tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17640312987253014792024-03-15T21:09:50.791-04:00get visualThings seen and heard on the Capital Region art scene and beyonddavid brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.comBlogger363125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-7031322733055271532024-01-29T18:46:00.001-05:002024-01-29T18:46:38.010-05:00The Best Films of 2023<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FsHAIpn7Dw7z9RNYFH-E908G4eZN2TA5KsV1yo0NmhhKvu7h0e3e90rqmbDhIZj3exnYscuwTuozN95AFob56IlTt-SJJBZL33WUSpGVX5Xpn9cJVHrpLZtD43cRRQXCIoXCUOmVWncPhFjTzW7WZPnQbgR3C0ubmR6Y4qwypLVuTWm6YPxFbs38Um4/s1200/killers.webp" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FsHAIpn7Dw7z9RNYFH-E908G4eZN2TA5KsV1yo0NmhhKvu7h0e3e90rqmbDhIZj3exnYscuwTuozN95AFob56IlTt-SJJBZL33WUSpGVX5Xpn9cJVHrpLZtD43cRRQXCIoXCUOmVWncPhFjTzW7WZPnQbgR3C0ubmR6Y4qwypLVuTWm6YPxFbs38Um4/w400-h209/killers.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin Scorsese, left, Lily Gladstone, and Robert DeNiro all received Oscar<br />nods for <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>. Some say Leo DiCaprio, right, was snubbed.</td></tr></tbody></table><div>It's been a while since I've posted here, and it feels good to be back, even if only for a brief visit. I didn't write about movies last year because I simply missed too many of them to make a credible commentator on what was worth viewing and why.</div><div><br /></div><div>But, fortunately, this year is different; though I still missed some important films (I've listed those at the end of this post), I find that I saw enough of the Academy's Best Picture contenders to be in a position to make an informed review. So, here goes.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KkZgE9VBtgYf4Fkw8W4dzgfDyCesea9O1-lziw_GiuyFjaFrcC6vw4EQKU1ZhDrOO9AVUiCFSm25CwifHxjjcQ7KBhyphenhyphenyAz-2cD377e0fRvkBUyeuej5vwghXpHtM_JU3pPTyKwKAsd53_FzfI7FDznzEy6bK_L8y31TgoHfjF5l8EVEyjJl_tYibPLA/s4000/holdovers.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2700" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KkZgE9VBtgYf4Fkw8W4dzgfDyCesea9O1-lziw_GiuyFjaFrcC6vw4EQKU1ZhDrOO9AVUiCFSm25CwifHxjjcQ7KBhyphenhyphenyAz-2cD377e0fRvkBUyeuej5vwghXpHtM_JU3pPTyKwKAsd53_FzfI7FDznzEy6bK_L8y31TgoHfjF5l8EVEyjJl_tYibPLA/w189-h280/holdovers.jpg" width="189" /></a></div>A lot of people would say the race for Best Picture this year is a tight one, and I would agree. My own list has no single outstanding #1, and no 2023 release I've seen thus far has achieved the level required to get my highest rating of four stars. (That's not unusual - to give four stars, I have to believe the film was nearly perfect.) But four pictures this year got three-and-a-half stars from me, and that ain't bad. Plus, it's always possible I'll catch one later that meets the test. But, for now, here are my top picks, along with a few quibbles, of course ...</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i> - Marginally my choice for #1, this film has been criticized by some for being too long. That's hogwash! A film can be too long at ten minutes (if it stinks), or not long enough at three hours. In my theatrical viewing of this near-masterpiece, the time flew by, as a nuanced and complex story was told extremely well. The acting is superb - even incorporating spoken Osage dialogue by the three leads, all of whom learned the language for their parts - and the visuals are riveting. An unnecessary and distracting cameo by director Martin Scorsese right near the end dimmed it slightly for me. But Lily Gladstone is so subtly brilliant as the hub around which this wheel revolves, if she doesn't get the Oscar for female lead, I'll be shocked. Pee first, then see it. (image at top of this post)</li><li><i>Anatomy of a Fall</i> - A truly original thriller/mystery organized around a family that shares three languages (German, French, and English), with a brilliant performance by its female lead, Sandra Huller, who has been rightly nominated for an Oscar. I've seen zillions of foreign films, but never one that handles the multiplicity of languages in an international family so fluidly and poignantly. The French/German couple speaks English at home as a compromise - to me, this says a great deal about our changing world and, in the context of the film, about their troubled marriage. (image at bottom of this post)</li><li><i><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qwZW67HRU6I3ggrRY7S3tzDSLyoOL_R84YwMn5f3ENYBWCvNUFjKKH4CYwUu6pmOKiPLZ1YQZW2o0OgLxMgbWr0-9pRHzA0hPezqocG64PZP0YCP_pG7oyi4i2bUX2hQLyg772v_rQpbUI_Ht4WMs39n5vOn3iJMZEreiFYrxUdFZQz3nXv4fk_iZOM/s2560/cassandro_2023_1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qwZW67HRU6I3ggrRY7S3tzDSLyoOL_R84YwMn5f3ENYBWCvNUFjKKH4CYwUu6pmOKiPLZ1YQZW2o0OgLxMgbWr0-9pRHzA0hPezqocG64PZP0YCP_pG7oyi4i2bUX2hQLyg772v_rQpbUI_Ht4WMs39n5vOn3iJMZEreiFYrxUdFZQz3nXv4fk_iZOM/w261-h147/cassandro_2023_1.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gael Garcia Bernal is brilliant in <i>Cassandro.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Cassandro</i> - This may be the best recent movie you've heard nothing about, but don't dismiss it. Mexican star Gael Garcia Bernal masterfully portrays the real-life, gender-bending Mexican wrestler Cassandro, who turned his disadvantage into success in the ring as an "exotico." I'm straight, white, American and male, and don't care much for wrestling - but I absolutely loved this touching, hilarious, and life-affirming film about a gay Mexican wrestler.</li><li><i>The Holdovers</i> - No surprise here, it's gotten plenty of attention, all of it well deserved. At first, I was reluctant to praise this film too much, because I myself lived in a similar setting (a New England prep school) for four years, and would have a natural bias to enjoy the story - but it seems audiences and critics everywhere agree that it's first-rate, especially due to superb acting by its trio of stars: Paul Giamatti (always terrific), Da'Vine Joy Randolph in a breakout performance that earned an Oscar nod, and Dominic Sessa in a terrific debut. (see image above at left)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD80mzc-lEKzSkugNDYz9tj8_OT3qZzeslpLEY7rtODLD_Bxv-wBwo6NNJ83sIMr2zfwROvLfWG-cRmxMoLeUKYI-WS5-GmoIcarehPPN-gUuFImW8dwZLw-zAN9JmPgSeCTemZIfpplQhfT3cY8PK0T8H10HrS9R8FGvXT6g5iQGuGlQ_DUjEC8kypF0/s768/American%20Fiction.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="768" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD80mzc-lEKzSkugNDYz9tj8_OT3qZzeslpLEY7rtODLD_Bxv-wBwo6NNJ83sIMr2zfwROvLfWG-cRmxMoLeUKYI-WS5-GmoIcarehPPN-gUuFImW8dwZLw-zAN9JmPgSeCTemZIfpplQhfT3cY8PK0T8H10HrS9R8FGvXT6g5iQGuGlQ_DUjEC8kypF0/w372-h185/American%20Fiction.png" width="372" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>American Fiction </i>features an all-star cast of black actors, led<br />by Jeffrey Wright, a past Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe winner.</td></tr></tbody></table></li><li><i>American Fiction</i> - Satire is so tricky. I liked this picture a lot, and probably would have rated it higher if it wasn't so stuffed with clichés. Or maybe they were put their intentionally as part of the joke? So, for example, when Jeffrey Wright's upper-middle-class black character (in a perfect performance that should win him a statuette) gets passed by while trying to hail a cab, exactly at the moment when he tells someone on his phone that he doesn't believe race matters, it seemed just too on the nose. Otherwise, though, the film is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking, with some nifty plot twists and a highly original script, drawn from the 2001 novel by an outstanding writer, Percival Everett.</li><li><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYTU1aWXaMuHTt_UbjPuRoOUc6HVI1noePgFIYK-sEYoTPai8zpIlTTyyw7WPqhYl_FodBAoE2965_cPEG-TaoXWcyDRMj6F2mSfj5c7IniTw6tkveMJHCBOOyMb8Wbsx5aGhiXgvLhziQ-sJ5-5qqM4MSwOeemIMf0Kd9wuYD92l948Y1Vcbj4-yRXw/s1510/Asteroid-City.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1510" data-original-width="1206" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYTU1aWXaMuHTt_UbjPuRoOUc6HVI1noePgFIYK-sEYoTPai8zpIlTTyyw7WPqhYl_FodBAoE2965_cPEG-TaoXWcyDRMj6F2mSfj5c7IniTw6tkveMJHCBOOyMb8Wbsx5aGhiXgvLhziQ-sJ5-5qqM4MSwOeemIMf0Kd9wuYD92l948Y1Vcbj4-yRXw/w179-h224/Asteroid-City.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>Asteroid City</i> - Based on the tiny sample of people I know who go to the movies, Wes Anderson's pictures tend to be polarizing. That is, they either love them or hate them. This one I loved. It's predictably very quirky, stuffed with great actors, and its scenic design is both wildly colorful and just plain wild. A work of art, not to everyone's taste, but extremely well done. And it's got Scarlett Johansson. Need I say more?</li><li><i>Dumb Money </i>- This film features an outstanding Paul Dano as the basement-dwelling nerd who catapulted Game Stop into a Wall Street phenomenon through an options trading short squeeze. And, yes, I did find myself confusing it at times with 2015's <i>The Big Short</i>. What distinguishes <i>Dumb Money</i> is the excellent ensemble acting that supports Dano's awesome performance, and the spate of relatable characters they portray as they get swept up in the Game Stop drama. Despite the geeky subject matter, it is actually a hugely entertaining movie about something we all know quite well: Money.</li><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTd9wc4v05lygeaBZlaQZriZ-FwWUoBD1IMOUco-n_x8ABzRMdJQzZyFiPzT-tWiUtJls8Ot0Z_3drqBmx3UsFmNZwqlT8b8a5d-ijigD_gV69QYBHZoIhHYZoV1mpvaTrYkTdmedfVNstf7iCLHsmfYmJ0zvBWvYhb8A_GPiQZWnbEYWmDs8Di2Uo-U/s1536/Oppenheimer.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTd9wc4v05lygeaBZlaQZriZ-FwWUoBD1IMOUco-n_x8ABzRMdJQzZyFiPzT-tWiUtJls8Ot0Z_3drqBmx3UsFmNZwqlT8b8a5d-ijigD_gV69QYBHZoIhHYZoV1mpvaTrYkTdmedfVNstf7iCLHsmfYmJ0zvBWvYhb8A_GPiQZWnbEYWmDs8Di2Uo-U/s320/Oppenheimer.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>The elephant in the room is <i>Oppenheimer</i>. It got how many Oscar nominations? My favorite number: 13. OK, so it's a really big Hollywood-style film with massive production values, with a pretty interesting story, and the acting in it is really very good - especially the lead, Cillian Murphy, and supporting actor Robert Downey, Jr. (actually, my favorite in it was Florence Pugh, even when dressed). But it's just so darn bombastic! (Pun acknowledged.) It hits a very high dramatic note right at the start - and then it stays there, for three hours. For all that effort, it could have been better, my friends.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></li><li><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6FPpijkeRQLW7AX0fx3IH6Np50O7b4wvbFykJnfuZfCFDYJ4qKimWpEzxBj_eFJTHA8OvrXAfHTyn6E9lBGsfIBN8rAvAcQ2IqurqCAJ4ravF_OBeIDWPm83o_icg1gUg6FOqc__mzKbybkCbm5SX5wmNLct3ej0Hkuxw73n0JUFkEuNpg1p6rHfHtWo/s660/Barbie.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="440" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6FPpijkeRQLW7AX0fx3IH6Np50O7b4wvbFykJnfuZfCFDYJ4qKimWpEzxBj_eFJTHA8OvrXAfHTyn6E9lBGsfIBN8rAvAcQ2IqurqCAJ4ravF_OBeIDWPm83o_icg1gUg6FOqc__mzKbybkCbm5SX5wmNLct3ej0Hkuxw73n0JUFkEuNpg1p6rHfHtWo/w175-h263/Barbie.jpg" width="175" /></a></div>Barbie</i> - Ah, the feminist political football that is 2023's highest-grossing film! If only everybody would settle down and just accept <i>Barbie</i> for what it is - a fun, Boomer-esque, merch-hawking popcorn movie about dolls and humans. Where's the harm in not being the perfect statement for our time? I wore pink pants, popped the collar on my polo shirt, and enjoyed the spectacle. And then pretty much forgot about the whole thing.</li><li><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfI64eY6sn2gYtzC5T-GZSdn56s8AV_ZG715nscNmfBZRIAcBgP0FjdaFuz1iq_DvILTpaPftOqEyt2x_Npx8lN8KpcOKagzq9KcUvRFW8KGnrbNqWvi4p4d9ufV-wIAXhrdY0xROmwxvZTJjB_R9EUWNB_xhfgBnKskjAVOoOZtzaN5dgVA37yegIPQ/s300/Past-Lives.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfI64eY6sn2gYtzC5T-GZSdn56s8AV_ZG715nscNmfBZRIAcBgP0FjdaFuz1iq_DvILTpaPftOqEyt2x_Npx8lN8KpcOKagzq9KcUvRFW8KGnrbNqWvi4p4d9ufV-wIAXhrdY0xROmwxvZTJjB_R9EUWNB_xhfgBnKskjAVOoOZtzaN5dgVA37yegIPQ/w186-h279/Past-Lives.jpg" width="186" /></a></div>Past Lives</i> - Not terrible for a directorial debut, but my clear candidate for the year's most overrated film. What got me was how the story revolves around a presumably irresistible young woman who I found utterly unappealing. I don't mean this by her appearance - no shaming going on here - I mean her personality was simply terrible. So the whole thing fell apart. And it really felt like a first-time script (which it is): awkward, self-indulgent, unrealistic. Sorry, just not worthy of all the hype. </li></ul><div>And there you have it - a highly opinionated take on ten of the top films of 2023. Others I plan to see include <i>The Zone of Interest</i>, <i>Maestro</i>, <i>The Boy and the Heron</i>, <i>20 Days in Mariupol</i>, and <i>Society of the Snow</i>. Notably not on my list to be seen is <i>Poor Things</i>, due to my dislike for Emma Stone's acting and my doubts about having the stomach for another Yorgos Lanthimos grossout. I do hope you will forgive me. And please do go out and support your local movie theater. Enjoy!</div></div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLFbRo9yqH57fS95kOVTqAgm0SiJl7uEKoRnuIbQJiiG-kwrkwZqgAnNYSKm2gOZpzvTk0EFN4LL9gz4XxEXn4vYSOJXU2I_DoPhaYotfzmWzI_ZKu52qw1gZWqCojNJdcs3H5M8LUr04l0IyleCw8CUAfWRJaFVBbl3d8DE9t05vNQIAZgTNpLj8pto/s1280/Anatomy-of-a-Fall-1.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLFbRo9yqH57fS95kOVTqAgm0SiJl7uEKoRnuIbQJiiG-kwrkwZqgAnNYSKm2gOZpzvTk0EFN4LL9gz4XxEXn4vYSOJXU2I_DoPhaYotfzmWzI_ZKu52qw1gZWqCojNJdcs3H5M8LUr04l0IyleCw8CUAfWRJaFVBbl3d8DE9t05vNQIAZgTNpLj8pto/w400-h225/Anatomy-of-a-Fall-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Samuel Theis and Sandra Huller star in <i>Anatomy of a Fall</i>, an intriguing international<br />mystery that could win a statuette for the German actress.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-66538360601895790842023-07-25T14:04:00.003-04:002023-07-25T14:11:37.624-04:00DB goes to Italy, ends up on TV<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="240" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NRMNrlVdZAU" width="440" youtube-src-id="NRMNrlVdZAU"></iframe><br />Not everyone who goes on vacation gets a surprise like the one I got in Italy in May.<p>My wife and I were visiting a close friend who lives in Narni, a hill town in Umbria, when we all agreed to go check out a new museum of Street Art that had been established in the local 14th-century castle (pretty much every hill town in Italy has one of those - the castle, that is, not the museum).</p><p>Narni (which, BTW, is considered to be the exact geographic center of the Italian peninsula, and was the original Narnia in Roman times) is so small that we simply walked to the castle from Annamaria's home in town, as excited to see the inside of the old redoubt as we were to peruse the art show.</p><p>Well, the castle was great, and it turned out the show was really good, too.</p><p>Inside the exhibition, I got talking to Annamaria about the art, including the fact that I had previously written on this blog about some of the artists included or mentioned there (specifically, <a href="https://dbgetvisual.blogspot.com/2019/07/basquiat-x-warhol-at-school.html" target="_blank">Jean-Michel Basquiat</a> and <a href="https://dbgetvisual.blogspot.com/search/label/Keith%20Haring" target="_blank">Keith Haring</a>, linked here to those posts). At that point, a fellow accompanied by a cameraman asked if he could interview me.</p><p>The results, revealed above around 1:45 into the video, aired on regional TV news that night.</p><p>How cool is that?</p><p style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Subtitles translated by DB and William Laviano, inserted by William Laviano.</span></i></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-30672494195730157452022-11-10T21:26:00.000-05:002022-11-10T21:26:10.293-05:00Running at 64<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQA0KDv4zhvb6Dg6xkvjCnRONS0E4uS_ZMTo8ch9pQ_moYzCNAw6qRRFjsRMwvE_Wn_W-mYFLeR1UbbEOk8Z3ypsW3tMW7Go59UIJ9DhqUTWMYBi-wvmowBC8IrQuq_RSbeqKYCmQxk3zM_idrMNiC035wqIwkuafnecgRpQpyga3i8BnG9R7t4wp/s1819/DB%20at%2064%20by%20Dick.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1158" data-original-width="1819" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQA0KDv4zhvb6Dg6xkvjCnRONS0E4uS_ZMTo8ch9pQ_moYzCNAw6qRRFjsRMwvE_Wn_W-mYFLeR1UbbEOk8Z3ypsW3tMW7Go59UIJ9DhqUTWMYBi-wvmowBC8IrQuq_RSbeqKYCmQxk3zM_idrMNiC035wqIwkuafnecgRpQpyga3i8BnG9R7t4wp/w400-h255/DB%20at%2064%20by%20Dick.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last outdoor run of the year: Struggling a bit, but still holding up (a tree)<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>photo by Dick Bennett</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Well, it looks like ol’ Father Time has begun to catch up
with me, making this year’s running season a bit of a setback. For a couple of
months I was plagued by minor injuries – or perhaps they are better called
“conditions.” Left-hip sciatica that made half of my leg numb (hard to run when
your leg can’t feel), a nagging pain in my right big toe (arthritis, gout, or a
strained tendon?), and the occasional basketball-induced sprained ankle conspired to reduce my usual training to a mere trickle for most of the summer.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
Before all that first-world agony, I had an OK start to the
season, running my usual slate of 5k races in April, May, and June at a reasonably
decent pace for springtime. That amounted to one race each month, with two top-three age-group
finishes being the results, more or less in line with past years.<div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHP1T2dGUbbeOdTYgh0cMrafx1hEeCAfYA6URxlDWeoYTeAAdklH3_UfTxTzYEwAdAulrsdhOjsGnofKW-pPRZW2nsefEocc6FOe_iHq37iRFHU2j4Ecf-SnoTsP4aXNsVZlipALpfzTF9Z8ibvzmJELU1epp57pMjNu2D3Z5qy5lSEZ-jwHTBfa_/s2250/Dunkin%202022%20by%20Putrock%20(4).JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1500" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHP1T2dGUbbeOdTYgh0cMrafx1hEeCAfYA6URxlDWeoYTeAAdklH3_UfTxTzYEwAdAulrsdhOjsGnofKW-pPRZW2nsefEocc6FOe_iHq37iRFHU2j4Ecf-SnoTsP4aXNsVZlipALpfzTF9Z8ibvzmJELU1epp57pMjNu2D3Z5qy5lSEZ-jwHTBfa_/w201-h303/Dunkin%202022%20by%20Putrock%20(4).JPG" width="201" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing the Dunkin' Run 5k in 28:19<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>photo by Joe Putrock</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>But then the problems began, and I struggled to recover – though I’m glad to report some minor success in the end, with moderately acceptable
showings in my last two races of the season. That included a surprising 2<span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">nd</span>-place
age-group finish in my home race, the Dunkin’ Run 5k, for which I received a
rather ugly medal – a fitting representation of the overall season, during
which I never broke 28 minutes for a 5k, a mark that was so routine just a year
ago as to be unremarkable. Now, all at once, it’s unattainable.</div><div><br /></div><div><o:p></o:p>But that’s OK. I’ve seen age suddenly overtake many of my senior-league
basketball cronies, when guys in their sixties and seventies who for decades
have appeared impervious to wear and tear seem to lose their sharpness and
skill almost overnight. You never know when it’s going to hit, or how hard –
but it absolutely will come.</div><div><br /></div><div>This awareness of the universal fragility of our mortal body has
made me that much more grateful that I still can get out for a good run on a
beautiful fall day, and can still walk onto (and off of) a basketball court
under my own steam. Cherish those moments!</div><div><br /></div><div>And I truly do … with hoops season in full swing, my team is
off to an impressive 6-1 start, and my injuries (for now) have subsided,
leaving me able to play at my best most of the time. Though it’s not the same
as a beautiful long jog in the open air, it’s still a good
run, with all the attendant healthy benefits. As for racing: There's always next year!</div><div><br /></div><div>On another note, somewhere amid the physical
limitations of the summer, I managed to get up on water skis for a few minutes,
which was terrific fun. It was the first time I'd tried that in at least twenty years, and will
probably be my last, as I was sore for days afterward! Here’s proof of the feat, offered up for your amusement (<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">video by William Laviano</span></i>).<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DWwayMNwpr8" width="481" youtube-src-id="DWwayMNwpr8"></iframe></div>Hope you have a great fall and winter! See you next year. <p></p></div>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-22786945078470989272022-10-30T13:54:00.001-04:002022-10-30T14:47:55.072-04:00In Memoriam: Frank Giorgini<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAbEBap8Ud3NzChmuniTLRkbD7B_cTArFyucTa9Sa42MT8-KlYkKTEXyjQT5kMpxnh7mUAFv8K9d60nNkBK61pjGJMo9T2iGx5gAxL5ZL2VMtPDtz-_PVCFO30YoLbaPJDZyTEmUtA4D7v5FB69gxo_wMz0fchc6ecmMEMeP_8cgBlb9eS-2PlCqw/s512/Frank_Giorgini_ethnictune.com_.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAbEBap8Ud3NzChmuniTLRkbD7B_cTArFyucTa9Sa42MT8-KlYkKTEXyjQT5kMpxnh7mUAFv8K9d60nNkBK61pjGJMo9T2iGx5gAxL5ZL2VMtPDtz-_PVCFO30YoLbaPJDZyTEmUtA4D7v5FB69gxo_wMz0fchc6ecmMEMeP_8cgBlb9eS-2PlCqw/w661-h660/Frank_Giorgini_ethnictune.com_.jpg" width="401" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">It is with great sadness that I report on the recent death
of a dear friend, the world-class ceramic artist and Udu drum maker Frank
Giorgini, of Freehold, NY. He was 75 years old and had been undergoing treatment for cancer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Frank and I first met in the mid-1980s when we both were
teaching classes at the Harmanus Bleecker Center in Albany under the auspices
of the Albany Institute of History & Art and the inimitable guidance of
Monica Miller (also a wonderful artist). One of my favorite memories of that
time was when we shared a two-person show at the Bleecker Center that featured Frank’s
Udu drums and my photographs, all of it dusky and formal, a lovely pairing of
sculpture and black-and-white pictures.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Frank was probably best known for his handmade and
commercially manufactured clay pot drums, which are treasured by percussionists
all over the world for their unique, earthy sounds and robust shapes, some
exquisite examples of which are held in the permanent collection of musical
instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Frank used to
proudly state that he was the only living person whose product was in that
collection, though I suppose other living artists’ instruments may have been
added after the fact. If not, then there are now none who can make that
claim.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But Frank had equal impact in many other aspects of ceramic
production, both in the commercial realm as a tile maker and in the fine art
realm – though, in his case, the line between the two was fuzzy at best. Many
will recognize his tile and mosaic installation in the Whitehall Street station
of the Brooklyn BMT subway line, which was commissioned and installed in 2000.
Entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Passages, </i>it traces the
history of Manhattan backward in time using numerous airborne gulls as a
unifying element (you can see many pictures of it <a href="https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/artwork_show?29" target="_blank">here</a>).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF_EyOKkH_aEwuhRE2J5LtwhVCRLffmiiJgPHb8rS6mj4OKx4dVblElr5_hsL14YJUj5N5iPUSoQgnkfa_oDfnGXme763rhouN1PEkhVtEAu2X6S7iqsPLGaG8ch4NNdJT0gzCOHLXWXzW1zGSceo0JGa6xe6i_FZh5UbvyvdGk0fXZr1Ds7jl7dla/s492/Detail,%20Passages.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="492" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF_EyOKkH_aEwuhRE2J5LtwhVCRLffmiiJgPHb8rS6mj4OKx4dVblElr5_hsL14YJUj5N5iPUSoQgnkfa_oDfnGXme763rhouN1PEkhVtEAu2X6S7iqsPLGaG8ch4NNdJT0gzCOHLXWXzW1zGSceo0JGa6xe6i_FZh5UbvyvdGk0fXZr1Ds7jl7dla/w289-h204/Detail,%20Passages.jpg" width="289" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A detail from <i>Passages<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by Warren Sze</span></i></div></i></td></tr></tbody></table>Nature and animals constantly featured in Frank’s personal
work. Whether exploring the personas of humble blackbirds in his shimmering
raku-fired tiles or adorning a decorative Udu with undulating lizards, he
understood and celebrated these creatures as equals. As humans, we were fortunate that he also treated us with the same respect.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most artists, no matter how talented, need something more in
order to be successful – whether it’s a lucky break, an enthusiastic patron, or
a trust fund. In Frank’s case, it was his congenial personality. Everyone liked
Frank, and I can imagine no one who would have turned down an opportunity to
work with him or support his vision.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One way he shared that vision was through teaching. He
published books and instructional videos on tile making, and worked as an
adjunct professor at Parsons design school in New York. Probably most important
to Frank were the summer workshops he held at his Catskills home and studio for
people of all ages and abilities who wanted to spend a little time in the
country and learn how to build and fire an Udu drum.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those two-weekend-long instructional experiences took
place around Frank’s birthday, and always culminated in a grand potluck supper followed
by a Bacchanalian bonfire, which naturally would be ringed by a large, happy
throng of Udu-playing revelers. Though I never made an Udu drum, I stoked that
fire nearly every year for decades, and danced around it with the best of them.
Those Udu Fests will surely be among the most vivid – if slightly blurred – memories
for many of Frank’s friends and fans.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Frank also was the proprietor, along with his partner, the
great chef Ana Sporer, of Ruby’s Hotel, a delightful garden-to-table restaurant
in Freehold that is expected to return to serving dinners after a period of mourning.
As bartender and host at Ruby’s, Frank welcomed guests with his consistent good
humor and, after dinner, he often shared a taste of his homemade limoncello, created
using a recipe from his Italian ancestors, and as strong as it was sweet. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Above the restaurant was a gallery where, for many years, Frank
mounted excellent shows of the best regional artists. The gallery was named in
memory of another Frank, a close friend of the restaurant’s family and a supremely
talented artist himself, who died way too young just before he was to have been
the exhibition space’s inaugural director. I hope that the Broderick Gallery,
too, will resume activities after a time, in loving memory of both Franks and
their dedication to the joy of making and experiencing great art.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That and so much more remains as the legacy of one very fine
person who also happened to be a brilliant artist, and a beloved friend to many.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The world was a better place with Frank Giorgini in it. May he rest in peace.<o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Note: If you’d like to get a taste of the amazing sound of
the Udu drum, check out this extraordinary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvZH-1bVmuY" target="_blank">improvisation by Jacob Cole</a>, a former workshop participant who posted it in Frank’s memory.</i></span></p></blockquote></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCF_XCu2PT22Ld6S6Spi7a-v0esNxJ_ypPWilhma8mQ34dWsrz65cYDpOea8G9EP8Usp_XsfDHQbqeoJKzzJexWzx0GKTO8WWhaJcIA5UGUwoW-OSOArjSLR3atJ5cxkBoI0T6Fu4rUAeazoytbJt-jJCFw7Bt1LTY-lJjO8nPPuHm8OiFzF0SgrOt/s605/Ana%20and%20Frank.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="605" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCF_XCu2PT22Ld6S6Spi7a-v0esNxJ_ypPWilhma8mQ34dWsrz65cYDpOea8G9EP8Usp_XsfDHQbqeoJKzzJexWzx0GKTO8WWhaJcIA5UGUwoW-OSOArjSLR3atJ5cxkBoI0T6Fu4rUAeazoytbJt-jJCFw7Bt1LTY-lJjO8nPPuHm8OiFzF0SgrOt/w400-h269/Ana%20and%20Frank.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ana and Frank at Ruby's</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-71542330956465416322022-04-23T11:32:00.003-04:002022-05-06T10:18:18.068-04:00New photo show at The National Bottle Museum<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCpon-xGXGtRsbUqRQIW5_KY11NkCVgQ86mUgGSC8hpmGOFFOu-VJwPULGQtz9AV53VGh4JcZr57Vfig51LABXEmhCIbY61qzECOSBpRB-o1tq_hvBAIpK-_RL6j1ydY1Zm_I7zy3oOeoSr84tqKL0wIP-ZAF6oQHRApqoEmqz6yBOotpFMh2jECl/s1024/Photo%20101%20Now%20Open%20for%20blog%20post.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="1024" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCpon-xGXGtRsbUqRQIW5_KY11NkCVgQ86mUgGSC8hpmGOFFOu-VJwPULGQtz9AV53VGh4JcZr57Vfig51LABXEmhCIbY61qzECOSBpRB-o1tq_hvBAIpK-_RL6j1ydY1Zm_I7zy3oOeoSr84tqKL0wIP-ZAF6oQHRApqoEmqz6yBOotpFMh2jECl/w400-h203/Photo%20101%20Now%20Open%20for%20blog%20post.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;">Photography 101</i><span style="text-align: left;"> will be on display through May 28<br />in The Artists' Space Gallery at The National Bottle Museum</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Just a quick announcement for fans of local photographers ... <p>The indefatigable Fred Neudoerffer has organized a collection of many well-known shooters for an old-school display of straight photography in The <a href="https://nationalbottlemuseum.org/artists-space/" target="_blank">Artists' Space Gallery</a> at The National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa that opens today.</p><p>I am among the 18 artists included, and am happy to be in their company in this lovely space (the above image, provided by Fred, shows three of my submissions just to the left of the framed poster).</p><p>There will be a reception for the artists from 5-7:30 pm on Friday, May 6. Come celebrate with us!</p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-45270202212398685462022-04-05T10:08:00.004-04:002022-04-13T10:29:55.135-04:00Not to be missed<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp55-nxYgRHupUzHUWBXqmjo_BNzmh8sygXwg4yaGijuiadDGoXT-lpp1O40rrZbu5CzKI4PMadi8es8r734d31BdUubZ1QDUEIQdCkEiVmQhCby9KYTe4bCTNmyclZj6zASkaJf8-V7lQ7M7NeApxSVv7K68lF5pnkKJFJwQ-fBXKXuI8zb5kKd3A/s1404/penny%20dreadful.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="1404" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp55-nxYgRHupUzHUWBXqmjo_BNzmh8sygXwg4yaGijuiadDGoXT-lpp1O40rrZbu5CzKI4PMadi8es8r734d31BdUubZ1QDUEIQdCkEiVmQhCby9KYTe4bCTNmyclZj6zASkaJf8-V7lQ7M7NeApxSVv7K68lF5pnkKJFJwQ-fBXKXuI8zb5kKd3A/w400-h280/penny%20dreadful.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Penny Dreadful</i> by Nina Chanel Abney is among works by 59 artists at The School</td></tr></tbody></table>Longtime Times Union art critic (and fellow fine art photographer) William Jaeger has written a powerful <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/art/article/Exhibit-on-being-Black-in-America-a-gut-punch-17028363.php" target="_blank">review</a> of the exhibition <i>This Tender, Fragile Thing</i> at <a href="https://jackshainman.com/exhibitions/this-tender-fragile-thing-2022" target="_blank">The School</a> in Kinderhook.<p>I won't have time myself to review the show, which will end on April 30, but I wanted to pass along Bill's endorsement before its too late.</p><p>The show is a re-examination of a prior exhibition mounted by The School in 2005 that highlighted Black Power-related materials from the gallery's collection, and features the work of 59 significant artists, including photographs by prominent journalists. The School is a vast, pristine space, and admission is free - but it is only open one day a week, Saturday, from 11 to 6, so plan accordingly.</p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-31474681158933183922022-03-26T10:42:00.005-04:002022-03-27T12:16:19.624-04:00The Best Films of 2021<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim83zwIeGOfBiPSM5JGwND1feOg1-wfZsPftvix3duyKtD2njw2jlL7j6Y0lF6dCOPib0XsfmohbBO2sXgs0AqFLUycX20s5xiuj31eHcU_qMKLhEqReLEUwWxBexhkb_Por5XbO3rC6EVk4sMtflb_bjY9XeKf821sOnSvTFSHQw4aQrDk5klldf3/s3500/Adrien-Brody-in-Wes-Andersons-The-French-Dispatch.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1750" data-original-width="3500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim83zwIeGOfBiPSM5JGwND1feOg1-wfZsPftvix3duyKtD2njw2jlL7j6Y0lF6dCOPib0XsfmohbBO2sXgs0AqFLUycX20s5xiuj31eHcU_qMKLhEqReLEUwWxBexhkb_Por5XbO3rC6EVk4sMtflb_bjY9XeKf821sOnSvTFSHQw4aQrDk5klldf3/w400-h200/Adrien-Brody-in-Wes-Andersons-The-French-Dispatch.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adrien Brody, center, joins a stellar cast in Wes Anderson's film <i>The French Dispatch</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Last year at this time, I expressed concern that the pandemic would impact film production in such a way as to give us a weak crop of movies in 2021. Turns out, my fears were unfounded. Indeed, 2021 was a really solid year for the movies, as evidenced by the current Oscar races.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Not that the Academy has gotten it right (do they ever?), but its picks for Best Picture consideration are (mostly) quite worthy of the attention they're getting, and the nominees in the major acting categories include performances from a large range of films not in the Best Picture race, broadening the Academy Awards' coveted exposure for those performers and their latest films.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've seen seven of the ten Best Picture nominees, with hopes to watch two of the remaining three: <i>CODA</i>, which I am hampered from seeing by my lack of Apple access, and <i>Don't Look Up</i>, which I intend to catch via one or another friend's Netflix account (I'm skipping <i>West Side Story</i>, because I'm not much of a Spielberg fan, and I wonder why anyone thought a remake of that classic was even a good idea).</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiST88VBCBgmhUs4pVjFgDxQ3VzfMQ-7Aanj9hr5jqaLLugUK0VUC571oVB_VCa27VUrHJ0glCrn7T2akHfx4xc0bK-fwoyRVfX0ZnlDLlpDE3Mqw1uCc179MRODywv0vwSz_ZWSgnCrr_X6yBxIggtMevEKhywvaedW3xjbVLBgrAK5eyEMoEV0uqQ/s1280/benedict-cumberbatch-netflix-movie-the-power-of-the-dog-1280x720.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiST88VBCBgmhUs4pVjFgDxQ3VzfMQ-7Aanj9hr5jqaLLugUK0VUC571oVB_VCa27VUrHJ0glCrn7T2akHfx4xc0bK-fwoyRVfX0ZnlDLlpDE3Mqw1uCc179MRODywv0vwSz_ZWSgnCrr_X6yBxIggtMevEKhywvaedW3xjbVLBgrAK5eyEMoEV0uqQ/w276-h155/benedict-cumberbatch-netflix-movie-the-power-of-the-dog-1280x720.png" width="276" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benedict Cumberbatch is a strong Oscar contender<br />for his performance in <i>The Power of the Dog</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Of the others, a couple clearly fall short, a couple truly belong at the top, and the rest are worthy also-rans. But my pick for the best movie of the year, <i>The French Dispatch</i>, got no nominations at all, which is completely insane (and I'm not alone in this thought - see <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-2022-oscar-nominations-and-what-should-have-made-the-list" target="_blank">Richard Brody</a>'s commentary, in which he argues it should have <b>won </b>eight Oscars). But, hey, film is a popular art medium, and we're all entitled to our opinions. What's important is that we see the movies and enjoy them, and that we dare to have opinions of our own. To wit, here's my lineup of the films from 2021 that I've seen and enjoyed the most, starting with my top pick:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>The French Dispatch </i>- Usually, when a movie includes more than one or two Oscar-winning actors, you can bet it will be a bomb. This one, directed by the incredibly creative Wes Anderson, has half a dozen, along with several others who've been nominated multiple times without winning - yet it somehow balances all that talent into a hilariously raucous, uniquely bizarre homage to/satire of <i>The New Yorker </i>magazine. I can't wait to see it again.</li><li><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiupS5wMO68hgtvtd364kc9xHtRNITG6EGHCYdE2QU2MH0MO40yMlQc6fMJ6NYjGWi7kJ8omFF5BRwOgUS7ASGGhlZZHR7qLPWUlEzpHQQxrG34Y6X6VnltM6P0HXaWgMkp0jdusLkMfBhWo3cCQYT63jwBXk_6ACEY9UvU6z2ha9xg2s8UrCw8md4/s725/parallel_mothers_1cf6110b4f82a7d13ea23b67769a86e5f8ae112f.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="725" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiupS5wMO68hgtvtd364kc9xHtRNITG6EGHCYdE2QU2MH0MO40yMlQc6fMJ6NYjGWi7kJ8omFF5BRwOgUS7ASGGhlZZHR7qLPWUlEzpHQQxrG34Y6X6VnltM6P0HXaWgMkp0jdusLkMfBhWo3cCQYT63jwBXk_6ACEY9UvU6z2ha9xg2s8UrCw8md4/w234-h164/parallel_mothers_1cf6110b4f82a7d13ea23b67769a86e5f8ae112f.png" width="234" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penelope Cruz in <i>Parallel Mothers</i>:<br />Still mesmerizing after all these years</td></tr></tbody></table><i>Drive My Car</i> - Well received, and deservedly so, this Japanese masterpiece simmers for a full three hours, but never flags. Despite its foreign pedigree (and the inclusion of - count 'em - eight different languages), this film is a true contender for Best Picture and (I assume) a lock for Best International Feature. Proof that you can still succeed in this business without CGI, pyrotechnics, bankable stars, etc., <i>Drive My Car</i> sets a new standard for art-house filmmaking.</li><li><i>Parallel Mothers</i> - The latest collaboration between director Pedro Almodóvar and his top muse, Penelope Cruz, it tells the story of the titular mothers brought together by cruel chance, but also beautifully threads together parallel stories of historical significance in post-Franco Spain. Featuring Almodóvar's usual droll humor and high style, <i>Parallel Mothers </i>produced a Best Actress nomination for Cruz but, inexplicably, no International Feature nod for the film itself.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4JjrJmnzo3lCHERChqkoODfVzDEpPDEA8wxX2hmcARhGh33lyvKBIfwNZK_DIVNDb5Hm4mxDL0LkiD1XCzqI39AQFy0fuPGlCohx21KKZPvdC8a-ZBYp3BSgKcFEYOIRUT8JzvFBbJIH2cE9ljf0DmJyy0aJo9SGuKpuNkFFQzt4vNKWaBvHyJpu/s750/Wife%20of%20a%20Spy.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="506" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4JjrJmnzo3lCHERChqkoODfVzDEpPDEA8wxX2hmcARhGh33lyvKBIfwNZK_DIVNDb5Hm4mxDL0LkiD1XCzqI39AQFy0fuPGlCohx21KKZPvdC8a-ZBYp3BSgKcFEYOIRUT8JzvFBbJIH2cE9ljf0DmJyy0aJo9SGuKpuNkFFQzt4vNKWaBvHyJpu/w187-h276/Wife%20of%20a%20Spy.jpg" width="187" /></a></div></li><li><i>Wife of a Spy</i> - Technically a 2020 release, this film never made it to local theaters, but I was delighted to watch it twice via a reasonably priced Kino Lorber streaming rental. A beautifully filmed and sensitively acted story that offers a unique perspective on the early years of WWII in the Japanese city of Kobe. Won best director prize at Venice in 2020. </li><li><i>The Hand of God</i> - The Italian director Paolo Sorrentino won the 2013 Best Foreign Film Oscar for <i>The Great Beauty</i>, his brilliant homage to Rome and lost love, and his latest film, also nominated in that (recently renamed) category is a worthy bookend, this time taking a look at Naples. For me, it falls short of <i>The Great Beauty</i> as a work of art, but it holds together better as a story, which weaves soccer fans' fervent worship of Diego Maradona into Sorrentino's own coming-of-age. If you loved <i>Cinema Paradiso</i>, or anything by Fellini, this film is for you.</li><li><i>The Power of the Dog</i> - Considered a front-runner for Best Picture (along with CODA), Jane Campion's elegiac Western is so beautifully photographed that it can be easy to forget how grim it actually is. Outstanding ensemble performances hold up a relatively thin storyline, which is understandable given that it's based on a text from the 1960s. Compare it to <i>Brokeback Mountain </i>or <i>There Will be Blood</i> to understand why I didn't rate it higher.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh551DyJuwFrQy2JNNBvdLlTPfv6ZINaEUdNH4P9_PXBJYT-qwx05fbwuUB8kq7uad0XGFvch8F07LmukxFSvC7iuhmDZpLdXXCDFKD_JNtRKXDbO8Vg59cOgfDq5xoqbiBgmk45W_81CKFC3sGKgVrgksppSbllOZKk2e_Rj6xb9ZDFppy62MMbt1X/s2000/211124-licorice-pizza-al-1108-45c5b2.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="2000" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh551DyJuwFrQy2JNNBvdLlTPfv6ZINaEUdNH4P9_PXBJYT-qwx05fbwuUB8kq7uad0XGFvch8F07LmukxFSvC7iuhmDZpLdXXCDFKD_JNtRKXDbO8Vg59cOgfDq5xoqbiBgmk45W_81CKFC3sGKgVrgksppSbllOZKk2e_Rj6xb9ZDFppy62MMbt1X/w242-h163/211124-licorice-pizza-al-1108-45c5b2.jpeg" width="242" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newcomers Alanna Haim and Cooper<br />Hoffman are both terrific in <i>Licorice Pizza</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></li><li><i>Licorice Pizza</i> - Yet another off-the-wall romp by a director named Anderson (this time, it's Paul Thomas, rather than Wes), this totally enjoyable movie makes about as much sense as its title (which refers to a well-known record store, but is never explained in the film). Just plain fun, with solid lead actors and a bunch of whacked-out cameos, particularly Bradley Cooper as a psychotic Jon Peters.</li><li><i>Belfast </i>- Gorgeous black-and-white cinematography and equally gorgeous stars make this film almost irresistible, while at the same time running counter to its disturbing Irish troubles storyline. The disconnect can be explained by the fact that <i>Belfast </i>is director Kenneth Branagh's personal memoir, but it's still perplexing. That said, I'm a photography junkie, and I really enjoyed the film.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcd0MFy2SIbrYVnOCRN999CjvHvSZ1c5Vgh35cBgEVfpNSqC2_LUl3EdFjjzAmMTaTlQY1ePWT1v2vfzgKZke1DHndy7QC1dhqlGuMmJYFj11TvvcTs8FM_-uKvLAnhZh_7S3KkLzl8D7p2f9eNMbpR7UiW4yRLkhTPErA1iMJAtKB17Bq32vIl0y/s384/King_Richard_poster.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="259" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcd0MFy2SIbrYVnOCRN999CjvHvSZ1c5Vgh35cBgEVfpNSqC2_LUl3EdFjjzAmMTaTlQY1ePWT1v2vfzgKZke1DHndy7QC1dhqlGuMmJYFj11TvvcTs8FM_-uKvLAnhZh_7S3KkLzl8D7p2f9eNMbpR7UiW4yRLkhTPErA1iMJAtKB17Bq32vIl0y/w190-h283/King_Richard_poster.jpeg" width="190" /></a></div></li><li><i>King Richard</i> - This movie got somewhat mixed reviews, understandably so, because it makes Richard Williams look like a better man than he really was, thanks to a remarkable and Oscar-worthy performance by Will Smith. Flipping the script on my basis for a decent drama (a good story, well-told), this great story, fairly well-told, remains astonishing even though we witnessed it in real life. I still shake my head in wonder at the mere fact of the Williams sisters and their visionary father.</li><li><i>The Card Counter</i> - A taut thriller that features a career performance by Oscar Isaac as a professional gambler with severe PTSD from having served in the prison at Abu Ghraib. Also features a strong performance by one of my all-time favorites, Willem Dafoe. Overlooked by the Academy, but well worth viewing.</li><li><i>Hive </i>and <i>Dreamland</i> - Two honorable mentions: The first is a rare feature out of Albania, which realistically portrays the true story of a group of war widows who overcome extreme patriarchy to develop a successful international condiments trade; and the second is a Bonnie and Clyde-style period piece directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, a son of Albany who appears to have a very promising future in the business. Both are available on DVD.</li><li>Just one more: For pure fun (and nostalgia if you're a late Boomer or early Gen-Xer), smoke a little weed and watch <i>Ghostbusters: Afterlife</i>. Jason Reitman updates dad Ivan Reitman's 1984 classic with a terrific young cast and lots of vintage special effects that I promise you will find hugely entertaining. Available on DVD. </li></ul><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HB5ImZCXAmFuPv-u7Ds_H78wu8EAnI6U6R_oydi7OjYN6mNOMzxk17vQJDoErvtfnrv-S1Tgbp2mAG-SuHfDq0pQcTgbDKD14cH4iqWeTlGJGaGEBEqu9uNmY9fcjoHbq4i9D92OC3wxrOzbeX6ddu-PdvDe08jIs2_OHMUpS2Rotw04jP_mTUan/s600/drivemycar2-600x360.jpg.webp" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HB5ImZCXAmFuPv-u7Ds_H78wu8EAnI6U6R_oydi7OjYN6mNOMzxk17vQJDoErvtfnrv-S1Tgbp2mAG-SuHfDq0pQcTgbDKD14cH4iqWeTlGJGaGEBEqu9uNmY9fcjoHbq4i9D92OC3wxrOzbeX6ddu-PdvDe08jIs2_OHMUpS2Rotw04jP_mTUan/w400-h240/drivemycar2-600x360.jpg.