Matthew Westphal – Page 1290 – ArtsJournal Wayback

What We Need In Scary Times Like These Are Our Favorite Old Shows/Movies/Records

Peter Marks: “In an age of high anxiety – economic or political – we tend to reach into the cabinet of our comforts and scrounge for reminders of stabler periods. So now, it seems, is prime time for nostalgia. As a relatively popular presidency, and the most vulgar and corrosive national election of modern times, both wind down, a nation looks for reassuring signs – and often finds them in the rearview mirror.”

TV Companies Try To Win Back Cord-Cutting Millennials With Their Favorite ’80s And ’90s Shows

“‘In a weird way, the strategy seems to write itself: Like, huh, we have all this stuff, we already own, it, people seem to want it,’ [MTV exec Erik] Flannigan says of MTV Classic. It helps, of course, that MTV’s vintage programming, for many millennials, coincides with ‘that window of your life that’s so formative and so meaningful.'”

Here’s The Best Part Of Morton Feldman’s Six-Hour String Quartet, Chosen By A Violinist About To Perform It

Andrew Bulbrook of the Calder Quartet explains why he likes page 107 best (and also how he and his colleagues prepare to perform a six-hour piece). (includes sound clips)

Leonardo’s ‘St. John The Baptist’, Newly Cleaned, Is Back At The Louvre

There was some concern among conservationists about this project, because the last two restorations of the painting didn’t work out so well.” But they went ahead because the work was “probably the most varnished painting in the Louvre’s [entire] collection.”

Raoul Coutard, 92, The Cinematographer Of The French New Wave

“In that era of portable cameras and fast film stock, his simplified approach to filming and imaginative use of natural light broke with traditional aesthetics, in particular the polished images of the 1950s cinéma de qualité in France. He was identified most with the director Jean-Luc Godard, and Coutard’s direct and unorthodox, yet highly inventive, photography became a pure expression of New Wave values.”

The Possible Caravaggio That Turned Up In Some French Family’s Attic Is Now On View In Milan

The owners of a house in Toulouse found it when they went up to fix a leak in the roof. Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera museum is now showing it alongside a different copy of the same image – Judith Beheading Holofernes – by Caravaggio disciple Louis Finson.

Evicted Cape Town City Ballet Finds Temporary Quarters But Fears It Will Have To Shut Down

The University of Cape Town told the company to move out after students protested ballet as “Eurocentric and colonial”; the dancers claimed they were physically threatened. For now CTCB is using a studio at the back of its performance venue, but the executive director says they’ll have to close entirely if they don’t have a home by January.

The Cairo Arts Center That Terrible Things Kept Happening To Has Finally Reopened

Poor Townhouse. First the police shut it down because – well, because that’s what military dictatorships do. Then the walls fell in, literally. In February the staff returned to work but weren’t allowed to present anything. Now, finally, there’s a new space and new activity.

At Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Collection Grows As Curatorial Staff Shrinks

“The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s second, collection-based exhibition is due to open next March … The announcement comes amid speculation over the momentum of the much-delayed [museum] project, which was launched ten years ago, prompted by the recent departure of two key members [out of five] of its curatorial team.

Author: Matthew Westphal