During the South First Fridays art walk this month in downtown San Jose, I stopped by the Works/San Jose gallery to check out the offerings at this year’s “(Anti) Valentine Show,” which features 140 pieces by artists providing their own often irreverent takes on Valentine’s Day.
But as I was shuffling through the crowd of people admiring Doug Crafts’ beautifully detailed piece, “Take another little piece of my heart now, baby — Charcuterie a la Janis Joplin,” which features cheese, crackers and a human heart on a black marble platter, I was surprised at how, well, mainstream it all felt. From what I could see, the visitors that night weren’t a collection of anti-love romance haters and I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t a few couples there on a date night.
It would be something if visiting the Works show, which set out to thumb its nose at the saccharin notions of Valentines with their pink construction paper hearts and messages stamped into candy, actually turned into an art-driven way to express your love for someone (even yourself)? Anyway, whether you have romance in mind or not, it’s worth visiting Works (inside Open San Jose at 38 S. Second St.) before the show closes this weekend. A closing party is set for Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. and you can get more information at workssanjose.org.
HONOR ROLL: The ninth annual Silicon Valley Black Legends Awards is returning in-person this weekend at the Hammer Theatre Center in downtown San Jose after being a virtual event for the past three years.
Hosted by Afrikahn Jahmal Dayvs and Janice Edwards — who were both previously inducted as Legends — the Feb. 17 event is a fundraiser for the development of the San Jose Black History Museum Silicon Valley, a joint project among five grounds in San Jose: Joyner Payne Youth Services Agency, the Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce, the African American Community Service Agency, the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage California and Our Common Denominator.
This year’s honorees are journalist Elaine Carolyn Ray; educator Harriett B. Arnold; graphic designer and businessman Reginald Swilley; Tower of Power drummer Ron E. Beck; longtime NASA employee and STEM educator Donald G. James; El Camino Heathcare District Director Dr. Carol A. Somersille; attorney Angela Warren; the Santa Clara County Black Lawyers Association; the San Jose alumnae chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and 92-year-old Robert Hoover, who was part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the 1960s civil rights movement and served as director of community services for East Palo Alto.
Tickets to the event, which begins with a 5 p.m. reception, can be purchased at blacklegendawards.org.
THE WRITE STUFF: Author Percival Everett, whose novel “Erasure” was the basis of Cord Jefferson’s Oscar-nominated film, “American Fiction,” will be at the Hammer Theatre Center on Feb. 15 for an event hosted by San Jose State University’s Center for Literary Arts. Everett, who is the author of more than 20 books and teaches at USC, will read from his latest, “Trees,” and will have an onstage conversation with Keenan Norris, an associate professor at San Jose State University whose latest novel, “The Confession of Copeland Cane,” won the 2022 Northern California Book Award.
The 7 p.m. event is sold out, but you can still go to hammertheatre.com to register for the free livestream.
