The Discussion Not Happening Because of Cosby's Recent Events

Being a beginner at something sometimes seems like an uphill battle, and you can't wait until you're known, you've got it all down pat. I know I've felt that way on a number of occasions, "if only I'd started 5 years ago" lol. More on that regret here. 

So what if you were born into fame, would life be easier? Would building your audience be a piece of cake? Depends on who you ask I suppose. Well for one woman, namely Erika Ranee Cosby, being Bill Cosby's daughter is not brining the attention I'm sure she'd rather have as a painter and an artist right now. 

Erika Ranee Cosby at a book signing event in Rockefeller Centre. Photo by Andrea Renault/Globe Photos Inc.

One of her paintings is currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington DC as part of the "Conversations: Africans and African American Artworks in Dialogue" display. The exhibition opened last year in November and features art as named in it's title, including part of Bill Cosby's personally owned art collection, accounting for 1/3 of the display, which also includes Ranee's piece "Hanging Out to Dry".

"Hanging Out to Dry" by Erika Ranee Cosby - Courtesy of Smithsonian

This is how the artist herself describes her piece:

This painting was my ode to the scarcity—and to the plight—of the black doll. . . . The positioning of the dolls hanging from a clothesline, in an upside-down trajectory as they are suspended in perpetuity, suggests an uncertain future status. The expressionistic paint rendering and predominant use of red are a visceral interpretation of the persistent and relentless distortion of black imagery in our culture. - Erika Ranee Cosby

An interesting topic if you ask me, and quite fitting considering the title of the exhibition. Unfortunately the discussion most people are having instead is whether any part of Bill Cosby's collection should remain at the museum or not in light of recent events, or recent discoveries rather. It truly is unfortunate that the entire discussion has changed because there is so much that can be learned from and discussed from such an exhibition. Anyhow I was in the DMV area I would have visited the museum and taken my notes to join the conversation.

How do you prescribe to the notion that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" or "any publicity is good publicity"? Agree or disagree? Comment below.