People, Places & Things of Spike Lee

The Filmmaker introduced the World to Brooklyn and Brooklyn to Itself

Bernice Elizabeth Green
In the 1980’s Brooklyn was hardly considered “cool”.
Then one young creative inspired by a strong family of creative activists, his musician father and educator mom,
came up with an idea for a film in 1986. Fort Greene was landmarked in his first foray, She’s Gotta Have it. And two years later, after a detour to (South Carolina, Atlanta???) for School Daze, he fimed Do The Right Thing in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant giving Stuyvesant Avenue between Gates and Lexington star power., and lots of color.
He caught the attention of his community, and the world in his regard for his world and the creation of Hollywood in Kings County.
And Brooklyn, have not been the same. . an where no one had ever been before … at least in the film world. From the beignning, we never got it twisted. We credit the ranking of Brooklyn as the capital of multiculral arts to this one man.
Spike Lee did his thing, from where he lived and the world followed.
Wonder no more about the roots of his inspiration. This Saturday, October 7, the Brooklyn Museum showcases Spike Lee: Creative Sources opens Saturday, October 7, and offers a glimpse into the world of Spike Lee, one of the most influential and prolific American filmmakers and directors.

Through an immersive installation of objects drawn from Lee’s personal collection, visitors will discover the sources of inspiration that have fueled his creative output. Throughlines of his life and oeuvre—Black history and culture, Brooklyn, sports, music, cinema history, and family—are explored with more than 350 works drawn from his personal collection.
The exhibit offers a tour through Lee’s biggest influences ranging from Black liberation leaders to Brooklyn sports icons. Different rooms lead museum goers through Black history and culture, sports, film, music, photography, Lee’s family and his experience of Brooklyn.
Artworks by prominent Black American artists, including Kehinde Wiley, Deborah Roberts, and Michael Ray Charles, are displayed alongside instruments once owned by legendary musicians, as well as historical and contemporary photographs, sports and movie memorabilia, and more. Together they reveal the connections among the people, places, and ideas that have fueled Lee’s incisive storytelling.
One media source announced this week that the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibit offers “a look inside the Brooklyn-native filmmaker’s brain” with hundreds of items from his personal collection.

That’s like saying someone could get inside Einstein’s brain. The filmmaker is way ahead of us to this date, and still churning out new product, and, himself, inspired multi-generations of talent, all over the world.
Spike Lee: Creative Sources is organized by Kimberli Gant, Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, with Indira A. Abiskaroon, Curatorial Assistant, Modern and Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum.