The New York Times‘s co-chief art critic looks at how the debate over Schutz’s Open Casket at the Whitney Biennial has developed, reminds us that African-American opinion on the issue is not monolithic, and suggests that those calling for the painting to be suppressed or destroyed have more in common with, for instance, Rudy Giuliani’s crusade against Chris Ofili’s The Holy Virgin Mary than they might like to admit.
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Philadelphia Orchestra Is Playing Pat Metheny This Weekend – And It’s Not A Pops Concert
David Patrick Stearns talks with orchestra percussionist Chris Deviney about the concerto he’s fashioned out of three cuts from Metheny’s album An Imaginary Day.
Rodin’s Mistress Steps Out Of His Shadow With A Museum Of Her Own
“Better known for her passionate, tragic relationship with Rodin and her 30-year confinement in a psychiatric hospital near Avignon, [Camille] Claudel was largely forgotten as an artist until the late 1970s. The new museum holds most of the sculptures that she did not destroy when her affair with Rodin ended.”
Blues Museum Coming To Chicago’s Loop
The Chicago Blues Experience, scheduled to open in spring 2019 just a block from Millennium Park, will include three floors and a lounge with music by a house blues band.
Novelist And Playwright David Storey Dead At 83
“Though Mr. Storey struggled for recognition at first, he went on to win Britain’s premier fiction award, the Man Booker Prize, in 1976 for his novel Saville, in which a miner’s son breaks away from his background. Two of his novels were shortlisted for the award. Three of his works were named best play by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, all within four years in the 1970s. He also earned two Tony nominations.”
‘The First Theatrical Landmark Of The Trump Era’
Michael Schulman offers an essay on Lynn Nottage’s Sweat.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.27.17
Max Hollein, Monet And Baseball
When baseball fans go to a game, they usually come prepared: they know the players, their records and their statistics. They know all about batting order strategy. The same for, say, horse-racing – even more so, because good bettors study the odds. But when people go to art museums, they often know nothing in advance – at least nothing very specific … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-03-26
Moody: Groovin’ High
The Rifftides staff almost let March 26 go by without acknowledging that this is James Moody’s birthday. The master of several saxophones and the flute was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1925. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-03-26
What Algren’s Legacy Doesn’t Need …
… is a museum for tourists that perpetuates clichés about him. … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2017-03-27
Social Revolution At The Drive-In Movies
“Drive-ins also appealed to a new audience-a mixed bag of viewers of different classes, neighborhoods, and races. … They were some of the South’s first integrated sites, and African-American moviegoers felt more safe and respected there than in the dirty balconies of Jim Crow movie theaters. Obese and disabled people, housewives and children, and working-class families also flocked to drive-ins. This sense of mixing … created anxiety among cultural and business leaders and a perception of the movie theaters as ‘passion pits’ where anything could happen.”
‘A Renaissance Of Gore’: We’re In A Golden Age Of Onscreen Violence
Well, if “golden age” is the right term. “If you have a massive appetite for high body counts, stunning fight choreography, and general onscreen savagery, Hollywood might finally be meting out enough punishment for you to scream your safe word.” Jordan Crucchiola looks at how and why this has happened.
Have A Look At Domestic Customs Of China A Thousand Years Ago, Shown On These Tomb Murals
“Archaeologists in the northern Shanxi province of China have uncovered a vibrant record of the customs and costumes of the people living in the area about 1,000 years ago. An ancient tomb filled with colorful, partially preserved murals resurfaced in Datong City as part of Datong Municipal Institute of Archaeology’s excavation of 31 tombs of the Liao and Jin dynasties.”