The painting was created for a 2001 show at a venue called The Arches; when the club was renovated in 2007, it was accidentally painted over and then left. The Arches went bankrupt in 2015, and the site’s new owners are restoring the mural, Banksy’s only work in Scotland.
Author: Matthew Westphal
BBC Rejects Same-Sex Couples On ‘Strictly Come Dancing’
The show that launched the modern reality-TV dance competition genre has not featured a single same-sex pair in its 15 seasons on the air. And, despite calls from the public, previous contestants, and even some of the show’s own judges, there will be none this coming season, either.
Ian McKellen Injured Himself, Couldn’t Do ‘King Lear’ – So He Did A Q&A With The Audience Instead
The actor was on his way to the West End for his performance on Saturday when he strained his calf, rendering him unable to kneel or carry Cordelia. The show was canceled, but to make it up to audience members as they queued for refunds, he took questions and spoke to them from the stage.
Four-Year, €4 Million Project To Promote Performing Artists With Disabilities
The project, called “Europe Beyond Access” and involving partners from the UK, Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Serbia, aims to “break the glass ceiling” and bring disabled artists into the mainstream of theater and dance.
Why ‘Punning Is, In Fact, Among The Highest Displays Of Wit’
Says James Geary, author of Wit’s End, “Puns point to the essence of all true wit — the ability to hold in the mind two different ideas about the same thing at the same time. … In poetry, words rhyme; in puns, ideas rhyme. This is the ultimate test of wittiness, keeping your balance even when you’re of two minds.”
An Orchestral Musician’s View of Community Engagement: I
“Over the last twenty years I have played for children and adults with special needs, dementia patients, hospitalized children, grieving parents, and veterans in rehab or hospice. …” A guest post by Penny Brill, an alumna of the Community Engagement Training offered by ArtsEngaged.
Weekend Listening Tip: Terrell Stafford Quintet
As the Rifftides staff heads back from vacation, they want to be sure that you’re up to date on listening opportunities. So they customized this announcement from Jim Wilke about his next presentation on Jazz Northwest.
Antonio Dias, 74, Artist Who Battled Brazil’s Military Dictators
“In the mid-1960s Mr. Dias emerged as the leading figure of Nova Figuração, or ‘New Figuration,’ a movement in Brazilian painting that used bold, graphic imagery to contest Brazil’s junta, which took power in 1964. … [In 1968,] he moved to Milan, where he abandoned his graphic and immediate paintings for an art of cool conceptualism, though his political engagement never wavered.”
Where Art And Activism Meet, And Why They Can’t Merge
“In their mandate to be awake to life, and to awaken others, the sympathies of artists and activists seemingly align. But in the activist context, awake becomes ‘woke’ — not a personal practice of observation and a transmutation within form, but a communal decision in service of a desired change. This ‘in service of’ is the sticking point for artists.” (At the end of that road lies Socialist Realism.) Arielle Angel looks back at her many attempts to unite art and activism on equal terms — and her questions about whether, in the current moment, the former is a luxury she should give up in favor of the latter.
Is The 8 P.M. Curtain Time Becoming A Thing Of The Past?
It’s certainly not disappearing entirely (yet), but concert presenters, theaters, and opera companies have been experimenting with alternatives. Peter Dobrin looks at what organizations are trying – and what their patrons have been telling them about why they should be trying it.