“In May the Morgan Art Foundation (MAF), Indiana’s representative since the 1990s and the owner of the artist’s famous Love trademark, filed a lawsuit in New York against the artist’s long-time assistant, Jamie Thomas, and an art publisher, Michael McKenzie. MAF says the pair exploited Indiana towards the end of his life, producing dubious works in his name and isolating him from friends. … Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Indiana’s estate — estimated to be worth $50m — is seeking documents to determine the extent of the artist’s assets, based on ‘reasonable suspicion’ that some ‘may have been conveyed away or otherwise misappropriated or sold without due compensation’.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Yuval Sharon Wants To Stage ‘La Bohème’ Backwards
The MacArthur-winning director, whose staging of Lohengrin is about to open the Bayreuth Festival, seriously proposes doing Puccini’s opera in reverse order, Acts 4 through 1. “It will work really well, from devastation to the beginning. Some people might even think it’s the way it’s supposed to happen. …You can put it on the moon or anywhere else and it’s still the same old Bohème. But how do you get to the core of this piece if not by radically transforming our ability to listen to this piece and thereby open a door to a way that we’ve never thought about it before? So if we end in Act 1, with them singing offstage with these high C’s, what a wonderful way to end an opera.”
We’re In Another Stephen King Media Renaissance, This One From The Generation Who Grew Up On Him
“King’s enjoyed numerous renaissances since Carrie put him on the map in 1973 — the era following Brian De Palma’s 1976 film adaptation; the early ’90s one-two punch of Misery‘s Oscar win and Tommy Lee Wallace’s It miniseries; the two-year spell at the turn of the millennium when he dropped the final three Dark Tower books. This one, however, is markedly different than those that came before, due not only to its scale and scope, but also because it’s unfolding in a generation that’s succeeded at both commodifying and intellectualizing nostalgia.”
Walker Art Center To Commission Indigenous Artist To Replace Sam Durant’s Disassembled ‘Scaffold’
“The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis … has created an Indigenous Public Art Selection Committee, which will be charged with commissioning a Native artist to do a public artwork for the museum’s sculpture garden. … The museum’s release said the committee was formed in response to the controversy surrounding Sam Durant’s Scaffold (2012),” which was installed there last summer and them removed following protests by Dakota people.
Paramount Fires Head Of Its TV Division After Racially ‘Insensitive Comments’
“Five years after being tapped to lead the newly relaunched Paramount Television banner, Amy Powell is out.” Multiple individuals had complained about things Powell reportedly said about black women on a conference call about the company’s TV adaptation of The First Wives’ Club, which features a largely African-American cast.
One-Third Of UK Performing Arts Students Have Been Sexually Harassed: Survey
“The poll of 600 drama, music and dance students found that more than half (51%) had experienced inappropriate behaviour, sexual harassment or bullying. Nearly two thirds (73%) of those who experienced some sort of incident identified as female. … When asked if they had reported their concerns, 57% who had experienced inappropriate behaviour did not report it. Just 13% did.”
Netflix Is Expanding Into Radio With Comedy Channel On SiriusXM
“The streaming giant has announced a partnership with SiriusXM that will see it create and launch a comedy-focused satellite radio channel, a move that signals the company’s interest in extending its programming foothold beyond its online video roots.” The channel’s name: Netflix Is a Joke.
At A Workshop Where The Choreographers Don’t Have To Finish Their Work
“The National Choreographers Initiative in Irvine seek[s] to emphasize the creative process and take the pressure off producing a finished, polished product. The three-week summertime workshop — now celebrating its 15th year — will culminate with a public performance July 28 … Unlike formal, completed dance productions, the show will start with four choreographers introducing their pieces, 16 dancers presenting what they’ve learned, and a question and answer session with the audience concluding the program.”
Anna Netrebko And Yusif Eyvazov Cancel Because They’re In Quarantine With Norovirus
The superstar soprano and her tenor husband were to star in this weekend’s performances of Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur in Baden-Baden until health authorities required them to stay away. Singers Tatiana Serjan and Migran Agadzhanyan are coming to the last-minute rescue.
Students Cover Mural Of Rudyard Kipling Poem With Text By Maya Angelou
“The poem ‘If’, which was written around 1895, had been painted on the wall of the university’s newly refurbished students’ union. But students [who argue that Kipling ‘dehumanised people of colour’] painted over the verses, replacing them with the 1978 poem ‘Still I Rise’ by the US poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou.”