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura star in Ryusuke Hamaguchi's <i>Drive My Car</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-25529644847283669322022-03-13T06:29:00.010-04:002022-03-13T06:29:00.158-04:00Robert Blackburn & Modern American Printmaking at The Hyde Collection<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkBjWZ2J2s3c-NULExdKdgG-5pBGVQm9rUukVWedXgIFVswhTo-ZZO3gUDJhmpfBeroTvZMxc4EcfTEuhCT12sS-4C84FBePgbNLzG0IyWmu6odKrcpR2lgrXFADSCFLoJt5vSEHBQSMCaRLzsXIJpk2aXIhoGIAComyCKoCRvvzIi15uQPKsQJOI0=s992" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="992" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkBjWZ2J2s3c-NULExdKdgG-5pBGVQm9rUukVWedXgIFVswhTo-ZZO3gUDJhmpfBeroTvZMxc4EcfTEuhCT12sS-4C84FBePgbNLzG0IyWmu6odKrcpR2lgrXFADSCFLoJt5vSEHBQSMCaRLzsXIJpk2aXIhoGIAComyCKoCRvvzIi15uQPKsQJOI0=w400-h309" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Still Life (aka White Jug)</i>, c.1950, color lithograph<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">all works by Robert Blackburn</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The name Bob Blackburn is unlikely to ring a lot of bells with the average art viewer - but a show currently on view at <a href="https://www.hydecollection.org/" target="_blank">The Hyde Collection</a> in Glens Falls through April 24, could change that.<div><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7yeqDp9vfT8NNCPu_SVdus3_OjDlqh5ukbBD1bOvUThp1OJBzR8tJKomdmNphiToN49hZaXZHgCWfckTGIzZx6dCEVrrAbNWMltRgcfv2ey9oeT4aM2WgIRAaA0DG8cCec1N9a_uT6vNz0Ua9twFEH7H0RWfbdn0so6Fib98V9ivevV98yiKTqv0N=s1024" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="701" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7yeqDp9vfT8NNCPu_SVdus3_OjDlqh5ukbBD1bOvUThp1OJBzR8tJKomdmNphiToN49hZaXZHgCWfckTGIzZx6dCEVrrAbNWMltRgcfv2ey9oeT4aM2WgIRAaA0DG8cCec1N9a_uT6vNz0Ua9twFEH7H0RWfbdn0so6Fib98V9ivevV98yiKTqv0N=w237-h346" width="237" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Girl in Red</i>, 1950, color lithograph</td></tr></tbody></table><div>Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and ably curated by Deborah Cullen, <i>Robert Blackburn & Modern American Printmaking</i>, is a show with a story that blends 20th-century American art history with African American history (in other words, highly relevant), while revealing a tremendous talent that was largely overlooked - but not necessarily due to the artist's skin color.</div><div><br /></div>Because Blackburn dedicated himself largely to producing lithographs, etchings, silkscreens, and woodcuts for other artists, his devotion to his own career as an image maker took a back seat. He describes this choice himself in a quote on the gallery wall (one among many that perfectly accompany the works of art in the exhibition), saying "I was torn between building something which I thought had value and doing my own work."<p></p><p>In fact, he succeeded at both, by establishing printmaking workshops that forever changed the way postwar artists used those media, thereby significantly affecting the trajectory of contemporary art, and producing numerous powerful original works in the same media on his own time. Many viewers will be thrilled to see prints here by artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Charles White, and Grace Hartigan - and those are great! - but I'll focus my comments on Blackburn's work, which makes up about half the show.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSxWENLOg33YXUjweJ_2b5_WFpJnw-IbSiiXlQNrTcshnQ5eIFlYKaxVJZpCarMddcRUdgstFlTwPfEZeQrPl_R91DFqEMVNm2s6HhoaOh26rdCRb6x5EfxxIxXrFlpbb-HFpmnl5mnnGDkfrB3Zchpqv3aAYQg5YdpODP3oeQHVjIGKTLc_k07bDL=s1024" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1024" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSxWENLOg33YXUjweJ_2b5_WFpJnw-IbSiiXlQNrTcshnQ5eIFlYKaxVJZpCarMddcRUdgstFlTwPfEZeQrPl_R91DFqEMVNm2s6HhoaOh26rdCRb6x5EfxxIxXrFlpbb-HFpmnl5mnnGDkfrB3Zchpqv3aAYQg5YdpODP3oeQHVjIGKTLc_k07bDL=w289-h211" width="289" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Refugees (aka People in a Boat)</i>, 1938, lithograph</td></tr></tbody></table>It's immediately clear upon entering the gallery that Blackburn had tremendous ability as an artist. The first image, a lithograph he executed at the age of 17 in 1938, shows an already accomplished skill level, and a mature vision in step with the times. Entitled <i>Refugees</i>, the piece shows the influence of prominent socially conscious work of the period, such as that by Diego Rivera or Rockwell Kent, but stands on its own as a Depression-era cry of concern.<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFIzXT--oO_UFdVHrfRluRxYcYYZ_-H0yAo92RO1XrWRdrwLJXjJ-KwYXX6eqHXvFgqbGePv37L8OLlVWZzVOXfLjHaRPGePReNlx7KS1ku__GUzOA7U438EebwJ1yq63TYDpJ9Lc9_xekVdZPoUJoLTqt8jQFZF48arvqYjkcKXlXj8SG7nnSSPCF=s843" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="843" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFIzXT--oO_UFdVHrfRluRxYcYYZ_-H0yAo92RO1XrWRdrwLJXjJ-KwYXX6eqHXvFgqbGePv37L8OLlVWZzVOXfLjHaRPGePReNlx7KS1ku__GUzOA7U438EebwJ1yq63TYDpJ9Lc9_xekVdZPoUJoLTqt8jQFZF48arvqYjkcKXlXj8SG7nnSSPCF=w263-h232" width="263" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Little One</i>, 1960s-1971, lithograph</td></tr></tbody></table>Later works move on from figuration into abstraction. Blackburn pointed out his thinking on this process saying, "illustration was one thing and creating vital space is another." Indeed, "vital space" is what he delivers in print after print, whether injecting that into the work of others through collaboration, or in his own masterful pieces.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had so many favorites around the two large galleries devoted to this collection that I hardly know where to begin. But I will say this: the medium was only a starting point. Blackburn mastered many, and he innovated in them all. So there are prints in almost every technique (including cutting-edge forms) that fulfill Blackburn's creative promise while amply demonstrating his technical contributions.<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXI5faCGnb8MpfUsKzm5l206xtR5UX3yD8Wk8zv5NGErVSFfRBG2iz_n7CC1wh_N7-nYulChMUmkTD3BaPQj1QbSCgSybxirdf-BHmth2DxZFxSOJQIzzTDBCo7zk3ChPXMWUIRC4UskUTq1RAwK8tFFy_eqMRc6aw7XXh3Jmz4j_Fwch_DFXinB3T=s940" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="940" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXI5faCGnb8MpfUsKzm5l206xtR5UX3yD8Wk8zv5NGErVSFfRBG2iz_n7CC1wh_N7-nYulChMUmkTD3BaPQj1QbSCgSybxirdf-BHmth2DxZFxSOJQIzzTDBCo7zk3ChPXMWUIRC4UskUTq1RAwK8tFFy_eqMRc6aw7XXh3Jmz4j_Fwch_DFXinB3T=w273-h222" width="273" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Woodscape</i>, 1984, color woodcut</td></tr></tbody></table>Among the characteristics that pervade the work, and which help it hold together as a singular body, are Blackburn's brilliant color sense, his compositional daring, and a playfulness that I honestly envy, all of which he maintained over more than 60 years, before illness slowed him down. Undoubtedly, the man worked day and night, and the artists he collaborated with provide quotes in praise of his constant willingness and easygoing personality - it seems they all loved being around the positive energy of Bob Blackburn.</div><div><br /></div><div>It also seems Blackburn had no quarrel with his relative lack of recognition or fame, further underscoring the sweetness I feel when viewing his personal output. But make no mistake - that work is serious, and important. For each of the pieces I've selected to reproduce here, there are ten more in this wonderful exhibition that are just as good. Try not to miss it.<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXCLzU7jr3VvecmGjOvwvFHUymBxYsWWGWoqVfTW1PUKzDrsvOJLeNdZffZerhlN_ac7yKEO46EkHYEOf_8nA32xhPQaZoZencRVjiv3wTjnibUpbsotZDDUSzBErrgjsgiciMC9bpbmMFy5NzQtFeJjkBSSNxwKNHwfn0HzsDMIEHYZ6YCRTmrdJ1=s999" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="999" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXCLzU7jr3VvecmGjOvwvFHUymBxYsWWGWoqVfTW1PUKzDrsvOJLeNdZffZerhlN_ac7yKEO46EkHYEOf_8nA32xhPQaZoZencRVjiv3wTjnibUpbsotZDDUSzBErrgjsgiciMC9bpbmMFy5NzQtFeJjkBSSNxwKNHwfn0HzsDMIEHYZ6YCRTmrdJ1=w400-h308" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Blue Things</i>, c. 1963–1970, color woodcut </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p></div>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-12224801120417856642022-03-03T16:31:00.001-05:002022-03-03T16:51:06.591-05:00Short Take: refract at Albany Center Gallery<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUrHAGP3s-GNFvsP7W-r4Ze1Xt6WOIG13SAgiTUgOvebjBNh4zfQeZT0zWbuJ6PJTyQpTc_OAlGVNVcuIwe7NdYOg-hhKjnaw941katmGS34_-3CzZ5VOvJNuzwysishfcqgmAc9ASpOPPXqUhYGRaaEkVV_sXqM-UOg7XPSJfuPcIv5WXx6xq0dv_=s1024" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="1024" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUrHAGP3s-GNFvsP7W-r4Ze1Xt6WOIG13SAgiTUgOvebjBNh4zfQeZT0zWbuJ6PJTyQpTc_OAlGVNVcuIwe7NdYOg-hhKjnaw941katmGS34_-3CzZ5VOvJNuzwysishfcqgmAc9ASpOPPXqUhYGRaaEkVV_sXqM-UOg7XPSJfuPcIv5WXx6xq0dv_=w400-h263" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Works by, from left, Royal Brown, Naomi Lewis, and Benjamin Jose<br />are part of <i>refract</i> at Albany Center Gallery.<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>photos provided</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">The five artists in <a href="https://albanycentergallery.org/events/refract-exhibition" target="_blank">Albany Center Gallery</a>'s current show, <i>refract</i>, don't appear at first glance to belong together. Their media vary from video to watercolor to cast iron; their imagery from space-age to delicacy on the page. But a theme does emerge from the selection, which was organized by the gallery's associate curator, Jennie Tang. It has to do with the approach these artists take to their subjects.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOL-T_IL6F492EfXscCEiuSkiBCVkjejZijzD0asfzIMCPX42aj8QmzEr7KK4bL2xtDPDm6iwJepho-cQ6LJOzru01UUUC9_WEi7izCG9u8JSWMeelm4erayF7eYKwQXAs1A7C3hffhOMlIbcKwR-AF7h20EshEgcpvPlrZsxBya1nNYtuo45h7QC5=s1024" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="392" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOL-T_IL6F492EfXscCEiuSkiBCVkjejZijzD0asfzIMCPX42aj8QmzEr7KK4bL2xtDPDm6iwJepho-cQ6LJOzru01UUUC9_WEi7izCG9u8JSWMeelm4erayF7eYKwQXAs1A7C3hffhOMlIbcKwR-AF7h20EshEgcpvPlrZsxBya1nNYtuo45h7QC5=w154-h400" width="154" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Owen Barensfeld's <i>Is It big Enough?</i><br />combines images to make a statement</td></tr></tbody></table>This concept is best explained by the gallery's written material, which states that the five artists employ "different methods of repetitions, patterns, juxtapositions and distortions" to broaden our understanding and experience of everyday visuals. Here, those visuals have become abstracted and transformed, built of mere suggestions, or created directly out of the simplicity of a grid.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The show, like many at this venue, is spare, featuring just 29 works in all. Nine of those works are by Naomi Lewis, whose whisper-soft graphite drawings pull you in close, and whose patterned images of bees fill their surfaces expansively, often emphasizing negative space to great effect. Equally wed to overall pattern, Trevor Wilson painstakingly builds large images out of tiny squares in grids of graphite or colored pencil, the results feeling almost equal parts human and machine.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Owen Barensfeld and Royal Brown come from opposite positions to meet in a middle zone of spaceships and technology. While Brown creates colorful models of imaginary craft out of the most mundane of found objects (empty spray cans and such), Barensfeld transforms mass-media images of bomb blasts and moonshots into objects of contemplation. Both have something to say: In Brown's case, it's a literal message of love amid fantasy; Barensfeld's seems to be more about the mesmerizing terror of industrial power.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjwBkhxnaRGp_GIb96yVz9YCMqPj8wgd5ntQ-v7EGBOJgXP6sQFh0v2o4FocqiaNUuP0lOAeDMsskEM85UPeC3nzPAYIr_QRyfXxfwmaK3UqYhnaRAGmoz3M-xlU4v0E2MifiE5qUr5dZU7c8QaGsne7V5pumkVyVYPDlbf2YKRUAL9asKjJIX5RGF=s506" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="501" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjwBkhxnaRGp_GIb96yVz9YCMqPj8wgd5ntQ-v7EGBOJgXP6sQFh0v2o4FocqiaNUuP0lOAeDMsskEM85UPeC3nzPAYIr_QRyfXxfwmaK3UqYhnaRAGmoz3M-xlU4v0E2MifiE5qUr5dZU7c8QaGsne7V5pumkVyVYPDlbf2YKRUAL9asKjJIX5RGF=w295-h298" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left, works by Trevor Wilson, Owen Barensfeld,<br />Benjamin Jose, and Royal Brown are part of <i>refract</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Benjamin Jose seems to be the odd man out in this group. His constructions of mismatched materials struck me as being more in the realm of formalism and surrealism than anything else here, and his messages less clearly stated than the others'. That said, his highly refined use of such disparate substances as wood, steel, and leather holds its own kind of fascination.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>refract</i> will remain on view through Friday, March 4, so it's now or never if you want to catch a look. I'm glad I did.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-57066308350028870252022-02-15T13:47:00.005-05:002022-02-15T14:03:20.229-05:00Gina Occhiogrosso: Surfacing at the ACCR<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPcLAnjnMCVu75ASsxVA8Ybmr6lhNllPIBA68zy_zM9AYPCFZ4u8YaEQGyMhQnf_DPlltynflWtyyt0zgA1zA02SzZ1aEg6ZaowtFYPw9T3uCCg6Lr21nlC7RAtwWo66kG2-J91v1P3ZZjaiS4jIfreS-bLfIbRVeaI9Lci9qYayyzcC3kMKASn3zX=s518" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="518" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPcLAnjnMCVu75ASsxVA8Ybmr6lhNllPIBA68zy_zM9AYPCFZ4u8YaEQGyMhQnf_DPlltynflWtyyt0zgA1zA02SzZ1aEg6ZaowtFYPw9T3uCCg6Lr21nlC7RAtwWo66kG2-J91v1P3ZZjaiS4jIfreS-bLfIbRVeaI9Lci9qYayyzcC3kMKASn3zX=w400-h398" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The New Natural</i>, oil and acrylic ink on pieced and sewn muslin, 2021</td></tr></tbody></table>During a recent talk at her exhibition in the main gallery
of <a href="http://www.artscenteronline.org/exhibits/" target="_blank">The Arts Center of the Capital Region</a> in Troy, the painter Gina Occhiogrosso
discussed the dichotomy of pessimism and optimism. “Most of my friends would
say I’m pretty negative,” she said, while surrounded by a room full of her
buoyantly colorful abstract works, effectively silencing that notion.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">We are living in a time when it seems impossible to be
hopeful – yet that is in a sense our <i>only</i>
hope. Occhiogrosso understands this, and while her artistic practice remains
primarily a rigorous pursuit of the purely visual, with regular forays into the
topical (examples include feminism, global warming, and the pandemic), the results
are clearly meant to uplift.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWGxv4NJT0P0h4gdRVUSGiItxgLXCKDD-M7bghGLaAqgOoJ_07w5x3WiUTLpHFyXWBnX8GD7MJFWjI5bhFAuvvAbEKHYHedNdzMHKjs3vvvWSmKWxAgQlUoDNeD-Dv8hQ9raLwCX_XtUf-2vsmFKiHra4g4rrToWv3L1BktqqZBVt2iXj7P-Fk5en2=s699" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="594" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWGxv4NJT0P0h4gdRVUSGiItxgLXCKDD-M7bghGLaAqgOoJ_07w5x3WiUTLpHFyXWBnX8GD7MJFWjI5bhFAuvvAbEKHYHedNdzMHKjs3vvvWSmKWxAgQlUoDNeD-Dv8hQ9raLwCX_XtUf-2vsmFKiHra4g4rrToWv3L1BktqqZBVt2iXj7P-Fk5en2=w218-h257" width="218" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Migration</i>, acrylic paint and ink<br />on sewn cotton, 2017</td></tr></tbody></table>This exhibition, entitled <i>Surfacing</i>, is her first solo in the region in about 15 years, and
it represents a sort of homecoming – for five years in the early 2000s, Occhiogrosso
was the director of this gallery, and she spoke of having dreamed of one day
showing there herself. Dream fulfilled, the nearly three-dozen works in this display are a
comfortable fit, with a few very large colorful installations on the biggest
walls in the back, a couple of much more intimate pieces set up on pedestals in
the middle of the space, and paintings ranging from modest to grand in scale
arrayed on the walls and columns.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Not a retrospective, <i>Surfacing
</i>is comprised mainly of recent works, and seems to want to be about
re-emerging from the isolation of the pandemic. If so, then it reveals a rather
glorious private world of shimmering shapes and radiant colors – hardly the
doom and gloom one might expect from an artist stuck inside for a couple of years.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivqMh3uhiX7VpuIx-a1gpX6WBib2hKeY52EbZAVmY9aGURrcYQ9MluE1v_Y7t60ISGSHDEtxWvn-xug5vGs3gKV1pC3eTQZ5sBlnwSobE7L6ApMAqXdoSDVKOw0W1GMIgDEHqVg7nsvOG1aaKUSe295Cox_Sdi0DxqE56mgGF1BUVh6L5h38FkLKV4=s1005" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1005" data-original-width="818" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivqMh3uhiX7VpuIx-a1gpX6WBib2hKeY52EbZAVmY9aGURrcYQ9MluE1v_Y7t60ISGSHDEtxWvn-xug5vGs3gKV1pC3eTQZ5sBlnwSobE7L6ApMAqXdoSDVKOw0W1GMIgDEHqVg7nsvOG1aaKUSe295Cox_Sdi0DxqE56mgGF1BUVh6L5h38FkLKV4=w236-h290" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cascade</i>, oil and acrylic<br />on pieced and sewn polyester, 2019 </td></tr></tbody></table>A few earlier works show how Occhiogrosso moved into her current style, and a few works - such as the two pedestal-mounted accordion sketchbooks - range well outside of that style, providing enough context for the artist's thoughts and process to allow us to more fully understand and appreciate her primary body of work. Those pieces are consistently created by making a painting on white fabric, then slicing it into geometric pieces, rearranging and sewing those pieces back together into a square or rectangular working surface, and then painting over it again to create the final image.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In this way, Occhiogrosso allows randomness and intuition into the mix, forming a means of abstraction that doesn't depend entirely on self-expression. It's a process that works perfectly for an artist who, on one hand, entertains doubts (don't we all?) and, on the other hand, has clear ideas about what she wants to make, and a fierce commitment to working toward those goals.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU654UqnaDldZrZMBLRtgxIoS-XT19mE48ImKYi6n8p7lKgAH4Q4V-uzbZmLZfS8HfZSLdxXvHbCi_ELNby9eHQsox-s11qmcpi0rGRW4b0m3D3fCwruAOlLRlib696CXmJ3W2pHL0WA1hQHQHtj_iNElstjXpB801tlwIffvb5XTXqTn0DnwrkbzU=s1439" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1439" data-original-width="1200" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU654UqnaDldZrZMBLRtgxIoS-XT19mE48ImKYi6n8p7lKgAH4Q4V-uzbZmLZfS8HfZSLdxXvHbCi_ELNby9eHQsox-s11qmcpi0rGRW4b0m3D3fCwruAOlLRlib696CXmJ3W2pHL0WA1hQHQHtj_iNElstjXpB801tlwIffvb5XTXqTn0DnwrkbzU=w224-h269" width="224" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Inside Out</i>,<i> </i>oil and acrylic<br />on pieced and sewn muslin, 2020</td></tr></tbody></table>In a review I wrote last year about an exhibition at The Hyde Collection, I commented that I was very pleasantly surprised to see how many top-flight contemporary artists are still working in the abstract mode (you can see it <a href="https://dbgetvisual.blogspot.com/2021/09/all-together-now-at-hyde-tang-etc.html" target="_blank">here</a>). This show by Occhiogrosso is a perfect example of that phenomenon, and I am no less delighted by it here. Her command of shape and color is second to none, and she revivifies the form by means of her process of cutting and sewing back together, which evokes the early Modernism of the Dadaists (who loved a good collage as much as anything) as well as today's feminist embrace of traditional women's work.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Additionally, Occhiogrosso addresses universal and personal concerns in her two accordion books, one of which elegantly depicts a flooded urban world with parallel colored-pencil lines, while the other represents the details of a domestic interior in sketchy black ink (both very skillfully drawn, I might add).</p><p class="MsoNormal">Altogether, the show is a must-see for fans of local art - Occhiogrosso is a native of Niskayuna, currently living in Troy - and just a real treat for anyone who may feel a bit deprived of color and joy in the midst of winter, or in the grip of a (let's hope) post-pandemic haze. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Surfacing </i>will remain on view at the ACCR through March 11; the gallery is open every day but Sunday, including Tuesday through Thursday evenings till 7.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXMbH8v6Z6mVXAy7deLVf5CB8UhbDPBhwGTM3FR8in_xdo6GgAfR_f7bo4g_zpyHy2yF7SZjDtBHN1DVjndoZEbnn_VBRoiC0ZoicBwKj1OVzM1j0vBnS7Tr8KqFStAyX10nFhkJ6w6dWtk_NItOLX1X8prOOGcCH8tICPgWCqkj3OwohY382spRkX=s1242" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="1242" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXMbH8v6Z6mVXAy7deLVf5CB8UhbDPBhwGTM3FR8in_xdo6GgAfR_f7bo4g_zpyHy2yF7SZjDtBHN1DVjndoZEbnn_VBRoiC0ZoicBwKj1OVzM1j0vBnS7Tr8KqFStAyX10nFhkJ6w6dWtk_NItOLX1X8prOOGcCH8tICPgWCqkj3OwohY382spRkX=w400-h169" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Morgan Avenue</i>, pen on accordion sketchbook, 2020</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-62760176629817610102022-02-07T15:00:00.001-05:002022-02-07T15:00:00.161-05:00Drive My Car (at Nippertown)<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgh2c4_Y4epsMvyW9UfFgt3ihs8fX1k8SDRgw-8CEHoAb4QjT4Ck83dWGoI9TI9gnFNV0bzGwseeHzEuNoRp17y_KYKuhxPcRLvz-r4NOGJOibYwx87q0W9UUJMNJG6f5l-8Ork1jjyZ6My5yFeUYz1Ihkyxsy2v8Bo00B-hbC7-VEbuIC8oedbp9Mi=s600" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgh2c4_Y4epsMvyW9UfFgt3ihs8fX1k8SDRgw-8CEHoAb4QjT4Ck83dWGoI9TI9gnFNV0bzGwseeHzEuNoRp17y_KYKuhxPcRLvz-r4NOGJOibYwx87q0W9UUJMNJG6f5l-8Ork1jjyZ6My5yFeUYz1Ihkyxsy2v8Bo00B-hbC7-VEbuIC8oedbp9Mi=w400-h240" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura star in Ryusuke Hamaguchi's <i>Drive My Car.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Editor's note:</i> In a reprise of their first collaboration in 2020, in which Jan Galligan and David Brickman discussed the film <i>1917</i> in a post at Nippertown.com, they now take a look at the highly regarded Japanese film <i>Drive My Car</i>, beginning with Brickman's ruminations:</span></p><p>One thing I like about Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s <i>Drive My Car</i> is that it asks a lot of questions. Is this movie about love, death, family history, or life itself? </p><p>I think the creative process is the hub of the wheel in this film, around which all other themes revolve. The main character, stage actor, and theater director Yūsuke is, above all, an artist, and the film spends a great deal of time exploring his creative process, strange though the process may be.</p><p>I like how the narrative represents the power of art to comfort us amid the stress of living our lives. Even the stoic driver is ultimately moved by this power, though at the same time it nearly tears Yūsuke apart – certainly a valid point regarding art.</p><p>Few films or stories can bring those concepts home the way this one did for me.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>To read the rest, click </i><a href="https://nippertown.com/2022/02/06/let-me-drive-my-car-please/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-91649346795564069962022-01-30T11:31:00.000-05:002022-01-30T11:31:01.428-05:00Go out and see a movie - Please!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKgX32qMTfEYhXtl8gvL39haZKxXMRS0IBLtbkLac3o9WcG_pFcVwEcq12b1FDDo73FvJiUgz3GWICcP_kQiUM3pDcMQxFhbPkUpCZlDAb_t-dz-8rpozDx1vsKrbg0LkdKcYZqayC3Q2ZV-1vFxCgDfUk78mMlZzixVaCLlSIxRGh4roWk8dykLO4=s2866" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2866" data-original-width="1934" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKgX32qMTfEYhXtl8gvL39haZKxXMRS0IBLtbkLac3o9WcG_pFcVwEcq12b1FDDo73FvJiUgz3GWICcP_kQiUM3pDcMQxFhbPkUpCZlDAb_t-dz-8rpozDx1vsKrbg0LkdKcYZqayC3Q2ZV-1vFxCgDfUk78mMlZzixVaCLlSIxRGh4roWk8dykLO4=s320" width="216" /></a></div>Constant companion and I caught a 4 p.m. matinee of the latest Pedro Almodóvar film yesterday at Spectrum 8 Theatres in Albany - and got a private showing, as no one else was there. Admittedly, when the mercury hits single digits, it takes fortitude to leave the house, but we love movies and enjoy seeing them the old-fashioned way, so we bundled up and headed out.<p></p><p><i>Parallel Mothers </i>is a great movie, by the way, with plot twists, first-rate acting, a deeply felt perspective on the legacy of conflict, and the wonderful, colorful Spanish settings that Almodóvar always delivers. But we left the theater feeling a bit depressed by the experience. And it didn't help to see from the street that the drinks establishment next door was chock full of patrons.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg26ccWuASdj_jJh5RjCU-fKNQ_9qNDR23LCclnu6yoaZZQ-gIugZfnrddqkVMzn0_dfud_bEgzReGg-n39_bLuoXxTTL0g-BwLa58DOrlqIDimzFl3fEkTejAyC8YjfcxjZpuzyYQpBq5TLcSiEzz7oWjhTEcFOl0pSC7mCrpJWAWBeXHg7YpSD7XR=s640" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="446" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg26ccWuASdj_jJh5RjCU-fKNQ_9qNDR23LCclnu6yoaZZQ-gIugZfnrddqkVMzn0_dfud_bEgzReGg-n39_bLuoXxTTL0g-BwLa58DOrlqIDimzFl3fEkTejAyC8YjfcxjZpuzyYQpBq5TLcSiEzz7oWjhTEcFOl0pSC7mCrpJWAWBeXHg7YpSD7XR=s320" width="223" /></a></div>With everyone streaming at home from a hundred platforms, spooked by the Omicron variant, and just plain self-absorbed, it's hard to have much hope for the future of the small movie theaters that dependably screen the sort of movies we love: independent, foreign, plot-driven, devoid of car chases and explosions.<p></p><p>I've chosen to have none of the home-based means by which the majority of us now enjoy films. No cable, no Netflix, no Amazon Prime - just antenna-fed TV and DVDs from the library, augmented by online rentals from Kino Lorber, a foreign-film distributor that fills the gaps left by the Spectrum. That leaves plenty of money in the budget to pay for tickets.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgikdOvBsyzge8gg-L6TJOcF9TaBrp7shV5LE1hgMZnUQAQc3Uc8haShqOX5qdgPoQKEkwJbJsth15rOSeh1T7ZgBoInzKxJ0-NiDznRBSQu6rkamUMsB3As_wkyVCedVC5alxgz81jiRSvTdH2CJPdbydzF-MRn1nSCPmDLIoUEnV_M4-9Kc3ymULq=s353" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="246" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgikdOvBsyzge8gg-L6TJOcF9TaBrp7shV5LE1hgMZnUQAQc3Uc8haShqOX5qdgPoQKEkwJbJsth15rOSeh1T7ZgBoInzKxJ0-NiDznRBSQu6rkamUMsB3As_wkyVCedVC5alxgz81jiRSvTdH2CJPdbydzF-MRn1nSCPmDLIoUEnV_M4-9Kc3ymULq=s320" width="223" /></a></p>Currently, the Spectrum (an eight-screener on a main thoroughfare in the city) is showing several new releases that will contend for Oscars, including <i>Licorice Pizza</i>, <i>Drive My Car</i>, <i>The Tragedy of Macbeth</i>, and <i>Nightmare Alley</i>. I hope to see all of those before they leave the big screen, and will make an extra effort to do so. <p></p><p>Going out to a movie still fills me with anticipation, freshens my step, and then fulfils that latent desire to be enveloped in the dark, alone or with friends, wrapped up in a story, with brilliant images, resonant sounds, and anonymous fellow theatergoers who sometimes have a word or two of comment during the credits.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLX_YacbgqsUAKhbrd2y1ACOxL42cCSHFI5ZNJ-Loc5OdALLVulBJ6iSirhiMIOUwMnq4xms0zJNp-aciw1BY2JyjZgDDYWySs37OchCynqDzl5cglHTpXKMH35NuylKjcS8MfXRnn8UfYhgdzmMIgxNLhmb4RzoSa3apIzcaRDheosVc--CXzN1Ra=s1449" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1449" data-original-width="961" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLX_YacbgqsUAKhbrd2y1ACOxL42cCSHFI5ZNJ-Loc5OdALLVulBJ6iSirhiMIOUwMnq4xms0zJNp-aciw1BY2JyjZgDDYWySs37OchCynqDzl5cglHTpXKMH35NuylKjcS8MfXRnn8UfYhgdzmMIgxNLhmb4RzoSa3apIzcaRDheosVc--CXzN1Ra=s320" width="212" /></a></div>I used to regularly run into friends at the Spectrum, and even made a new friend on occasion as we paused in the lobby to share our responses to a good film. Now, it's usually just the staff, who somehow still have jobs, but these days clearly seem to have not enough to do.<p></p><p></p>The Spectrum is part of a national chain (Landmark), which has theaters all over the United States, most of them in far larger markets than ours. I suppose those venues are making enough money to help keep this one open. But it's not something I would want to count on for long. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKXiD0ND5Clt9kpi4NBPUIzTIjCRrH_us-ZSggEMIe4on-t0CpDv1aB4pVsAjThviUtA44SHkyruz3j0tEUmnMISV_WrWh1rRs578CFqynTGvZ0iqH4FUp-g2ht3AnHo0dNuD6kq8gL4Qb21rVPLnlp6hqE1OtW4zGhZ4dfRweUM8af2vwbcnLAM2l=s690" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="460" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKXiD0ND5Clt9kpi4NBPUIzTIjCRrH_us-ZSggEMIe4on-t0CpDv1aB4pVsAjThviUtA44SHkyruz3j0tEUmnMISV_WrWh1rRs578CFqynTGvZ0iqH4FUp-g2ht3AnHo0dNuD6kq8gL4Qb21rVPLnlp6hqE1OtW4zGhZ4dfRweUM8af2vwbcnLAM2l=s320" width="213" /></a></div>So, please, if you value the presence of a great independent movie theater in your region, and wouldn't want to see it close, get up off the couch, grab a coat and the keys, and go support it. You'll be glad you did.<p></p><p><b><i>Note:</i></b> I'm in Albany, so the Spectrum on Delaware Avenue is my go-to cinema - but there are several other small, independent movie theaters in the Capital Region that equally deserve your support, including the Criterion in Saratoga Springs and the Movieland 6 in Schenectady, both of which are owned by Bow Tie Cinemas, a national chain with 38 venues - coincidentally, the same number as Landmark.</p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-19057203461177780022022-01-12T16:15:00.000-05:002022-01-12T16:15:20.639-05:00Pieced Together at APL<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgU72EXi62N7pMUQb2Xu_t61Gq1hlgdeljnysSHBTjgEHE5_-sQgo6omVyUdUgisa5WEwOaTfIjy12IiImjtAQdJlemx6Gg6zyeuzEyKOon9c3NMlwBH8pESmZi4cfXNpJyYUA3Bc9C_X1i9Mv7_HQVPfUXbAfMKKvuhP0Xrv46bT_WmHOPFNAKbhwX=s1188" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1188" data-original-width="1052" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgU72EXi62N7pMUQb2Xu_t61Gq1hlgdeljnysSHBTjgEHE5_-sQgo6omVyUdUgisa5WEwOaTfIjy12IiImjtAQdJlemx6Gg6zyeuzEyKOon9c3NMlwBH8pESmZi4cfXNpJyYUA3Bc9C_X1i9Mv7_HQVPfUXbAfMKKvuhP0Xrv46bT_WmHOPFNAKbhwX=w401-h452" width="401" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henry Klimowicz - <i>Large Collections of Like a Lichen #2</i><br />cardboard and glue 2021</td></tr></tbody></table>Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets on the local gallery scene is the <a href="https://www.albanypubliclibrary.org/programs/art-apl/" target="_blank">Pine Hills Branch of the Albany Public Library</a>, where expertly curated exhibitions of regional artists have been mounted about twice a year for quite some time.* And the current show, <i>Pieced Together</i>, is one of the best yet.<p></p><p>Organized by staff at Russell Sage College's Opalka Gallery, <i>Pieced Together</i> features 11 artists united by the theme of assemblage, an often overlooked art form that came into its own during the height of Modernism, in particular among Dadaists, often in the unassuming clothing of paper collage. Most of the work in this show follows fairly closely in that tradition, while some of it feels more connected to later periods of contemporary art that grew out of Modernism.</p><p>Altogether, this is a particularly lively collection of very accomplished work by well-established local favorites and a few relative newcomers, including one recent Sage graduate, Chloe Harrison, whose delicate matboard constructions show promise, while confirming her self-described fledgling status.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxyIJQmvbmmoRCeAqhUyOEFPn_KcM-UeADO4IDptBNiCAlaJGIn0RKxcXYXKgO_3VLQgrCpAHuVyxi9csF_HzNU_JyXXZRZ9gd2T6fiBwbg_WXVRAYIVuZ87FiDvFv4xL_4aW2n_yW9fIBjYdhVrMqH_MByxyM7om7dIrCtJnnNIX_ZrcqghhrE8Lo=s841" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="792" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxyIJQmvbmmoRCeAqhUyOEFPn_KcM-UeADO4IDptBNiCAlaJGIn0RKxcXYXKgO_3VLQgrCpAHuVyxi9csF_HzNU_JyXXZRZ9gd2T6fiBwbg_WXVRAYIVuZ87FiDvFv4xL_4aW2n_yW9fIBjYdhVrMqH_MByxyM7om7dIrCtJnnNIX_ZrcqghhrE8Lo=w188-h200" width="188" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beth Humphrey - <i>Mutual Aid</i>, 2020<br />spray paint, gouache, crayon, film on paper</td></tr></tbody></table>Highlights from the show are many, even if one must perform something of a treasure hunt to find them all in the two-level space which, though not designed for art exhibitions, still serves well to showcase the work. Installations here always exploit the big central staircase, this time featuring two of my personal favorite artists of recent times: Beth Humphrey, who presents a constellation of small framed works on a mid-level wall that delight with their shapes, colors, and layerings; and Kenneth Ragsdale, who offers a suspended wire laden with playful, oversized folded-paper objects from his own quirky personal vocabulary of memories and imaginings.<div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWr7uCGcOlRouSNMdkED4lR-R61gjUdd8Zv8dGx1QRDe5p2lXbOgL9dWtwoizth71dsvpANGgyW_NGxlIJ8crf7uEkHTyEky1kGEEEtqgELGlNJqGGIPN5ZvIjGRMDkCCa2XbhzDWHVd8CQ6bHVySKwL6LNPhGf2YDHd-W3TH29NnV-14e0SPldIW1=s837" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="837" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWr7uCGcOlRouSNMdkED4lR-R61gjUdd8Zv8dGx1QRDe5p2lXbOgL9dWtwoizth71dsvpANGgyW_NGxlIJ8crf7uEkHTyEky1kGEEEtqgELGlNJqGGIPN5ZvIjGRMDkCCa2XbhzDWHVd8CQ6bHVySKwL6LNPhGf2YDHd-W3TH29NnV-14e0SPldIW1=w257-h257" width="257" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paula Drysdale Frazell - <i>Nap Time</i>, 2015<br />acrylic paint and fabric on canvas</td></tr></tbody></table>Another recent favorite artist, and one who I think deserves - and will get - more attention as time goes by, is Paula Drysdale Frazell. Her mixed-media works are less related to cut-paper collage than they are to painting and, in a sense, quilting, as they combine paint, fabric, and printed paper (such as maps) in colorful and playful compositions that draw from childhood memories and other family stories. Her works are both charming and thought provoking, making for a tricky balancing act that she handles comfortably.</div><div><br /></div><div>Three of the artists in this show are strictly collagists of the cut-and-paste variety, forming a core for this selection, and being easily appreciated by any of us who have ever tried that medium (myself included); they are Niki Haynes, Juan Hinojosa, and Michael Oatman, all of whom have appeared in other local shows recently, and whose work remains fresh and fun.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkFR76OahwGy9A7Sp4OdN4ZFYG9gDp2EfLmuJyPAbuH5gMjwqHrAe_g8YS2q_xw4sjsUVvpzeWmSo8ROqv-QB5wTwxxNhiGxMeTWHdNaUdgOGv75Qd0VCYOlCLiNHR_T2ey1q9fLodK1g7FYSNVPuWMEUT03Q978hT8c3k7gjA9mTpiqOXs7t-4zpc=s834" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="705" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkFR76OahwGy9A7Sp4OdN4ZFYG9gDp2EfLmuJyPAbuH5gMjwqHrAe_g8YS2q_xw4sjsUVvpzeWmSo8ROqv-QB5wTwxxNhiGxMeTWHdNaUdgOGv75Qd0VCYOlCLiNHR_T2ey1q9fLodK1g7FYSNVPuWMEUT03Q978hT8c3k7gjA9mTpiqOXs7t-4zpc=w198-h233" width="198" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juan Hinojosa - <i>Lava</i>, 2020<br />mixed media on panel with plastic,<br />soda can, wall paper, jewelry, ribbon</td></tr></tbody></table>Hinojosa is easily the flashiest of this group, delving into consumer culture with abandon, embracing the brightest of colors and materials and, in the case of two works in this exhibition, utilizing metallic surfaces as a background. Eye-catching, to be sure, but for my taste a bit superficial.</div><div><br /></div><div>Haynes, in contrast, hews to the mystical. Here, she presents a group of six small collages that coolly spook you with eyes that are watching from on high. Her technique is almost alarmingly simple, but it takes a lot of experience to get to simplicity and have it work so well, and Haynes has it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oatman throws us a curveball by installing a body of 26 comic-book collages he made in 1983, during the summer after his first year in college. I'd glimpsed these somewhere before, and was delighted to see them again, as they are witty, well crafted, and totally consistent with the work he is making today, nearly 40 years later. It takes courage to reveal early work, and in this instance I think it pays off.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other artists in the show, which opened on Oct. 1 and will run through April 17, are Fern Apfel, Danny Goodwin, Henry Klimowicz, and Melinda McDaniel.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">*<i>Full disclosure: I recently joined the board of directors of the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library, which has some input into programming at the branches, including arts programming.</i></span></div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOYITbMYeeHHqUvHkQu4FcElsGtEOWKXJzkQkq75gpJ9iGWx9M-JwCQ80qY-HL8PlkJHRNosNKLHMzwHO_cbuYINgQKF65zJB4iwAABE_3GI63DtdeWnC94n0eBwFlbL7tQaltCadEvpQDis0x-uxvIJXz2U1-VcYJLNr5mmO10uXyr6tBir243wau=s1900" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1900" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOYITbMYeeHHqUvHkQu4FcElsGtEOWKXJzkQkq75gpJ9iGWx9M-JwCQ80qY-HL8PlkJHRNosNKLHMzwHO_cbuYINgQKF65zJB4iwAABE_3GI63DtdeWnC94n0eBwFlbL7tQaltCadEvpQDis0x-uxvIJXz2U1-VcYJLNr5mmO10uXyr6tBir243wau=w400-h161" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Oatman - three examples from the collage series <i>A Boy's History of the World in 26 Volumes (+1)</i>, 1983<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by Michael Oatman</span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-53871025855609764732022-01-02T18:47:00.003-05:002022-01-03T21:20:12.694-05:00Catch these while you can ...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhAJwUecUUTsHAi_zDAHAg7h2VPi7t8kbGsSPAtDY9rvTAiNWrVCK6S640chfBSjoBBLndWs0OLrPnH2QlOIqBbHxRuB37URq_2LgrRr-mVqwBMW8n0KRGTgv7f6PQw51uX3hKYZ978IQxoFTgquOGbG0mNTCRTS6U_u4TfDdYlM8dAQzcaXkH4mLBQ=s1119" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="1119" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhAJwUecUUTsHAi_zDAHAg7h2VPi7t8kbGsSPAtDY9rvTAiNWrVCK6S640chfBSjoBBLndWs0OLrPnH2QlOIqBbHxRuB37URq_2LgrRr-mVqwBMW8n0KRGTgv7f6PQw51uX3hKYZ978IQxoFTgquOGbG0mNTCRTS6U_u4TfDdYlM8dAQzcaXkH4mLBQ=w400-h169" width="400" /></a></div>What better way to start the new year than to catch up with
an art show or two that you meant to see but got too busy to get to during the
holidays.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are a few good choices in the region that will end
soon, including a great opportunity to take advantage of free admission at a
world-renowned museum.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbUIYaA7KvcqV7_R7IcseoUdecIb4uwyQpxSIfmliI4bFdZVGVr4-LrmNwf5liR3DUyGhsQfD0tz3FE0oRwKpYr4JaHEcQSfeH7Z5HUrPu4RO1geqU0QuCtf29tpCOfvsdxtNfkFZwZU3M0rmp45vJT-mQb__9Ow1pojUaQ8duZ43elwjgm1jDJ0wb=s300" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="220" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbUIYaA7KvcqV7_R7IcseoUdecIb4uwyQpxSIfmliI4bFdZVGVr4-LrmNwf5liR3DUyGhsQfD0tz3FE0oRwKpYr4JaHEcQSfeH7Z5HUrPu4RO1geqU0QuCtf29tpCOfvsdxtNfkFZwZU3M0rmp45vJT-mQb__9Ow1pojUaQ8duZ43elwjgm1jDJ0wb" width="220" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Return 2 Earth</i> 2017, mixed media<br />by Alisa Sikellianos-Carter</td></tr></tbody></table>First up, in order of ending date, would be the <i>Annual
Members Show</i> at <a href="https://www.saratoga-arts.org/" target="_blank">Saratoga Arts</a> in Saratoga Springs, set to close on Jan. 8,
closely followed by the annual <i>Upstate Artists</i> show at <a href="https://thelaffergallery.com/" target="_blank">The Laffer Gallery</a> in
Schuylerville, which ends on Jan. 9. Both include a large cross-section of
regional artists and are located not too far apart, providing a good opportunity
to double up.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Two shows that will end on Jan. 14 also feature a great many regional
artists: <i>Gallery Mixtape, Vol. 1</i> at <a href="https://www.collectiveeffort.co/" target="_blank">Collectiveffort</a> in Troy, where a selection of BIPOC artists are showcased, and the <i>Annual Members' Show</i> at <a href="https://www.albanycentergallery.org/" target="_blank">Albany Center Gallery</a>. Well over 100 artists (myself among them) present one piece each at ACG, making for a super-eclectic viewing experience that is
always popular with viewers.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjS9BD0_P0ZgmQTKO5WLvzlrKZjmXJt4Bu4NbjvsvQkse0ssp6p6I3-B_yGXPd9WmycK1PagL0D1JL6OTMZSfa0G7MbrD5YSAuGkYVONqWm7Tpxbkphv9nzo9-4VeJlFL8qO39B4Z1vGCeqZbI9COtTOaU8sAG9RHkmXk7CKneYQOERisNlSfDU2yDc=s924" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="924" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjS9BD0_P0ZgmQTKO5WLvzlrKZjmXJt4Bu4NbjvsvQkse0ssp6p6I3-B_yGXPd9WmycK1PagL0D1JL6OTMZSfa0G7MbrD5YSAuGkYVONqWm7Tpxbkphv9nzo9-4VeJlFL8qO39B4Z1vGCeqZbI9COtTOaU8sAG9RHkmXk7CKneYQOERisNlSfDU2yDc=w275-h275" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An example of 20th-century Japanese<br />printmaking at The Clark</td></tr></tbody></table>A solo show by one of the region's outstanding mid-career
artists, Alisa Sikellianos-Carter, will re-open on Jan. 9 and run through Jan.
16 at Union College's <a href="https://muse.union.edu/mandeville/project/alisa-sikelianos-carter/" target="_blank">Mandeville Gallery</a> in Schenectady. Sikellianos-Carter,
who was one of the three jurors of the <i>2021 Mohawk-Hudson Regional</i>, works in large-scale mixed
media with a healthy and entertaining nod toward Afrofuturism.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps most intriguing, an exhibition of 20th-century
Japanese prints from the museum's collection will remain on view at <a href="https://www.clarkart.edu/" target="_blank">The Clark Art Institute</a> in Williamstown, Mass., through Jan. 30 - and admission to the museum will be free for
the entire month. <i>Competing Currents</i> promises to be a highly
pleasurable lesson on a unique corner of recent art history.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, go forth and see some art! It will make a great
beginning to your 2022.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Add note</i>: This just in from the <a href="https://www.albanyinstitute.org/" target="_blank">Albany Institute of History & Art</a> - <i>Fashionable Frocks of the 1920s</i>, a fancy and fun romp among the clothing styles of the flapper era, has been extended through Jan. 9.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKGQTb0UQ89oEr-CIavI2Oz7B2ojoD3zAilZgKNtMs7XadJsDa2RtV4SjgqkpjLoM_TTpjgBobKZ3a6MFXycjtiYZkQWhMdliJTeXTBhBW8kfDqfC57KPXou8qsDHc5b92uJznpLs1hR4jozPFHZUhRo4zApzzQyXMwEfCvfxX_od8ArN-xvE8lhkY=s654" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="654" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKGQTb0UQ89oEr-CIavI2Oz7B2ojoD3zAilZgKNtMs7XadJsDa2RtV4SjgqkpjLoM_TTpjgBobKZ3a6MFXycjtiYZkQWhMdliJTeXTBhBW8kfDqfC57KPXou8qsDHc5b92uJznpLs1hR4jozPFHZUhRo4zApzzQyXMwEfCvfxX_od8ArN-xvE8lhkY=w400-h274" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>Annual Members' Show</i> at Albany Center Gallery is always a crowd-pleaser<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by Daniel Joyce</span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-4709262992702644942021-12-06T09:20:00.003-05:002021-12-08T17:00:22.632-05:00Short Take: Fence Select 21 at ACCR<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rAsAYkBaQSw/Ya_N81QzFMI/AAAAAAAAEP8/EiLlXNl79Lg2h-tRciOyblQ57r3JpcR6ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1516/susan.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="1516" height="304" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rAsAYkBaQSw/Ya_N81QzFMI/AAAAAAAAEP8/EiLlXNl79Lg2h-tRciOyblQ57r3JpcR6ACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h304/susan.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A New Blank Tablet: January 20, 2021 12:00 PM EST</i>, oil on cradled hardwood by Susan Hoffer, is the juror's top choice in <i>Fence Select 21</i></td></tr></tbody></table>I’ve been remiss in taking so long to get to this year’s <i>Fence Select</i> show at the <a href="https://www.artscenteronline.org/fence-select-2021/" target="_blank">Arts Center of the Capital Region</a> in Troy, because it always features a wide swath of the
region’s best and upcoming artists, and it ends this Saturday. But, as I am
often forced to say, better late than never.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This year’s edition of the show was juried by Dan Cameron, a
noted critic whose local presence seems to be increasing lately, and the 51
artists included are overall quite worthy. I regularly refer to this annual
exhibition as “the other Regional,” and this year’s edition pretty much lives
up to the title; seven of the included artists were also in the 2021 Mohawk-Hudson Regional, and several others have been in previous editions of that show.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhy3mBBzkQcbP5BMrmwd-Gl0nn5Lo9KChMgjVgR5fYASfMBskvg1Woh0apl5jVRQfukCcwS_02QAYgAh9JZsetrx8Le_-D-X8rILofLIpkmDSncXLeQ16rlf4r10gyoveLYx_7uyfCDd1AtMe3s4QncZ6wrSyNKmE1Q5CtYZ9zu2E1DHaRE9yhJXHFK=s2410" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2410" data-original-width="869" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhy3mBBzkQcbP5BMrmwd-Gl0nn5Lo9KChMgjVgR5fYASfMBskvg1Woh0apl5jVRQfukCcwS_02QAYgAh9JZsetrx8Le_-D-X8rILofLIpkmDSncXLeQ16rlf4r10gyoveLYx_7uyfCDd1AtMe3s4QncZ6wrSyNKmE1Q5CtYZ9zu2E1DHaRE9yhJXHFK=w144-h400" width="144" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Fillmore's <i>Red Warning #2;<br /></i>in the background is a painting<br />by D. Colin<br /><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo provided</span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table>My biggest quibble with the current edition of <i>Fence</i> is that only a few of the
selected artists have more than one work in it (specifically, six artists have
two each) and those works aren’t presented together in any case. But the
gallery looks good with the show as installed, and there are very few clunkers in it (I’ll leave it for you to
decide which they are).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Among the outstanding pieces to my eye and mind were the
following:</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">First-prize winner Susan Hoffer’s impressively
self-actualizing studio view titled </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A New
Blank Tablet: January 20, 2021 12:00 PM EST</i></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ORT Project Rockwell-Nelson’s </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Anthropocene Epoch: Eat the Rich</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">, a
super-sharp photograph that features a live baboon in an oval-framed still life
arrangement</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Chris DeMarco’s lush, yet delicately colored
photographs of a trailer park</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Karen Gerstenberger’s two coastal monotypes</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Jaime Courcelle’s oil on canvas </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It’s Not Goodbye</i></li><li><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Take Out</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">,
a timely and wry nod to Edward Hopper by Marion Reynolds, and</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Michael Oatman’s elegiac stack of unwatched 9/11
videotapes (shown below)</span></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7gRK8rbS6IVzV3qyOG0AJQ603XQu_hDl5jv3kXyQw4OgFQGESNxcJNyZT3tuFgU8ihk6aMcWtPFkACha6SsQmcPahEZ8ia0gEQ197jcxGllHyo5sHQ_0xrFA0eZYBdLW4zYN_RE5IW6BedVIyt5ZPKeER6GFfnxc_fJJXFcnUtjAAHJKgcG89uOeQ=s1279" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1279" data-original-width="1253" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7gRK8rbS6IVzV3qyOG0AJQ603XQu_hDl5jv3kXyQw4OgFQGESNxcJNyZT3tuFgU8ihk6aMcWtPFkACha6SsQmcPahEZ8ia0gEQ197jcxGllHyo5sHQ_0xrFA0eZYBdLW4zYN_RE5IW6BedVIyt5ZPKeER6GFfnxc_fJJXFcnUtjAAHJKgcG89uOeQ=w214-h228" width="214" /></a>The exhibition’s other prize-winners are Royal Brown, for a
futurist reinvention of found objects; Jeff Wigman, for a Bosch-like painting
on wood panel, and William Fillmore, for a strikingly geometric steel
sculpture.</div><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The ACCR is open every day but Sunday; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fence Select 21</i> ends Saturday, Dec. 11.</p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-32482063848898834822021-11-28T12:08:00.000-05:002021-11-28T12:08:09.906-05:00A parallel play of Parallel Plays<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wOCSaE12SDk/YaOhcnpH4rI/AAAAAAAAEPI/29vvHihQvbwqAkWo_6kEj31L429QxSYtQCLcBGAsYHQ/s719/duncan.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="719" height="249" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wOCSaE12SDk/YaOhcnpH4rI/AAAAAAAAEPI/29vvHihQvbwqAkWo_6kEj31L429QxSYtQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h249/duncan.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sculptures and drawings by Chris Duncan are part of a four-person show at the Schick<br />Art Gallery on the campus of Skidmore College<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">all photos provided</span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table>In an odd coincidence, two shows that are separated (joined?) by about 30 miles of Northway and overlapping in schedule have the same title: <i>Parallel Play</i>. The term refers to a behavior that young children at an early stage of development will engage in, where they do not interact, but play at the same activity side by side.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In the case of the first of these shows, which ends on Thursday
(Dec. 2), Skidmore College’s <a href="https://www.skidmore.edu/schick/" target="_blank">Schick Art Gallery</a> in Saratoga Springs has
gathered four sculptors and is exhibiting works by each in both two and three
dimensions – the parallel between those dimensions is what’s referenced
here.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other show, which continues through Dec. 18 at the Lake
George Arts Project’s <a href="https://www.lakegeorgearts.org/courthouse-gallery/coming-gallery-exhibitions/" target="_blank">Courthouse Gallery</a> in Lake George Village, is a solo by the
Troy-based fiber artist Barbara Todd, who has mounted a multilayered installation
of related works, exploring a parallel within her meticulous working process.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aNl9V7Q-RIg/YaOihNrUHwI/AAAAAAAAEPQ/x1Pq2HQQ7BQmnXNqzMyN6UcIum-XUAyZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1796/other%2Bwind.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1796" data-original-width="1209" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aNl9V7Q-RIg/YaOihNrUHwI/AAAAAAAAEPQ/x1Pq2HQQ7BQmnXNqzMyN6UcIum-XUAyZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/other%2Bwind.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wind</i>, by Mary Neubauer<br />(DeWitt Godfrey's <i>Ander</i> in background)</td></tr></tbody></table>Both shows are excellent examples of making the most of a
small but high-quality exhibition space, and well worth a drive to see. We took
that drive on Saturday, and it lifted our spirits amid sunny skies and frigid
temperatures. I’ll discuss the Schick show first, as it ends so soon.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Co-curated by Schick staff and Skidmore sculpture professor
John Galt, this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parallel Play</i>
features the work of Chris Duncan, DeWitt Godfrey, Coral Penelope Lambert, and
Mary Neubauer in a slightly crowded installation of approximately 35 works covering
a healthy variety of media. A few additional works are exhibited in a display
case near the entrance to the Saisselin Art Center, where the gallery is
housed, and another is on an outdoor patio, underscoring the sense of a space nearly bursting its seams.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As with our exemplary toddlers, these four artists play
nicely together, each pursuing strong directions while balancing into a whole
that, for me, elevates an awareness of materials and processes. It’s not so
common around here to see a showcase for sculpture and, though this work is mostly
smaller in scale, the effect of three-dimensional objects, with their strong physical and
tactile presence, is fully felt in this selection.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xsqifEJyZA8/YaOjHpSkIcI/AAAAAAAAEPY/o_wNzsiIVzkjkH11pAdqkEz_ia5pgGQYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s503/drawing.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="357" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xsqifEJyZA8/YaOjHpSkIcI/AAAAAAAAEPY/o_wNzsiIVzkjkH11pAdqkEz_ia5pgGQYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/drawing.JPG" width="227" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A DeWitt Godfrey drawing</td></tr></tbody></table>The show’s premise, which places each artist’s two-dimensional
works in juxtaposition with the 3-D ones is also effective. Three of the four
include drawings (almost always the first building block of a sculptor’s
ideas), while one features photographs. This last, Neubauer, derives her forms
from massive weather-related databases, which could have been translated as well
into graphic representations that may have felt like sketches, but as color
photographs they come across more like finished works in their own right. Her
sculptures firmly occupy the space around them, bulky, beautifully patinated, and
displayed on custom pedestals.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Duncan, a sculpture professor at Union College, presents
a total of 13 works here, revealing an artist in full command of his medium,
whether paint on paper or anything you can crush or fold into a form and then embellish
with color and texture. While Neubauer’s work clearly aims to discuss our changing
climate, Duncan is content to express himself more obtusely, delivering emotional
jabs with gloomy, calligraphic gestures and bright, shiny splashes of color.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QEs8qucpXXU/YaOjVsS0UeI/AAAAAAAAEPc/50f5pIHXkashcowYFywDR8ye-AHj4sQHACLcBGAsYHQ/s522/insipid%2Bsun.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="450" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QEs8qucpXXU/YaOjVsS0UeI/AAAAAAAAEPc/50f5pIHXkashcowYFywDR8ye-AHj4sQHACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/insipid%2Bsun.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Insipid Sun</i>, by Coral Penelope Lambert</td></tr></tbody></table>Godfrey is represented here by just two drawings and one
steel sculpture, but they dominate one wall of the gallery and provide perhaps
the strongest pairing of those two media in this show. His on-site installation
entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ander</i> evokes the natural growth
pattern of a many-celled organism, while putting the viewer in touch with the straightforward
process of cutting sheet steel into loops and then letting it rust. I always
like an artist who can produce work that is both relatable and innovative, and
Godfrey handily delivers on that promise.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I found Lambert’s work the most challenging in the show. She
combines cast iron and welded steel with felt flocking, creating a contrast of the
stereotypical masculine and feminine traits of hardness and softness. Her
drawings are playful, even childlike, while her three sculptures shown here are
as serious as military hardware. That said, rarely have I been so unable to
resist touching a work of art in a gallery (generally a harsh no-no), in this
case seduced by both color and texture.<o:p></o:p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXheldlXzrs/YaOjkbezXCI/AAAAAAAAEPk/43SO0zlI92ovBv1HNfpARrHzD0iE3kibACLcBGAsYHQ/s1226/todd%2Binstall.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="1226" height="239" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXheldlXzrs/YaOjkbezXCI/AAAAAAAAEPk/43SO0zlI92ovBv1HNfpARrHzD0iE3kibACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h239/todd%2Binstall.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A segment of Barbara Todd's installation at Lake George Arts Project</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal">Barbara Todd has become a friend, but before I ever knew her, I was struck by her big, abstract quilts as seen in the Mohawk-Hudson Regional. Over the years, Todd has participated in other local group shows, but the current one at Lake George Arts Project is her first solo in recent memory, and it is a smash.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Combining miniature fabric-swatch sketches, medium-sized finished works of the same materials, and five larger quilts, her <i>Parallel Play</i> has been installed in three overlaying matrices of theme and variation that sing in vibrations of pure color.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j4Vshh-IytM/YaOy8QbU4MI/AAAAAAAAEPw/FpmmeB5Ri7Iow6f9C9oCeQAFwQWLYmnngCLcBGAsYHQ/s685/quilt.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="685" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j4Vshh-IytM/YaOy8QbU4MI/AAAAAAAAEPw/FpmmeB5Ri7Iow6f9C9oCeQAFwQWLYmnngCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h285/quilt.JPG" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dragon Fried Fish, Albany, NY, January 12, 2014</i></td></tr></tbody></table>At first glance, the casual viewer may not understand what Todd has going on here, and that's understandable - in all but a few of the pieces, there's nothing more to meet the eye than two juxtaposed rectangles of colored fabric, forming a perfect square on a background field of white. But Todd's persistence in this pursuit has a cumulative effect, as her tendency toward reds and yellows, greys and blues, builds into a secret but knowable language, like semaphore.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">It could help to understand that every work (and there are several dozen, at least, shown here) is based on an actual experience, a sighting captured in a photograph that forms the starting point for the work. So what may appear to be simply a soft purple over a cool grey is also a specific time and place: <i>Morning mist, Highway I 90 near Utica, October 8, 2016</i>. And so on, and on.</p><p class="MsoNormal">In addition to the layers of private meaning in each linen piece, there are varying textures, weaves, and mixtures of thread that make up the colors, providing a lot more to reward close inspection than one might expect. Beyond that, Todd has developed some of the selected moments into larger quilts, made of luxurious wool fabric, which are warm and inviting, even while still having been built upon cool, color-theory bones. These five works are the stars of the show, but the overall installation glows brightest. See it if you can.</p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-1534841882461938512021-11-14T11:18:00.007-05:002021-11-14T17:35:22.651-05:00Too much Tucci?<p>It was the early 1990s when people began telling me that there was an obscure television actor who looked just like me. Not being much of a TV watcher, I had no idea who he was until the movie <i>Big Night</i>* came out in 1996, and I realized they'd been talking about Stanley Tucci. I’ve been a fan ever since.</p><p>And yes, he still looks like me - but now he’s famous, and he’s written a nice little book about
his lifelong love affair with food. As Tucci puts it, he is "Italian on
both sides" … so obsessing about food comes naturally. He’s also an experienced
writer, with several film scripts to his credit, making <i>Taste: My Life Through Food</i> much more than
the average celebrity memoir. And, when it comes to food, he’s got
plenty to talk about.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You may already be aware of a TV series that ran last winter on CNN called <i>Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy</i>, in which our hero goes to various regions of Italy and explores some of their local food specialties, oohing and aahing in ecstasy along the way. It's a great series, slated to continue until (I hope) all 20 regions of Italy have been covered.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RzIYQqtHea8/YZEwNSlzj0I/AAAAAAAAEOc/UVtlI4tGqxQaFe3tkSntt8DCYUKQ6kFjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DB%2Band%2BStanley.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1890" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RzIYQqtHea8/YZEwNSlzj0I/AAAAAAAAEOc/UVtlI4tGqxQaFe3tkSntt8DCYUKQ6kFjQCLcBGAsYHQ/w184-h200/DB%2Band%2BStanley.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me and Stanley - He's got a better makeup<br />man, but I speak better Italian ... so I guess<br />that makes us even!</span><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo: Robert Blake</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Between the first six episodes of <i>Searching for Italy</i>, and the book <i>Taste</i>, you get to know a lot about Stanley (or The Tooch, as I like to call him), including various facts about his family, but most of all you learn just how completely obsessed with food he is and always has been. Me, I don't resemble the Tooch in this way - which became a problem about halfway through the book, as I skipped over most of the recipes and, I'll admit, some of the slightly overlong descriptions of whatever Stanley loves to eat.</p><p class="MsoNormal">For true foodies, I'm sure this wouldn't be an issue, but I disclose to be honest and thorough. On the other hand, I am probably even more of an Italophile than the Tooch himself, so his stories that involve anything cultural fall on wide-open ears. And, boy, does he have stories, which he shares in a fluent, likeable voice that is clearly his own (no ghost writer here). Stanley seems to think of himself as great company, and for a time I thought so, too - but, after a while, that particular voice began to seem a bit self-indulgent, and I grew tired of it.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Another aspect of <i>Taste </i>that I found a bit of a bore was the name-dropping. OK, given that Tucci hangs out with the likes of Meryl Streep and George Clooney, it's understandable that he'd want the reader to know that ... and, maybe to his credit (I can't decide), he calls himself out on the name-dropping each time he does it. But it's still name dropping, and it's still tiresome to old, un-famous me.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The book also contains two big revelations, which ***spoiler alert*** I am about to detail. The first is that Tucci recently had a pretty bad form of mouth cancer that not only threatened his life, it took away his ability to enjoy food for two years. And that plain sucks. Luckily, treatment and endurance won out and, by the end of the book, he was back to eating almost normally.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The second revelation is even more disturbing - that Tucci has tired of acting and really just wants to feed people from now on. Aw, jeez, Stanley! As we aren't in the realm of Meryl and George (or of the Tooch's other friends and relatives), that makes us the losers. I will definitely miss Stanley Tucci the actor. Though there remains the fact that CNN has renewed his wonderful TV series ... and I can't wait to see what regions of Italy he'll visit next (my Italian-American wife is rooting hard for Abruzzo)!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*<i>Big Night </i>is a terrific independent film starring Tucci, Tony Shalhoub,
Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, and Isabella Rossellini<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>that put Stanley’s name on the map and boasts a 96% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes.</span><o:p></o:p></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-87683550782430686542021-10-26T13:14:00.007-04:002021-10-27T07:44:36.543-04:00Running at 63<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qA9-WjE4rOc/YXgjb7f07pI/AAAAAAAAEN8/PypjcWggSuU36mu-37J3f_jhW8sVx7u7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s365/DB%2B10k%2Bfinish%2Bby%2BDenis%2BNally.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="291" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qA9-WjE4rOc/YXgjb7f07pI/AAAAAAAAEN8/PypjcWggSuU36mu-37J3f_jhW8sVx7u7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DB%2B10k%2Bfinish%2Bby%2BDenis%2BNally.JPG" width="255" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It isn't getting any easier! My first 10k race.<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by Denis Nally</span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table>One thing about runners is that we are persistent. While a lot of people let the pandemic keep them indoors and out of shape, we just kept on running, even if the usual races that keep us motivated were mostly canceled (or virtualized).<p></p><p>This year's running season was an improvement over last year's, in that we got incredibly effective vaccines (thank you, scientists!) which allowed many of the regular road races in the Capital Region to come back live.<br /></p><p>My personal goals stayed the same, which is to just keep at it and try to maintain the pace I had established in recent years for my usual 5k distance. But that's getting harder with age. In fact, I now think, in my 64th year, that I've already peaked. Which is OK - and that's the meaning at the heart of today's story.</p><p>Now, that doesn't mean I couldn't improve my times - barring injury, it would definitely be possible, as I believe any trainer would attest. However, it would take more and more time and effort at this age, which to me is simply not worth it. After all, the benefit - and purpose - of all this is to be healthy, not to be faster than someone else. And it's well documented that the speed you run has almost nothing at all to do with the health benefits you gain from running.</p><p>So, this year, as before, I continued to run approximately every other day, for about two to five miles each time, totaling around 10 to 12 miles per week. I participated in seven races, including a couple of virtuals, and one 10k race, the rest being 5ks. I do have one more 5k race to go, a tiny one in Alplaus, where my in-laws live - so I'll have a nice little cheering section, and one last chance to set a PR (that's runner slang for personal record) for 2021 before the cold weather sends me back to the indoor track.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AMAN_nxhbfk/YXgtb1YxMNI/AAAAAAAAEOE/WbpAKjqnr20wLbZYjg0VZlcbbHYvyyC4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DB%2Bat%2B63%2Bby%2BKLC.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1179" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AMAN_nxhbfk/YXgtb1YxMNI/AAAAAAAAEOE/WbpAKjqnr20wLbZYjg0VZlcbbHYvyyC4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DB%2Bat%2B63%2Bby%2BKLC.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy after a lovely virtual race on the <br />Shining Sea Bikeway in Falmouth, Mass.<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by Karen Ciancetta</span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table>My best 5k time so far this year is 26:20 - not too bad, and only a bit behind last year's best time of 26:11. (Interesting fact: Statistically, a runner loses 7 seconds per year per 5k, which puts me right on course in my decline.) In the races I ran this year, I placed second in my age group twice, which is similar to my prior results after age 60, but still somewhat meaningless, as it really depends mostly on just who shows up.<p></p><p>Case in point: For this year's JCC Dunkin' Run (my "home" race, as the course is right by my house), I decided to try the 10k distance, even though I was the defending champion in my age group at the 5k distance from the last time they had the race in 2019. I'd run 10k a few times in training and figured I could break 58 minutes or, if having a really good day, maybe even break 57.</p><p>In the end, I gave it my all (as you can see in the finish-line snap at the top of this post) and clocked in at 57:20 - finishing last out of seven men in my age group. It's not like it was even close - four of those guys were a full <i>10 minutes </i>ahead of me - which is like 25 runs in baseball - and I honestly can't begin to understand how they're physically able to do it. But, for me, it was still a PR for the distance, and a successful effort.</p><p>Also, underlining the fun that comes from joining the runners' community in these events, the person who finished directly in front of me was the women's 15k winner and directly behind me was the second-place finisher - you heard right, they ran 50% farther than I did in about the same time. Two weeks later that same pair - 30-year-old Caitie Meyer and her friendly 37-year-old rival Karen Bertasso Hughes - finished 4th and 6th in the Freihofer's Run for Women. Nice company to be with on a weekend morning!</p><p>In the end, I am most grateful simply to be able to run as a senior, and to be in good health at this perilous time in our history. I may never again break 26 minutes for a 5k run, but I hope to be able to run, however slowly, for many years to come.</p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-17789991548895203412021-10-03T20:53:00.008-04:002021-10-10T10:29:57.855-04:00Ruminations on the Regional<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hw8s8VCBJQs/YVpPu_1fd9I/AAAAAAAAENc/Q0_gxYhYvF4j7CwN2gDLy-BSguOQGIMtACLcBGAsYHQ/s498/MHR2021.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="498" height="199" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hw8s8VCBJQs/YVpPu_1fd9I/AAAAAAAAENc/Q0_gxYhYvF4j7CwN2gDLy-BSguOQGIMtACLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h199/MHR2021.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>The 2021 Mohawk Hudson Regional is a bit of a
head-scratcher, not because it fails to represent the region’s range of
outstanding artists (which is the show’s basic mission since its inception 85
years ago), but because it does so in a very cumbersome manner.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I submitted to the show this year, and so I can’t in good
conscience write the critical review I’d like to, but it’s too important an
event to merely pass over, so I’ll try to take an objective approach with this brief
report.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First, some history. Over the past dozen years or so, the
Annual Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region (its formal name) has
been rotating among three sponsoring organizations: The Albany Institute of
History & Art (its original organizer), The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls,
and the University at Albany Art Museum. A prior host, the Schenectady Museum,
changed its mission from art to science some years back, leaving the Regional to wander a bit every
third year, until the Hyde stepped up to fill the role of a third regular host.
During that time, the show landed at least once at the Albany International Airport
Gallery, a fact I mention because, this year, it’s there again (in part).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the Institute, the Hyde, and the University as regular
hosts, the Regional was doing fine, until COVID-19 hit. This disrupted the
University Art Museum’s schedule to the point that it had to cancel its 2021
position in the Regional’s regular rotation, after which it was decided that
the show would be managed by <a href="https://albanycentergallery.org/" target="_blank">Albany Center Gallery</a> (ACG). Being physically too
small and insufficiently staffed to host the show alone, ACG then recruited
additional space and support for the venture from The Sage Colleges’ <a href="https://opalka.sage.edu/" target="_blank">OpalkaGallery</a> and the <a href="https://www.albanyairport.com/airport-amenities/art-and-culture-program" target="_blank">Airport Gallery</a>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This solution, though a compromise, offered additional
perks. Now, rather than having just one big show with one juror (the
longstanding tradition), there would be three shows, each with its own juror, with
all of the art still being drawn from a single pool of entries. Each venue selected
a juror: Hudson gallerist Pamela Salisbury for the Opalka, local artist Alisa
Sikelianos-Carter for ACG, and Seattle-area
artist and arts administrator Tommy Gregory for the Airport – and the stage was
set for a unique event.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The resulting tripartite exhibition features 143 works by a
record 96 artists (14 of whom were also in the 2020 Regional). Unsurprisingly, this horde includes a number of familiar
names, as well as a goodly smattering of new or lesser-known artists, the
diversity of which the organizers had said was a goal for this year’s
exhibition. While I didn’t love the new format, as an artist I was excited to
think that I had three chances to be chosen (alas, that didn’t happen); an additional
decision by the organizers to reduce the entry fee to just $10 (from about $40
in past years) made it even more appealing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, as an audience member, I have a couple of problems with
the arrangement. First, in order to take in the entire selection as one show
(like in all prior years), it’s necessary to find time and the means to go to
all three venues, not to mention somehow keeping in mind what you’ve seen in
each to meld it all together. Second, two of the venues have set rather short
runs for their parts of the show (Sept. 7-Oct.9 at Opalka and Sept. 10-Oct. 9
at ACG), compared to prior years in which the Regional would typically run for
at least two months (which the Airport segment does this year), putting further pressure on the viewer’s resources.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Worse yet, several of the included artists are featured in
two locations, and one is in all three, making it even more difficult to absorb
and understand their contributions as a whole. (I think all artists would agree
that they’d rather not have their work scattered like this.) Even within the
venues there are distribution problems. Nearly half the total artists (44 of
them) have their works crammed into the confines of ACG, making for a
salon-style installation where items are stacked and grouped, and where some
individual artists’ have multiple included pieces separated from each other
within the room. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While I find all that unfortunate, there’s a lot of energy amid
the clutter at ACG, and many intriguing works to be found in the mix there.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In contrast to ACG, the Opalka’s more generous space seems
rather sparsely filled. Salisbury selected mostly abstract art, a form I dearly
love, but this segment of the show somehow comes off strangely flat. I think this
is a consequence of the exhibition being divided – if these mostly worthy works
were intermingled in a larger museum space with the other jurors’ choices, it
would have created a much more stimulating conversation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That more appropriate balance seems to have been struck at
the Airport – possibly because the juror there is more experienced in putting
together large exhibitions for mass consumption in his role as the curator for
the Port of Seattle. If only the entire show had been mounted there as it once was, this might have been another great Regional. But that would
have been impossible, as the formerly vast space of the airport's third-floor gallery was
recently reduced to a much smaller one.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the plus side, that space is open from 8 am to 10 pm
daily, and that segment of the show runs through Nov. 8, so there’s no excuse for missing it.<o:p></o:p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xb0mazzVcd8/YVpMeT46cBI/AAAAAAAAENU/yOwzH_c9LMAqcdEGZKoYC6dZcgX6rj8FACLcBGAsYHQ/s743/MHR%2Bviewers.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="743" height="203" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xb0mazzVcd8/YVpMeT46cBI/AAAAAAAAENU/yOwzH_c9LMAqcdEGZKoYC6dZcgX6rj8FACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h203/MHR%2Bviewers.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viewers peruse a corner of the 2021 Mohawk Hudson Regional at the Airport Gallery</td></tr></tbody></table><br />david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-86217945929834379892021-09-17T09:04:00.001-04:002021-09-17T14:46:46.668-04:00All Together Now at The Hyde, the Tang, etc.<div></div><div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o1x16LyiVgE/YUDyuQpO-EI/AAAAAAAAEL8/aAzpArFnkeMi2DOgaNtIA4nroJxEOQCQwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2047/tang%2Bhyde%2Binstall.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="2047" height="175" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o1x16LyiVgE/YUDyuQpO-EI/AAAAAAAAEL8/aAzpArFnkeMi2DOgaNtIA4nroJxEOQCQwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h175/tang%2Bhyde%2Binstall.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;">Installation view of <i>Summer Bomb Pop</i> at The Hyde Collection; from top, left are</div><div style="text-align: center;">works by Myron Stout, Sarah Braman, Mindy Shapero, Robert Reed, and Steve Roden</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>Though summer is on the wane, a constellation of shows that began to emit from Skidmore College's Tang Teaching Museum in the spring will continue well into the fall, and so could nicely serve as a buffer to the inevitable end of our warmest season.<div><br /><div><i><a href="https://tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/356-all-together-now" target="_blank">All Together Now</a></i> is a wonderfully conceived project in which Tang curators, other art venues' curators, and Skidmore students collaborated to bring elements from the Tang's collection into other spaces, where they interact with related works from those museums' collections. It's my impression that this concept was birthed by the COVID-caused closure of the Tang to non-Skidmore viewers for more than a year (it reopened to the public on July 10th), and a desire to bring some of its holdings into the community during this shutdown. It also fostered some cool collaborations, and fed fuel to the fire of those students' educations, which is a core mission of the Tang.</div><div><br /></div><div>The resulting eight exhibitions, six of which are still on view, cover a lot of ground, from sculptural wooden hat forms, to 19th-century photographs, to contemporary abstract paintings. Among the collaborating institutions are The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, Yaddo and The National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, and the former Brookside Museum (now the Saratoga County History Center) in Ballston Spa. Two of the shows have closed - one at Saratoga Arts and one at the Tang; and two are not easily accessible - at Yaddo and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center; so I recently visited the four that remain, including one at the Tang that opened on July 10 (the prior one closed in June).</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8-6Q2kQqVlk/YUTghB8xqJI/AAAAAAAAENE/-K8enI8vXa4_MKvZMtA7tQz9Hc_7UX48gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Tang-Hyde-030-web.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1303" data-original-width="2048" height="178" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8-6Q2kQqVlk/YUTghB8xqJI/AAAAAAAAENE/-K8enI8vXa4_MKvZMtA7tQz9Hc_7UX48gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Tang-Hyde-030-web.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left, works by Augustus Thompson, Bridget Riley,<br />Richmond Burton, and Man Ray are grouped in<br /><i>Summer Bomb Pop</i><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">all Hyde photos by Arthur Evans</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The grand tour, taken up with a culture-vulture friend riding shotgun, proved to be exhausting but awesome. We started at the northernmost point, where recent works of art from the Tang's holdings are blended with selections from the Hyde's Feibes & Schmitt collection of 20th-century abstraction in the museum's main gallery. (The Hyde has several other worthy shows also currently on view, but we'll focus on just this one for now.)</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Summer Bomb Pop: Collections in Dialogue </i>is rich in significant stand-alone works, or in tasty juxtapositions if you choose to view it that way, with a smattering of explanatory labels that delve into the history of some of the works and artists on view. Most of the labels are student efforts, but several are by prominent art critic Dan Cameron, and add worthwhile insights.</div><div><br /></div><div>The show's title (taken from a 2008 painting by Chuck Webster that leads the installation) is a clear message that this should be fun - and it delivers. I was surprised after immersing myself in what seemed to be a great big show, that there are only 26 works in it, but many are both large and complex, and they powerfully command the spacious gallery with scarcely a false note.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-teHotIHdTO0/YUInFu163SI/AAAAAAAAEMU/v2z9l382ZD0zmD_jL2URxaOk6ehORy3VACLcBGAsYHQ/s466/Braman_Fall%2BFriend.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="466" height="149" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-teHotIHdTO0/YUInFu163SI/AAAAAAAAEMU/v2z9l382ZD0zmD_jL2URxaOk6ehORy3VACLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h149/Braman_Fall%2BFriend.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah Braman - <i>Fall Friend</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Introductory wall text states that <i>Summer Bomb Pop </i>intends to "stimulate compelling new conversations in American abstraction," which it has achieved by careful selection from both collections, resulting in a satisfying representation of well-known names (Man Ray, for example) and fresh discoveries (at least to me). Some of my favorites included Augustus Thompson's 2014 acrylic painting <i>Untitled (Like a Kingsnake)</i>, Ellsworth Kelly's 1980 shaped oil painting <i>Diagonal with Curve XII, Blue #611</i>, and Sarah Braman's 2012 sculpture <i>Fall Friend</i>, which Cameron describes as "motivated by an urge to spruce up the visually drab ... Minimalist Art movement of the 1960s."</div><div><br /></div><div>What struck me most about this show is that so many young artists today are continuing and expanding on the Modernist traditions of abstraction, even as postmodern art has long since dived into a maelstrom of other modes of expression, including video, performance, environmental art, and all manner of identity politics, along with anything else you can imagine. I had no idea minimalism and abstraction were still so alive and well, and I am delighted to find that they are, and playing so nicely at the Hyde with their estimable forebears.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QjaiLlGwMM/YUDvaUx3LwI/AAAAAAAAELk/4GZNEzj5VWw1dCh-S8YQndezvnmHLtwhQCLcBGAsYHQ/s705/four%2Bgreens%2B1957.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="705" height="263" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QjaiLlGwMM/YUDvaUx3LwI/AAAAAAAAELk/4GZNEzj5VWw1dCh-S8YQndezvnmHLtwhQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h263/four%2Bgreens%2B1957.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Four Greens, Upper Manhattan Bay, 1957</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Our next stop was the Tang itself, where we were greeted by a mind-boggling collection of well over 100 postcard collages by Ellsworth Kelly, all lovingly matted and framed in soft white. Grouped more or less chronologically (or thematically), and covering nearly 50 years of playful exploration by the artist, they are drawn from a total of 400 such works still held by Kelly's surviving spouse, Jack Shear, who has generously loaned them to the Tang.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NTgy-ykjj90/YUDvmL3U_GI/AAAAAAAAELo/CGRjpVnpowsVjXAR_uJ4VJClasRKAWG0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s472/Front%2BStreet.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NTgy-ykjj90/YUDvmL3U_GI/AAAAAAAAELo/CGRjpVnpowsVjXAR_uJ4VJClasRKAWG0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Front%2BStreet.JPG" width="219" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Front Street,</i> <i>1978</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Simply entitled <i>Ellsworth Kelly Postcards</i>, this is one of the most exciting art shows I've seen in years. Not only are the images almost universally witty, visually sharp, accessible, and clearly related to Kelly's more "serious" art, they provide a window into the artist's process that few exhibitions do, which is quite a gift to contemplate.</div><div><br /></div><div>All but a handful of the works on display retain the diminutive scale of a standard postcard (typically 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches), and most combine very few elements to create a powerful transformation of the mundane into the - dare I say? - transcendent. One is particularly struck by how precisely Kelly has again and again fitted two disparate elements into a cohesive whole. Simple? You try it!</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvHfwQ79GkU/YUDvwl4DELI/AAAAAAAAELw/aMMBYElijWsgjTDfsCZc-ecvaMvNwYg3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s472/stephanie.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvHfwQ79GkU/YUDvwl4DELI/AAAAAAAAELw/aMMBYElijWsgjTDfsCZc-ecvaMvNwYg3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/stephanie.JPG" width="217" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Images des Antilles (Stephanie de Monaco) 1984</i></td></tr></tbody></table>It may seem easy to play around with paper every day for fifty years or so but, I promise you, it's very hard work and, in my opinion, represents a triumph by the artist over the vexing problem of life itself. </div><div><br /></div><div>Walking through the <i>Postcards </i>show, I tried to imagine old Ellsworth toiling away at a little desk upstairs while everyone else was at the beach or drinking by the pool. He was a very soft-spoken guy (we met once, briefly), and modest, despite his wealth and success; these tiny creations mirror that personality.</div><div><br /></div><div>I went away elated, and deeply impressed at Kelly's persistence. I will be going back to this one.</div><div><br /></div><div>Working our way south, we next stopped in Saratoga Springs at the National Museum of Racing, a very expensively built and beautifully managed operation I'd never before visited (sorry, but my interest in horse racing is basically zero). We were there to view a small but significant installation of Eadweard Muybridge's photographs of animals in motion, part of the Jack Shear collection at the Tang, which were paired with three of the Museum of Racing's horse paintings by Henry Stull.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2G24jNNgQ0/YUKPrkyH23I/AAAAAAAAEMs/-PuY_5c8NgsH8Nwb8DyZwQgf1LqP_YViACLcBGAsYHQ/s1660/Muybridge.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1118" data-original-width="1660" height="189" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2G24jNNgQ0/YUKPrkyH23I/AAAAAAAAEMs/-PuY_5c8NgsH8Nwb8DyZwQgf1LqP_YViACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Muybridge.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four photo sequences by Eadweard Muybridge are shown<br />with a painting by Henry Stull at the Museum of Racing</td></tr></tbody></table>When Muybridge was commissioned by Leland Stanford in 1870 to use stop-action photography to prove that a galloping horse will have all four of its hooves off the ground at once, the expectation was that this would happen when the animal's legs were all extended in a great leap forward. Instead, the proof was achieved - but with the surprise result that the four hooves would only be off the ground while gathered under the horse's belly.