British artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen forced us to look at the atrocities of slavery in his 2013 film, “12 Years a Slave.” An offshoot of that undertaking is “Lynching Tree,” a photograph of a large oak tree which McQueen took while on location for the movie in the American south.
At first glance, it presents as a tranquil landscape, until you recognize the tree has survived centuries and was used for lynchings on the Deep South plantation on which it’s stood. The image had a profound effect on Boston Foundation President Lee Pelton when he encountered it at the Yale Center for British Art. He then worked with Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Director Peggy Fogelman to bring the photograph to Boston. Pelton and Fogelman join GBH News Executive Arts Editor and The Culture Show host Jared Bowen to discuss "Lynching Tree," which is on view at the Gardner through Feb. 4.
From there, it's a preview of Black History Month on film with Lisa Simmons of the Roxbury International Film Festival. Simmons breaks down what's happening all throughout February in and around Boston — and one film that's even being sent into space.
Finally, nationally ranked jigsaw puzzle competitor Tiffany Medeiros joins Bowen to discuss her tactics for competitive speed puzzling, culminating in an annual puzzle contest at the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
