Author: Matthew Westphal

Paris Project Helps Refugee Artists Resume Their Practices

As reporter Jeffrey Brown visited the headquarters of the Agency of Artists in Exile, “an Ethiopian man belted out a traditional song with accompaniment from this phone. Across the hall, a Yemeni woman used her vast trail of official asylum-seeking papers, accumulated over two years of navigating France’s legal process, to create an art installation. … And a Kurdish actor who fled Turkey practiced a monologue about his first days in Paris.” (video) – PBS NewsHour

How Dead-Musicians-Touring-As-Holograms Became Serious Business

Yes, classical music types have rolled their eyes at dead-Maria Callas and dead-Glenn Gould tours, but rock is another matter. Since the long-departed Tupac Shakur (re-)appeared at the 2012 Coachella Festival, the field has grown, with recent concerts by the images of Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and Frank Zappa posting impressive ticket sales and a full tour by a reanimated Whitney Houston coming this year. And with the acts that form the bedrock of the live music touring business made up of people now in their 60s and 70s, and with recently-dead stars like Prince and David Bowie still having legions of fans, the musical hologram business may soon be booming. Reporter Mark Binelli watches the hologram creators at work. – The New York Times Magazine

‘One Of The Cleverest And Most Successful White-Collar Criminals In The History Of This State’: Broadway Producer Adela Holzer Dead At 90-Something

She had two hits onstage (Murray Schisgal’s All About Town and Terrence McNally’s The Ritz) and numerous flops, adoring profiles in The New York Times and People magazine, three criminal trials, a total of 14 years in prison, Roy Cohn for a lawyer and Jean Harris for a cellmate, and a mountain of Ponzi schemes, fraudulent businesses, and lies (not least her age). – The New York Times

First Glimpse Of Treasures In 15th-Century Emperor’s Tomb

“The sepulchre of Frederick (Friedrich) III, emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493, the greatest monument in Vienna’s cathedral of St Stephen’s, in the city’s historic centre, has been shown to contain his enamelled gilded crown and imperial regalia.” And this has been revealed without opening the tomb, whose cover weights eight tons. – The Art Newspaper

Smithsonian To Release Series Of Comic Books On American History

“One series will include books for middle-school readers inspired by Time Trials, a set of videos from the National Museum of American History that introduces figures from the past, like the traitor Benedict Arnold and the abolitionist John Brown, and encourages the audience to discuss their actions. Other series will draw upon the cultural and scientific knowledge of the Smithsonian.” The project is a partnership with IDW Publishing, which has already produced graphic memoirs by Congressman John Lewis (about the civil rights movement) and George Takei (about his family’s time in a World War II internment camp). – The New York Times

Buck Henry, Screenwriter, Director, Actor, And Comedy Legend, Dead At 89

“[He] created the satirical spy sitcom Get Smart with Mel Brooks, was a frequent early host of Saturday Night Live and turned plastics into a countercultural catchword with his Oscar-nominated screenplay for The Graduate … A restless entertainer, Mr. Henry dabbled in improvisational comedy as well as theater, television and film. He received an Academy Award nomination for co-directing the 1978 afterlife comedy Heaven Can Wait with star Warren Beatty; wrote scripts for the sex farce Candy (1968), based on the novel by Terry Southern, and the Barbra Streisand screwball comedies The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) and What’s Up, Doc? (1972); and appeared as a droll supporting actor in nearly every film he helped create.” – The Washington Post

Judge Orders Netflix To Take Down Brazilian Gay Jesus Video (Temporarily)

“The film entitled The First Temptation of Christ, by the Brazilian production company Porta dos Fundos, came out on December 3 and drew strong criticism from conservative politicians in the mainly Catholic country, the church itself and from evangelicals. … Judge Benedicto Abicair said Wednesday he was ordering the film yanked for now so as to calm tempers until courts can consider the broader merits of a suit against the movie brought by a Catholic association called the Don Bosco Center for Faith and Culture.” – Yahoo! (AFP)