His latest mural, which popped up in the Welsh steel town of Port Talbot, shows a child catching snowflakes on his tongue — except that the flakes are actually ashes from a dumpster fire behind his back. Merry Christmas! — The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
How Bach’s ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos Upend The Social Order
Bach scholar Michael Marissen observes that, throughout the set, the composer has solo instruments do things that, in the accepted order of things at the time, those instruments simply didn’t do. (Marrissen couches the argument in Christian terms — “the lowly shall be exalted while the exalted shall be brought low” — which is almost always a safe approach with J.S. Bach.) — The New York Times
Pioneering African-American Ballerina Raven Wilkinson Dead At 83
“She began studying at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1955 when she was just 20 years old … [but] eventually left the prestigious dance theater after six years, during many of which she was subject to continued racial discrimination.” She went on to work at the Dutch National Ballet and later New York City Opera. — Essence
Tania Bruguera, Just Out Of Prison, Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Cuban Government
“Tired of suffering defamations in state media publications such as Granma newspaper … as well as official websites from the Ministry of Culture,” said the artist-activist in a statement, “I have decided to legally act against parties who have damaged myself and my family, psychologically, socially, and professionally.” — Artnet
Krampus The Christmas Demon Joins The 21st Century
The half-goat-half-devil has been St. Nicholas’s sidekick and enforcer for hundreds of years, warning little Austrian children that they’d better not be naughty. Traditionally he’d only appear once a year and his mask and costume would be more-or-less homemade, but today’s masks have things like glowing LED eyes, and there are Krampus shows with heavy-metal accompaniment that “feels like a rock concert mixed with a rodeo.” — Public Radio International
Warhol’s Warhorses at the Whitney: Insert Your Own Meanings Here
What most transfixed me about Mustard Race Riot was not the grim subject matter (which I saw anew through the perspective of our current racially charged moment), but Warhol’s uncanny prescience about our media-saturated world. — Lee Rosenbaum
Falla and Flamenco — “The Birth of Spanish Music”
According to my friend the remarkably loquacious Spanish pianist Pedro Carboné, the “birth of Spanish music” occurs during the third of Manuel de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain. — Joe Horowitz
Meet ‘The World’s First Sleep Storyteller-In-Residence’
Phoebe Smith writes what are basically bedtime stories for grownups, 20-to-40-minute narratives that are recorded by actors such as Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley and listened to on an app called Calm, created to help people fall asleep. — The Guardian
Inside The Lives Of Understudies
They get less rehearsal than the principal cast, they have to keep the lines and (crucially) the blocking straight in their minds while rarely getting the chance to use them, and they’re pinned down to one place for all of a show’s run. But even without star-is-born moments, the job is a terrific opportunity for actors fresh out of school to launch careers. Young reporter Zoe Grossinger talks with some Philadelphia actors who are living the understudy life. — The Philadelphia Inquirer
New York Times Book Review Editor Responds To Controversy Over Alice Waters’s Book Recommendation
In response to reader queries, Pamela Paul explains why Alice Walker was chosen for the “By the Book” Q&A feature, how the interview was conducted, and why the published feature didn’t include any explanation or context for Walker’s citation of a book and author widely seen as anti-Semitic. — The New York Times