a cosmic sense of cool permeate portraits of Pruitt, tying the trends of the time for a greater sense of eternity. Although Pruitt women occupy a changing set of times, places, moods and modes, strength in their eyes and their bodies keeps tied to the land under them.

"Women" is currently on view at the Studio Museum of Harlem until the 27 of October 2013. Check out a preview of the exhibition below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

K light might stun

Be our world from space

Bombs over Baghdad

Pursued

Cosmic cube

Heavenly dream

The Saturn

Erika

Free

If you like my ticket history

Lauren (expected)

Rich Girl

Sundance Film Festival's 'Next Weekend' Comes To Los Angeles

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AppId is over the quota

The Sundance Film Festival is coming to Los Angeles. A mini version of it, anyway -- and far from its usually snow-covered locale.

From Aug. 8 to 11, the Sundance Institute is presenting Next Weekend, spotlighting a series of features from last January's Park City, Utah, shindig, as well as some choice offerings from other festivals, a pair of world premieres and shorts and panels.

"We've been wanting to do something in L.A. for a few years, and when the Sundance Cinemas took over the Sunset 5 (8000 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood), that was a great opportunity for us to work with them and to have a hub for the festival here," said Trevor Groth, director of programming for the institute.

"They've got a great communal area there at the cinema for people to come and talk about films."

"But we also wanted to expand and reach different communities as well," Groth added. "That's why we are doing our Next Sunday, which we're calling it, where we're taking films from the festival out to different organizations around L.A., like Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax, MOCA downtown, UCLA's Hammer and the Aero on the Westside. And obviously, a big one for us is our kickoff event, which we're doing at the Hollywood Forever cemetery."

That Thursday opener will be "American Movie," the 1999 documentary about no-budget filmmaker Mark Borchardt, along with a screening of "Coven," the short Borchardt was making while the doc was being shot.

Borchardt epitomizes the spirit of Next, a four-year-old section of the Park City festival that spotlights the bold, new visions in American independent cinema that the first L.A. Sundance program also celebrates.

Over the weekend, such acclaimed Utah-screened works as "A Teacher," "Blue Caprice," "Cutie and the Boxer" and "This Is Martin Bonner" will make their L.A. debuts at the Sunset 5 and, in some cases, the other venues.

Still, don't expect this to lead to a full-blown version of the Sundance Festival, just with better weather.

"There are existing festivals in L.A. that do a great job with very diverse programming: the L.A. Film Festival, the AFI, Outfest," Groth noted. "This, for us, was very focused and about helping these films that don't have huge marketing budgets to make a splash here."

Tickets to most Next Weekend programs are $15. To purchase and for more information, go to sundance.org/tickets.

bob.strauss@dailynews.com

@bscritic on Twitter ___

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Lynn Marie Herzog detained for allegedly comes after children with chainsaw

WINFIELD, Monday to Friday - Missouri woman is accused of trying to frighten the children by addressing them with a chainsaw while wearing a ski mask.

The Lincoln Condado Sheriff Department said that Lynn Marie Herzog de Winfield, Missouri, is charged with harassment of serious crime in the incident on Sunday.

Patricia Manker called the police after he saw Herzog screaming her son and her friend and walking toward them with the mask and chainsaw.

According to a probable cause statement, Manker and another neighbor say that 50-year-old woman has also been seen photographing and filming the children in the neighborhood.

Herzog is jailed on $10,000 bail. She does not have a lawyer.

The spokesman for the Department of Sheriff Andy Binder said that chainsaw was not working during the incident. Manker told police that he did not believe that the children were in danger.

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