</div><div><br /></div><div>The concise installation at the Museum of Racing, entitled <i>Muybridge and Motion</i>, perfectly illustrates the impact of this revelation by showing a Stull painting from before 1870, in which a race horse is depicted with its four hooves extended, and two Stull paintings from after 1870, where the horses are depicted correctly with their hooves gathered underneath. All three paintings are prime examples of such art, and enjoyable to examine. While the Muybridge photographs on view do not include his original experiment, they do include a similar sequence, a nice smattering of other horse studies, a nifty sequence of fallow deer on the run, and a couple of grids that show the motion of common birds in flight (a pigeon and a red-tailed hawk).</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OfFVp0ITUCs/YUKU4fI9BlI/AAAAAAAAEM8/xswKUG-cdCgpt56oM-SGBH92rBSAS-zRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s471/hat%2Bform.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="435" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OfFVp0ITUCs/YUKU4fI9BlI/AAAAAAAAEM8/xswKUG-cdCgpt56oM-SGBH92rBSAS-zRQCLcBGAsYHQ/w185-h200/hat%2Bform.jpg" width="185" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A wooden hat form<br />made in New York City</td></tr></tbody></table>Our final visit was to the Saratoga County History Center in Ballston Spa, where a very engaging display of hats and hat forms is spread onto shelves and in vitrines. The five wooden forms (also known as blocks) are from the Tang collection, while the 25 hats, covering an impressive range of styles from the newsboy cap to ladies' elegant bonnets, are from the History Center's collection.</div><div><br /></div><div>A nice printed booklet accompanies the show, which is entitled <i>The Social Lives of Hats</i>, providing solid descriptions and well-founded historical notes, all of them researched and written by Skidmore students. I must comment on the hat forms as really cool objects, works of art in themselves, even if by accident. But I may be biased, as I happen to possess a couple of similar wooden forms my uncle rescued from the streets of Manhattan decades ago.</div><div><br /></div><div>The shows I've reviewed remain open through the following dates (more details are <a href="https://tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/356-all-together-now" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">here</a>):</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Summer Bomb Pop </i>at The Hyde, through Oct. 31</li><li><i>The Social Lives of Hats </i>at the SCHC, through Oct. 31</li><li><i>Ellsworth Kelly Postcards </i>at the Tang, through Nov. 28</li><li><i>Muybridge & Motion </i>at the Museum of Racing, through Jan. 2</li></ul><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sjumz_r1dtA/YUKTy7kF-sI/AAAAAAAAEM0/UUkN6NL3OnwT0IHn5h72n4ZQZrEBYzEcACLcBGAsYHQ/s1905/hats.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1905" height="231" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sjumz_r1dtA/YUKTy7kF-sI/AAAAAAAAEM0/UUkN6NL3OnwT0IHn5h72n4ZQZrEBYzEcACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h231/hats.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An installer poses hats and hat forms at the Saratoga County History Center</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div></div></div>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-68733482629447306692021-08-18T14:50:00.001-04:002021-08-31T13:40:47.161-04:00Keith Haring at Fenimore Art Museum<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GpSfCIS-eRU/YRq5X5AXWKI/AAAAAAAAEKc/JXkdhEOVY6kPybpU0mEHOdu_FqxSlpbYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Gallery%2B1%2BKH%2BIMG_9771.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="1024" height="125" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GpSfCIS-eRU/YRq5X5AXWKI/AAAAAAAAEKc/JXkdhEOVY6kPybpU0mEHOdu_FqxSlpbYgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h125/Gallery%2B1%2BKH%2BIMG_9771.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of <i>Keith Haring: Radiant Vision</i> at the Fenimore Art Museum<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">photo provided</span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Keith Haring was born in 1958 (one month before me) and became a defining artist of his generation before he died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of 31. <i>Keith Haring: Radiant Vision</i>, on view at the <a href="http://fenimoreart.org" target="_blank">Fenimore Art Museum</a> in Cooperstown through <strike>Sept. 6</strike> Oct. 11, tells the story of how that remarkable career happened, and explores what it meant. The exhibition uses a clever graphic timeline, wall text, and ample quotes from the artist to recount Haring's history, and features a broad and deep sampling of the artist's work (including more than 100 works from a private collection, and a very impressive gigantic etching from the Fenimore's collection).<p></p><div>A news release about the show states that Haring "was arguably the most accomplished and prominent American artist of the 1980s," a claim I can neither fully agree with nor effectively refute. As an exact contemporary of Haring's, I can only say that he never held a lot of interest for me, partly because of the very commercial nature of his work, and partly because, though incredibly successful, he didn't have the chance to reach his full potential as an artist.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Radiant Vision</i> offers an excellent opportunity to see for yourself what you think about a young man whose contributions included helping to bring graffiti art and hip hop into the mainstream, extending the art-for-all populism of his good friend Andy Warhol, and combining art with activism, perhaps more successfully than anyone else, before or since. The latter two achievements are, to me, the more valuable, but all of it is astonishingly impressive for a person whose career lasted just 10 years.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mBru8S0-3HI/YR1HB0Y6tdI/AAAAAAAAEKo/E-PfKLR7_1k4mKEtB3eXklCXN8ESJkyrACLcBGAsYHQ/s789/fam-exhibpg-haring-shafrazi-1200x675-1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="789" height="171" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mBru8S0-3HI/YR1HB0Y6tdI/AAAAAAAAEKo/E-PfKLR7_1k4mKEtB3eXklCXN8ESJkyrACLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h171/fam-exhibpg-haring-shafrazi-1200x675-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keith Haring is seen at an early exhibition<br />of his work at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">photo by Allen Tannenbaum 1982</span></i></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Haring was essentially a graphic designer whose pictures relied on super-simplified line drawings of iconic symbols to communicate primal messages, just as corporate logo designers strive to do. And he was incredibly good at it. He used pure primary and secondary colors, vivid unmixed paints and inks, big shapes, and empty backgrounds, along with words and symbols, to make exuberant, bold statements about life as he saw it.</div><div><br /></div><div>As seen in this exhibition, Haring invented his own visual vocabulary - a crawling baby, angular barking dogs, leaping stick figures, etc. - and rode it to vast global dissemination. He also used these skills in eminently worthy campaigns against AIDS, apartheid, and drug abuse, work that is well documented here, and which shows how effective simple graphic art and youthful sincerity can be. </div><div><br /></div><div>However, there are a few outliers scattered here and there throughout the exhibition that hint at a much more subtle artist who may have been trying to emerge from behind the public Keith Haring. That artist worked looser, with less clearly defined boundaries, used thinner lines and more shading, and employed a less bright palette to evoke deeper meanings and messier emotions. Some of those works reminded me of Miro' and Picasso and, as I walked around the exhibition, I found that I liked that version of Keith Haring a lot better than the one we all already knew.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the best aspects of <i>Radiant Vision </i>is the way it demonstrates Haring's humility and humanity, through quotes on the wall, in which he repeatedly explains how much he wants art to be accessible to all, and through a charming TV show interview in which he asserts an almost selfless modesty, alongside a crystal clear vision. These were the things in the show that did the most to convince me of Haring's significance. Though it goes without saying, it's a terrible shame that he died so young. Despite his own almost superhuman optimism, I simply couldn't shake the sadness.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tO_27a-QTXw/YR1R95V7LHI/AAAAAAAAELY/VGMhycBghz0MlTk2qAY5o2hUTtliVTh2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s368/5-265.checkerboard-in-polychrome-assemblage_2020.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="367" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tO_27a-QTXw/YR1R95V7LHI/AAAAAAAAELY/VGMhycBghz0MlTk2qAY5o2hUTtliVTh2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/5-265.checkerboard-in-polychrome-assemblage_2020.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Checkerboard</i>, polychrome assemblage 2020<br />by Laurene Krasny Brown</td></tr></tbody></table>Also currently on view at the Fenimore are a pair of shows that opened a couple of weeks ago and will remain there through Dec 31. <i>Toying with the World: Works by Laurene Krasny Brown</i> and </div><div><i>Believe In Yourself: What We Learned From Arthur</i>, which features the work of illustrator Marc Brown,<i> </i>stand alone in separate galleries but are closely linked, in that the two artists are a married couple.</div><div><br /></div><div>Marc Brown is known to anybody with kids through the <i>Arthur </i>books and TV series, and the exhibition does a fine job of sharing the process involved in creating those products. Brown is an absolutely first-rate illustrator and, like any successful commercial artist, he clearly works his tail off. It was great fun to see the thumbnail sketches and story boards that lead to a finished book, but even better to see the exquisitely detailed paintings that are so easily taken for granted once they're on the printed page.</div><div><br />Laurene Krasny Brown is a much more interior artist, working with modest materials to pursue an almost mystical personal vision built around the concept of games. Where I was expecting stuff more childlike, instead I found a persistent exploration of geometric and architectural themes, characterized by a soft palette of early-American colors in paper and gouache. Brown's playfulness was apparent, but tempered by the same seriousness that I've observed in certain active toddlers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Both shows are well worth spending some time with. By the way, admission to the Fenimore is free for those 19 and under for the duration of these exhibitions - so feel free to bring the kids.</div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ux3W5RamxCY/YR1N2X3Gf8I/AAAAAAAAEKw/hOr0Q5G_gygxTNGM-lnahb-tsx2W_-pHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s995/fam-exhib-pg-arthur-sier-1200x675-1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="995" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ux3W5RamxCY/YR1N2X3Gf8I/AAAAAAAAEKw/hOr0Q5G_gygxTNGM-lnahb-tsx2W_-pHgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h271/fam-exhib-pg-arthur-sier-1200x675-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A painting by Marc Brown from <i>Wild About Books</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-37656119505960297262021-08-06T17:24:00.000-04:002021-08-06T17:24:47.483-04:00Spiritual Roots: Wendy Ide Williams at Laffer Gallery<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QKNe_xvPA_k/YQ1na8YxYFI/AAAAAAAAEJs/VmV4QC24RZUlAQJhv4WXosc9_BInz8CwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s783/Night-Blloming-Riot.-Waiting-For-Cereus.-2019.-31-x-38-inches.-Mixed-media-on-Paper.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="783" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QKNe_xvPA_k/YQ1na8YxYFI/AAAAAAAAEJs/VmV4QC24RZUlAQJhv4WXosc9_BInz8CwwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h306/Night-Blloming-Riot.-Waiting-For-Cereus.-2019.-31-x-38-inches.-Mixed-media-on-Paper.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Night Blooming Riot</i> - mixed media on paper 2019</td></tr></tbody></table>It's been quite a while since the painter Wendy Ide Williams has been the subject of a solo exhibition, and her current tour de force at <a href="https://thelaffergallery.com/" target="_blank">The Laffer Gallery</a> in Schuylerville, entitled <i>Spiritual Roots</i>, shows just how overdue this event is.<p></p><p>I've been following Williams' career since the late 1970s, when we were both art students in Providence, R.I., and she was already pretty good back then - but I can easily say that she just keeps getting better. The selection of 48 paintings on paper or canvas currently at Laffer presents an artist absolutely on fire.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bCJBB40UO04/YQ1wcG0KncI/AAAAAAAAEJ0/37dIWCVTlVotEocJWUvbXWlRjEkG96maACLcBGAsYHQ/s741/Bathed-in-deep-water.-2019.-11-x9-inches.-21.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bCJBB40UO04/YQ1wcG0KncI/AAAAAAAAEJ0/37dIWCVTlVotEocJWUvbXWlRjEkG96maACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Bathed-in-deep-water.-2019.-11-x9-inches.-21.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bathed in Deep Water</i>, mixed media on paper 2019</td></tr></tbody></table>More than half the show consists of a grid of same-sized small works on paper, all of which are quickly made drawings in ink and watercolor from the last couple of years. This display alone would be worthy of a show, as it eloquently delineates the complex and heartfelt process of daily exploration that is the backbone of Williams' process. In contrast to the larger works on paper and the much more layered acrylic paintings on canvas that make up the rest of the show, these pieces have a lightness and a more visibly direct connection to nature that reveals an essential quality of Williams' otherwise persistently abstract imagery.<p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pyfNqi5sYnk/YQ1yzLA-VoI/AAAAAAAAEJ8/-sWC1p0Emt4N3DIhy_xS9dF2p5R-Ct0bgCLcBGAsYHQ/s742/Flowers.-2018.-11-x-9-inches-Mixed-media-on-paper-13.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="600" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pyfNqi5sYnk/YQ1yzLA-VoI/AAAAAAAAEJ8/-sWC1p0Emt4N3DIhy_xS9dF2p5R-Ct0bgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Flowers.-2018.-11-x-9-inches-Mixed-media-on-paper-13.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Flowers</i>, mixed media on paper 2018</td></tr></tbody></table>That tension between the abstract and the representational is at the core of Williams' painting, such that the generally non-narrative canvases read as pure shape and color, yet within them there is always a recognizable presence of natural forms, ranging from plants and paramecia to birds and (if you let your imagination go with hers) even humans. These subjects, however, are hidden in a network of patterns, chains, cells, stripes, and dots, often distributed almost evenly over the picture plane and, always, in a riot of vivid colors.<p></p><p></p>One of Williams' tricks is to cast the majority of her compositions in a vertical format, adding some square canvases to a mix that includes very few horizontals. This is one way of avoiding the confines of landscape while, in fact, often depicting natural subjects. Williams also increasingly employs intense color combinations, sometimes so busily covering the painting surface that there's no relief, but also regularly providing restful zones of white or black.<p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e1Dll2fg3Wk/YQ1zc8DbvPI/AAAAAAAAEKE/Cyvgdx0mL0UgqeqdrUb5mtGnQZiULxAygCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/Unburdening.-2021.-48-x-36-inches.-acrylic-on-canvas.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="599" height="373" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e1Dll2fg3Wk/YQ1zc8DbvPI/AAAAAAAAEKE/Cyvgdx0mL0UgqeqdrUb5mtGnQZiULxAygCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Unburdening.-2021.-48-x-36-inches.-acrylic-on-canvas.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Unburdening</i>, acrylic on canvas 2021</td></tr></tbody></table>Some of the most recent pieces in this show veer toward a darkness that I found myself very drawn to, and in them the black areas serve to make the other colors look even richer to the eye (a technique I first observed in paintings by Matisse and Picasso). These more heavily worked paintings are among the best in the show, and the best I've seen Williams make. They show not only skill and vision, but aggressive and persistent technique that dares to take chances by going beyond the first or second solution to a problem. It's harder work - and more dangerous - than most non-painters would ever know.<p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rKkahgDrRFg/YQ2nhwdJEgI/AAAAAAAAEKU/oIk0MFW80GopoGZnVPgAORlipmjkPKxxgCLcBGAsYHQ/s706/In-The-Jewelry-Box-2019.-43.5-x-29.5.-Mixed-media-on-paper.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rKkahgDrRFg/YQ2nhwdJEgI/AAAAAAAAEKU/oIk0MFW80GopoGZnVPgAORlipmjkPKxxgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/In-The-Jewelry-Box-2019.-43.5-x-29.5.-Mixed-media-on-paper.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>In the Jewelry Box</i>, mixed media on paper 2019</td></tr></tbody></table>Perhaps best of all, in a certain sense, is that these paintings are selling like crazy. Gallery director Erik Laffer told me on a recent visit that it may be the most successful show commercially that he's ever had, something really striking to consider given the fact that the paintings are non-representational and not at all purely decorative. Maybe that's a sign - could it be that well over a year of living with a terrifying pandemic has caused art buyers to dig deeper? One can hope.<p></p><p>In any case, it's a very healthy sign for both Laffer and Williams that art lovers are lining up for challenging work from a regional favorite. Without a doubt, she has earned it.</p><p><i>Spiritual Roots</i> will remain on view through Aug. 22; The Laffer Gallery's hours are from noon to 5 p.m., Thursday to Sunday, or by appointment.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BRMuJHClI2M/YQ11VMY-OYI/AAAAAAAAEKM/fxdP5YmTm1Mea5ftcOkNtXhZSANJtbThQCLcBGAsYHQ/s610/Covid-Gift-Previous-a-Caterpillar.-2021.-48-x-48-inches.-Acrylic-on-Canvas.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="610" height="394" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BRMuJHClI2M/YQ11VMY-OYI/AAAAAAAAEKM/fxdP5YmTm1Mea5ftcOkNtXhZSANJtbThQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h394/Covid-Gift-Previous-a-Caterpillar.-2021.-48-x-48-inches.-Acrylic-on-Canvas.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Covid Gift (Previous a Caterpillar)</i>, acrylic on canvas 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-20716758048168516902021-07-16T14:42:00.003-04:002021-07-16T14:50:48.789-04:00Nikolai Astrup at The Clark<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3JilN0w-Ms/YPF_TRLKiJI/AAAAAAAAEIM/56R2atSgQto-p4cmcmyWB0aMw7IysdRzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NA.1.2_Astrup_A%2BClear%2BNight%2Bin%2BJune.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="1600" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3JilN0w-Ms/YPF_TRLKiJI/AAAAAAAAEIM/56R2atSgQto-p4cmcmyWB0aMw7IysdRzQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h384/NA.1.2_Astrup_A%2BClear%2BNight%2Bin%2BJune.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nikolai Astrup, <i>A Clear Night in June</i>, 1905–07, oil on canvas: That Nordic glow</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This year, the <a href="https://www.clarkart.edu/" target="_blank">Clark Art Institute</a> in Williamstown, Mass., has
taken a different tack with its big summer show. Rather than feature a
blockbuster on the level of Renoir (2019), Van Gogh (2015) or Turner (2003), the
region’s most venerable museum has mounted the first North American show ever of
a little-known early-20th-century Norwegian painter named Nikolai Astrup.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Organized in collaboration with Norway’s KODE Art Museums,
and curated by British art historian MaryAnne Stevens, <i>Nikolai Astrup: Visions
of Norway </i>aims to convince its audience that Edvard Munch had an unjustly
overlooked contemporary who – perhaps - should be regarded as his equal. It’s
an intriguing and challenging argument to engage, and one that, in all honesty,
can’t be concluded – but, in the process, we are given a strong show that is
without a doubt well worth seeing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LsQO0UAnSrM/YPGCCMj-MlI/AAAAAAAAEIU/-LQfGsbe5jUK-abO88xRZ36cGTHt7o3hwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NA.1.3_Astrup_The%2BParsonage.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1282" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LsQO0UAnSrM/YPGCCMj-MlI/AAAAAAAAEIU/-LQfGsbe5jUK-abO88xRZ36cGTHt7o3hwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/NA.1.3_Astrup_The%2BParsonage.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Parsonage</i>, n.d, oil on canvas</td></tr></tbody></table>I am delighted by the irony that, in this era of unrelenting
wokeness in the arts, a leading museum is willing to stake its reputation on a
dead, white, heterosexual, male painter. What nerve! What verve! What fun.
