“A dietary staple of an exhausted creative vocabulary, artistic gimmicks continue to be regurgitated at art fairs around the globe. These well-worn ideas have appropriately been parodied on Tumblr pages like ‘Who Wore It Better’ and on Instagram via the anonymous profile @whos__who. Despite some variation in scale, material, or display, these tried-and-tested clichés now urgently demand retiring.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Putting Real Fire And Rain Onstage With Your Own Homemade Machine
Theatrical devices that can provide both a steady stream of rain and actual fire are expensive to rent, let alone buy. So the Wilma Theater’s crew designed and built one themselves.
They’re Remaking ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ – Can They Even *Do* That?
This new Rocky Horror, airing Oct. 20 on Fox, “is its own strange experiment. It will test whether a decades-old musical about science-fiction B-movies and all kinds of sexual awakenings is still relevant or has grown quaint, and whether a Rocky Horror movie made with some polish and preparation is still Rocky Horror at all.”
There’s Still Plenty Of Unknown Work Being Discovered At The Clyfford Still Museum
“Five years after the Clyfford Still Museum opened its doors, much of its collection has yet to be examined. More than 300 paintings by the pioneering Abstract Expressionist whose works fill the museum remain unstretched. ‘A lot of the paintings still smell like they are drying – we’re the first people to unroll them since he made them,’ says Dean Sobel, the museum’s director.”
What’s A Forensic Musicologist? Here’s What
“Peter Oxendale, a onetime glam rocker (‘We all have skeletons,’ he says), is perhaps the world’s leading forensic musicologist, the person musicians call when they believe someone has ripped off their work. In a penthouse overlooking the English Channel, he analyzes songs, everything from pop hits to classical pieces, until he is sure there has been an infringement, or not.”
Klaus Kertess, Art Dealer Who Launched Major Careers, Dead At 76
“Barely a quarter-century old, Kertess opened Bykert [Gallery] in September of 1966, with the financial backing of his former Yale classmate Jeff Byers … Over the next nine years, Bykert would show a formidable roster of artists associated with Minimalism, Post-Minimalism, and Process Art, including Brice Marden, David Novros, Barry Le Va, Alan Saret, Chuck Close, Bill Bollinger, and Dorothea Rockburne, among many others.”
Chief Curator Of Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis Resigns In Wake Of Controversial Exhibit
“[Jeffrey] Uslip’s departure follows weeks of controversy over CAM’s current solo exhibition by white artist Kelley Walker that some found demeaning to African-Americans.”
Was It More Than A Bad Back That Led La Scala Ballet’s Director To Resign?
One of Italy’s leading dailies is reporting that the company dancers’ public rebellion against Mauro Bigonzetti’s repertoire choices did indeed figure in his resignation last week – and that, while his back troubles were a deciding factor, the concern wasn’t solely about Bigonzetti’s own well-being.
Paris’s History Museum Closes For Three-Year Renovation
“The Musée Carnavalet – the museum of Paris’s history, which opened in 1880 and is run by the City of Paris – closed last week for an extensive renovation and restoration. It is due to reopen in late 2019 or early 2020.”
Violinist Daniel Hope Named ‘Artistic Partner’ At San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra
“Ever since the announcement by New Century Chamber Orchestra that its music director will leave at the end of the current season, the organization has been faced with Mission Impossible: replacing the irrepressible and – not to mince words – irreplaceable Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. And yet, the news today is of success.”