“[The Amazon drama] Homecoming is just one of a raft of exceptionally good new half-hour dramas. Netflix has Maniac, Amazon also has Forever, and even Facebook has Sorry For Your Loss. Each of these shows have the traditional trappings of an hourlong, and yet they’re shorter and punchier and all the better for it. They’re necessary, too. In an age where we’re being slowly suffocated with a tower of content that nobody can fully keep on top of, a half-hour drama simplifies things.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
How (And Why) ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’ Made Contemporary Dance The Climax Of Its Finale
“Not only does [the episode] ‘Mac Finds His Pride’ contain heartfelt dialogue — like Mac admitting to Frank, ‘I don’t know where I fit in as a gay man and it’s starting to get to me. I’m not feeling very proud.’ — but it ends with a five-minute, show-stopping contemporary-dance number featuring Rob McElhenney and professional ballerina Kylie Shea.” Here’s the inside story of how McElhenney, who insists to this day that he cannot dance, pulled it off.
How One Artist-Endowed Foundation Is Evolving For Today’s Art Philanthropy
“The 25-year-old Joan Mitchell Foundation has worked tirelessly to promote her legacy while providing critical support for working artists, particularly women and artists of color. [Mike Scutari] recently had an opportunity to connect with the foundation’s CEO, Christa Blatchford, about the foundation’s evolution, the growth of artist-endowed foundations, and some of the larger trends permeating the arts philanthropy landscape.”
Want Orchestras To Play More New Music? Here’s What They Need From You To Do It
Many, maybe most, American orchestras would be very happy to program more contemporary work. But it’s not as simple as just deciding to do it, and there are more complications than simple fear of low ticket sales. Patrick Castillo, who is both a composer and a “recovering orchestra administrator” (he’s held senior artistic positions at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony), explains what the issues are and what the new music community can do to help.
Inventor Of 3D-Printed Violin Talks About How And Why She Did It
“Kaitlyn Hova is many things: a violinist, a web developer, a designer, a composer and a neuroscientist. And it was the blurring of these interests that bore a clear and clever idea. … Hova and her husband, who cofounded Hova Labs, have developed the Hovalin, an open source, 3-D printable acoustic violin.” Here is an excerpt from her Q&A and demonstration at last year’s Long Conversation at the Smithsonian. (video)
40,000-Year-Old Painting Of Animal, World’s Oldest, Found In Borneo
“Faded and fractured, the reddish-orange image depicts a plump but slender-legged animal, probably a species of wild cattle that still lives on the island, or simply dinner in the eyes of the artist, if one streak of ochre that resembles a spear protruding from its flank is any guide. The animal is one of a trio of large creatures that adorn a wall in the Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave in the East Kalimantan province of Indonesian Borneo.”
Turns Out We Have A Real Velázquez, Declares Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston
The reattribution of Kitchen Maid (ca. 1620) “is the result of new conservation and research by the institution’s chief paintings conservator, Zahira Bomford … When she removed layers of wax, resin and repainting that marred the painting and completed various technical studies, she and others at the museum became convinced that her hunch was true.”
Calgary’s New Library Aims To Bridge Gap (Literally) Between Wealthy Downtown And The (Literal) Wrong Side Of The Tracks
The CDN Central Library, designed by the starchitectural firm Snøhetta, physically straddles the light rail line that divides the city’s business and cultural districts from the much-poorer East Village. The city authorities and designers deliberately created a pleasing space for residents of all income levels to use for free, not to mention providing the access to computers and the internet that middle-class people take for granted.
Russian Billionaire Who Keeps Making Art-World Headlines Detained For Questioning In Monaco
Dmitry Rybolovlev — who purchased Donald Trump’s Palm Beach mansion for way over market value, was the seller when Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi became the most expensive artwork in history, and has been suing art dealer Yves Bouvier in various countries for years — is being investigated for trying to illegally influence Monegasque judges and police with respect to his suit against Bouvier in the principality.
As Brazil Turns Right, Artists Worry, And Some Flee
It’s not just the election of Jair Bolsonaro (though that’s the tipping point); it’s the growing stridency of his conservative, and especially Evangelical, base, who (egged on by rumors and distortions on social media) have begun denouncing the work of some experimental artists and cultural figures as blasphemy or pedophilia. Some of those artists, facing death threats and not trusting the new government to protect them, are leaving the country.