Well, it could be fun, if Astrup weren’t so generally gloomy. But how can you
blame him? After all, he lived in rural Norway, the son of a parson, sickly
from an impoverished childhood, underappreciated.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gloomy – yet glowing. Despite his isolated circumstances and
shortened lifespan (he died in 1928 at the age of 47), Astrup burned with a
passion for his chosen subjects, the Norwegian landscape primary among them -
its particular light, its plants, its folk traditions, its rustic buildings,
and its people. This passion led Astrup to work feverishly, not just in paint,
but also extensively in Japanese-style woodblock printing (ukiyo-e), which he
executed extremely well, whether in multiple colors or in monochrome.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EgwpxDIRrNo/YPGDnjAb9tI/AAAAAAAAEIc/VdP7u9KagRcdU2mn21i3QQzss14pblS3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NA.28.4.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="994" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EgwpxDIRrNo/YPGDnjAb9tI/AAAAAAAAEIc/VdP7u9KagRcdU2mn21i3QQzss14pblS3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/NA.28.4.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bird on a Stone</i>, woodblock print<br />with hand coloring c. 1905–14</td></tr></tbody></table>Fortunately, a significant portion of the expertly laid-out
exhibition is devoted to the prints, including several examples of the original
blocks, themselves alone worth the price of admission. But it is the paintings
that dominate and best tell the story of a man in love with his rural existence
and an ancient culture. This is expressed above all in the night paintings,
which capture the peculiar half-light of the extreme North in summer and the
opportunistic plants that explode in its short growing season.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We learn from the concise wall text that Astrup was an
enthusiastic horticulturalist, and we see evidence of that in the lovingly
rendered trees, bushes, and flowers that pervade his works. No shade of green
escaped his searching eye, but he also exercised plenty of artistic license in
his renderings, in one case featuring identical rhubarb plants in two entirely
different landscape views.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n57g3hzDonk/YPGE4dpc9UI/AAAAAAAAEIk/1Gwzcc_E6nUfOpIK7PV1d4STsZ34tpyXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NA.1.18.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1322" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n57g3hzDonk/YPGE4dpc9UI/AAAAAAAAEIk/1Gwzcc_E6nUfOpIK7PV1d4STsZ34tpyXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/NA.1.18.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rhubarb</i>, 1911–21, oil on canvas</td></tr></tbody></table>We also learn that, mid-career, Astrup weathered a crisis in the form of negative criticism of his work in a Berlin exhibition, which
caused him to rethink his approach and strive to modernize it. I can imagine
that the comments attacked two weaknesses in his work, one of which would be
equally derided today, and that is sentimentality. The other (and I’m just
guessing) could have been his awkward handling of human subjects – if he’d
given them half the life force he gave his plants, many of these paintings
would be far better.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In any case, the later work is indeed stronger overall, as
is particularly evidenced in repeated depictions of a Midsummer Eve bonfire
ritual that Astrup recalls from his youth, when his strict parents forbid him
to participate, as they considered it pagan. Several of these paintings and prints
are presented in the final gallery of the exhibition, making a clear concluding
statement about Astrup’s life, values, and skills as an artist.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SCs0brlcXe0/YPG6IPuSMDI/AAAAAAAAEIs/_kG8K2S5w8cDSTuSxaEwromacJ3_Elt3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NA.1.39_Astrup_Midsummer%2BEve%2BBonfire%2B%2528before%2B1916%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1105" data-original-width="1600" height="221" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SCs0brlcXe0/YPG6IPuSMDI/AAAAAAAAEIs/_kG8K2S5w8cDSTuSxaEwromacJ3_Elt3QCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h221/NA.1.39_Astrup_Midsummer%2BEve%2BBonfire%2B%2528before%2B1916%2529.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Midsummer Eve Bonfire</i>, before 1916, oil on canvas</td></tr></tbody></table>While I’m not a huge fan of folklore, I enjoyed immersing
myself in Astrup’s personal celebration of it, especially as he worked and
reworked themes in paint and prints over many iterations. But I responded more
viscerally, and with great pleasure, to his formal concerns, especially where
color takes on its own life in certain paintings, and where otherworldly light
emanates from his subjects.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is most apparent in some of the landscapes painted at
night, and in a couple of still lives made late in Astrup’s career in the
interior of his home. For me, though the subject is quotidian, private, and
momentary, the painter’s approach to it has taken it beyond those limits to the
universal and the eternal. Perhaps, had he lived longer, Astrup would have
followed this path to a place where the question of a revival would be moot.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But, whether he was truly a great modern painter, or merely
a talented also-ran, Astrup’s contribution is significant enough to be worthy of the
showcase he’s now receiving at the Clark and beyond.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Nikolai Astrup: Visions of Norway</i> will remain on
view in the special exhibition galleries of the Clark Center through Sept. 19; from October to May, it will travel to museums in Norway and Sweden.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hL4dDP6PYF8/YPG7fMeQMzI/AAAAAAAAEI0/h-2Z_njNM9Am_tjhAln7p6Vp6Oykc3yBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NA.20.3.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1295" data-original-width="1600" height="324" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hL4dDP6PYF8/YPG7fMeQMzI/AAAAAAAAEI0/h-2Z_njNM9Am_tjhAln7p6Vp6Oykc3yBQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h324/NA.20.3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nikolai Astrup, <i>Interior Still Life: Living Room at Sandalstrand</i>, 1926–27<br />oil on canvas</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal">Two additional exhibitions currently on view at The Clark are also of great interest. <i>Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne: Nature Transformed </i>is an intriguing collection of Surrealist sculptural works by a non-collaborating French couple who each innovated with materials to create striking visions inspired by nature. It will remain on view through Oct. 31 in a glass-enclosed gallery on the ground floor of the Clark Center that also affords views of several pieces by the Lalannes that are installed outdoors.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7zlSjZu0TSU/YPHNOai9bPI/AAAAAAAAEI8/SF81Pd6D5-crnkpKt0aynbDqMGy74q8ygCLcBGAsYHQ/s433/Shirreff-Four-color-cafe-terrace-%2528Caro%252C-%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%252C-Moorehouse%252C-Matisse%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="433" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7zlSjZu0TSU/YPHNOai9bPI/AAAAAAAAEI8/SF81Pd6D5-crnkpKt0aynbDqMGy74q8ygCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Shirreff-Four-color-cafe-terrace-%2528Caro%252C-%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%25C3%25A2%25E2%2582%25AC%25E2%2580%259C%252C-Moorehouse%252C-Matisse%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erin Shirreff, <i>Four-Color
Café Terrace (Caro, –––––,<br />Moorhouse, Matisse)</i> 2019, dye
sublimation prints<br />on aluminum and archival pigment print</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In the café area downstairs in the Clark Center, and in the nearby Manton Research Center, are several large works by Erin Shirreff, a Canadian multimedia artist who combines sculpture and photography in unique ways. While her single long video stream and simplified photographic constructions are built with layers of references from other sources, they remain fresh, not derivative. Indeed, Shirreff's elegant abstractions are successful postmodern transformations and well worth spending some time with. The yearlong installation, entitled <i>Erin Shirreff: Remainders</i>, runs through Jan. 2.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Finally, <i>Dürer & After</i>, a new exhibition drawn from the Clark’s extensive
holdings, is slated to open tomorrow (July 17) and remain on view through Oct. 3 in the
Eugene V. Thaw Gallery for Works on Paper.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-61584595622079130472021-05-20T16:41:00.003-04:002021-05-20T16:41:50.946-04:00Go Home: Paul Akira Miyamoto at LGAP<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5kA7HNOdkk/YKa-Oh_Xs7I/AAAAAAAAEGY/91mDtQIL6Xc_2EBI6kJlIjl11CvC7-4nACLcBGAsYHQ/s1638/12%2BPM%2BPlank%2B2021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1638" data-original-width="1220" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5kA7HNOdkk/YKa-Oh_Xs7I/AAAAAAAAEGY/91mDtQIL6Xc_2EBI6kJlIjl11CvC7-4nACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/12%2BPM%2BPlank%2B2021.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Plank</i> - oil on canvas 2021</td></tr></tbody></table>A fine solo exhibition by the painter Paul Akira Miyamoto is on view through June 5 at the Lake George Arts Project's <a href="https://www.lakegeorgearts.org/courthouse-gallery/coming-gallery-exhibitions/" target="_blank">Courthouse Gallery</a>.</p><p><i>Go Home</i> presents a rare opportunity to immerse oneself in a world both real and imagined, within which Miyamoto has crafted a deeply personal tribute to his Japanese-American ancestors, while simultaneously presenting a critically important history lesson to those of us who would forget the unjust internment of generations of Americans during World War II by their own government.</p><p>Miyamoto is <i>Sansei</i> - third-generation Japanese-American - and his <i>Issei </i>grandparents, <i>Nisei </i>parents and older siblings lived for more than three years in the remote Poston concentration camp in Arizona, where they used their farming experience to domesticate infertile land, just as they had been forced to do when living free in California before the war.</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qBiW79Re_As/YKbBb-g8sII/AAAAAAAAEGg/29Dsj4bKNlUuqzFSKfgzaY9gM7-IthzUACLcBGAsYHQ/s1580/6%2BPM%2BPromise%2B2021%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1580" data-original-width="1265" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qBiW79Re_As/YKbBb-g8sII/AAAAAAAAEGg/29Dsj4bKNlUuqzFSKfgzaY9gM7-IthzUACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/6%2BPM%2BPromise%2B2021%2Bcopy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Promise</i> - oil on canvas 2021</td></tr></tbody></table>Miyamoto's paintings reimagine these two scenarios as one serialized fever dream, sketching the sun-baked, clear-skied, surveilled family existence of a stoic, racially profiled people who did the best they could in nearly impossible conditions. The body of work gives voice to those people, but it is more celebration than lament. There's a quiet dignity in Miyamoto's figures, a subtle joy in his colors, and a simmering triumph in this gathering of paintings.</p><p>Miyamoto's project actually began long ago, but the majority of works in this show were made in the past year - a time in our nation's history that, unfortunately, could hold a mirror up to those terrible times and see itself fairly clearly. In addition to exploring his personal history, the artist seeks to remind us that we are in danger, even now, of such injustice being perpetrated again on American citizens if we aren't vigilant.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NS05FwXMqc0/YKbE4i-pqZI/AAAAAAAAEGo/SOIpKD5gZ94zyPSOLYlPWQNG_W5oE1oSACLcBGAsYHQ/s1584/1%2BPM%2BShoulder%2B2020%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1262" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NS05FwXMqc0/YKbE4i-pqZI/AAAAAAAAEGo/SOIpKD5gZ94zyPSOLYlPWQNG_W5oE1oSACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1%2BPM%2BShoulder%2B2020%2Bcopy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Shoulder</i> - oil on canvas 2021</td></tr></tbody></table>Along with the 14 paintings on view (ranging in size from 24"x30" to 48"x60"), there is a small selection of framed ink drawings on paper, displayed in a newly dedicated side gallery that the Arts Project has made nice use of for this show. These pieces are both more spontaneous and more specifically detailed than the paintings, featuring delicate monochrome washes of ink and tight pen renderings of camp buildings (one is shown at the bottom of this post). Made in 2018, the drawings seem like a prelude to the paintings, but stand alone as well.</p><p>Additionally, Miyamoto has created a site-specific installation in the main gallery, which is a minimalist reconstruction in tar paper and wood of a camp-type building. Stark, black, geometric, it balances the colorful paintings rather than dominating them.</p><p>Though I'm emphasizing content here, I want to point out that some of the formal and technical qualities of Miyamoto's painting are quite outstanding, with strict control of form, color, composition and, in particular, soft brushwork that makes them perhaps surprisingly sensual and seductive. His human forms are generalized, suggestive rather than specific, but crafted in such a way that their gestures speak clearly.</p><p>At a recent viewing, I noticed that several of the paintings had been sold to private collectors. This is wonderful, of course, but I hope that perhaps some of them will also end up in a museum somewhere. They're that good, and that important. Try to see the show in person if you can.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0slX1qXSPqg/YKbFKv88G_I/AAAAAAAAEGw/d8Bcl2xKu5QsQs9agF82OK041eymyA2QACLcBGAsYHQ/s1313/16%2BCamp%2B%25238%2B2018%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="987" data-original-width="1313" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0slX1qXSPqg/YKbFKv88G_I/AAAAAAAAEGw/d8Bcl2xKu5QsQs9agF82OK041eymyA2QACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h301/16%2BCamp%2B%25238%2B2018%2Bcopy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Camp #8</i> - ink on paper 2018</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1764031298725301479.post-55061008520364634692021-05-11T10:41:00.003-04:002021-05-27T13:19:53.094-04:00In Memoriam: Joel Chadabe<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fysYw1U6AjI/YJl0v5smCiI/AAAAAAAAEF0/gx36S0UcFqkNs7auzKvXcnaMUagRojhsQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1818/Joel%2Bearly.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1095" data-original-width="1818" height="241" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fysYw1U6AjI/YJl0v5smCiI/AAAAAAAAEF0/gx36S0UcFqkNs7auzKvXcnaMUagRojhsQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h241/Joel%2Bearly.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joel Chadabe performs in the 1970s, using a very early PC as part of his equipment</td></tr></tbody></table>On May 2, my dear friend Joel Chadabe died at home in Albany at the age of 82. Joel was a groundbreaking electronic musician and composer who taught for many years at the University at Albany, Bennington College and, more recently, New York University.<p></p><p>I first met Joel in 1987, when we each were renting studio space in a renovated factory in Albany's West Hill neighborhood, and we soon embarked on a friendship that featured many facets: Technical support, creative discussions and collaborations, countless homecooked meals, and an extended series of annual New Year's Eve and Fourth of July parties at the home he shared with Françoise and Benjamin (wife and son - for more detail, see the <a href="https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/timesunion-albany/name/joel-chadabe-obituary?n=joel-chadabe&pid=198586243" target="_blank">Times Union obituary</a> from May 9, and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/arts/music/joel-chadabe-dead.html" target="_blank">New York Times obituary</a>, which came out on May 26).</p><p>Those parties always featured a core group of the Chadabes' friends, many of them associated with UAlbany, but also often included visitors from afar. It wasn't unusual for several languages to be spoken in those evenings, and for subjects from dance choreography to theoretical physics espoused upon by actual experts. The evenings inevitably concluded with Joel at the piano and those bold enough singing songs both familiar and exotic. It was an experience of a time nearly lost to my generation, when friendship, creativity, and love of life seemed enough to conquer the world.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_nxDU6NOebU/YJqTGx6EEYI/AAAAAAAAEF8/HEthuRofSj4I-6RH1t5k_EOhJ-yZTND1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Electric%2BSound.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_nxDU6NOebU/YJqTGx6EEYI/AAAAAAAAEF8/HEthuRofSj4I-6RH1t5k_EOhJ-yZTND1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Electric%2BSound.jpg" /></a></div>Throughout, Joel worked, shuttling back and forth from college to college and from Albany to New York City, where he always had some big project going on, whether a concert series, publishing venture, or recording studio. In 1997, he published an unassuming but seminal paperback book on the history of electronic music, <i>Electric Sound</i>, which I enjoyed immensely, despite my nearly nonexistent musical education. Joel loved sharing his knowledge and, especially, his enthusiasm for everything creative, and that attitude shone throughout the book.<p></p><p>In later years, Joel and I saw less of each other. He was often in New York, the old New Year's crowd was diminishing, so the parties ended, and I got busy with my own working life away from the arts. But the connection remained, and the sadness I feel from his premature departure is acute.</p><p>Joel Chadabe was truly one of a kind, a generous soul full of childlike joy, and he will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ErJXMELAocQ/YJqT6QeWRvI/AAAAAAAAEGE/JvkojmUKRHw9TVec60Zrw-0HxjzVVY0pgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1136/Joel%2Blater.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1136" height="241" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ErJXMELAocQ/YJqT6QeWRvI/AAAAAAAAEGE/JvkojmUKRHw9TVec60Zrw-0HxjzVVY0pgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h241/Joel%2Blater.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some things never change: A recent photo of Chadabe at work with a MacBook.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>david brickmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07535127444912888160noreply@blogger.com0