“Ben Enwonwu’s 1974 painting of the Ife princess Adetutu Ademiluyi, known as Tutu, is a national icon in Nigeria, with poster reproductions hanging on walls in homes all over the country. The artist, regarded as the founding father of Nigerian modernism, painted three versions of Tutu and the image became a symbol of national reconciliation. But all three were lost and became the subject of much speculation.” Until late last year, that is.
Blog
New Trump Budget Proposes Killing Funding For Public Broadcasting
Trump’s budget proposes eliminating federal funding for the CPB over a two-year period. The budget has to be approved by Congress before it can take effect. In a statement released Monday, PBS president Patricia Harrison said that the “elimination of funding to CPB would at first devastate, and then ultimately destroy public media’s ability to provide early childhood content, life-saving emergency alerts, and public affairs programs.”
Women’s Group Wants To Buy West End Theatre, Operate It As Female-Led Arts Space
“The Bossy collective are behind a 15,000-member Facebook group set up in 2016 as a supportive space for women in the creative industries. Now, in the wake of the #MeToo movement and continuing allegations of sexual misconduct in the creative and other industries, the group, has founded a campaign to buy the Theatre Royal Haymarket.”
Meet The Duo Replacing Julio Bocca At The Helm Of Uruguay’s Ballet Nacional Sodre
Graham Spicer talks to Bocca about why he’s leaving and what he achieved, and to Igor Yebra, the incoming director, and Franceco Ventriglia (who recently
departed the Royal New Zealand Ballet), the new adjunct artistic director.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.12.18
Monday Recommendation: Dawn Clement In Tandem
Dawn Clement, Tandem (Origin)
Dawn Clement’s recording history includes piano collaborations with saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and trombonist Julian Priester, among other prominent colleagues. The Seattle Times has called her … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-02-12
Propwatch: the dolls in John
The best scene in any play in London right now (don’t argue, I’m not listening) opens the second act in John by Annie Baker. Three women – Mertis, who runs a guesthouse in Gettysburg, … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2018-02-12
Yannick’s Hollow Parsifal
The highwater mark for Wagner at the Metropolitan Opera in recent decades was the 2013 Parsifal,handsomely directed and strongly cast. The crucial ingredient, however, was Daniele Gatti’s leadership in the … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2018-02-11
Aletheia to Tour Northeastern U.S.
Composed by William Osborne for singer-instrumentalist, computer-controlled piano, and quadraphonic electronics, Aletheia is a music theater work featuring the solo performance of Abbie Conant as the title character. Osborne writes, “Aletheia is an opera singer … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2018-02-12
Kennicott: Obama Portraits That Redefine The Genre
The Obamas took a significant chance on both artists and were rewarded with powerful images that will shake up the expectations and assumptions of visitors to the traditionally button-down presidential galleries.
The Obama Portraits As Artistic Statement
Holland Cotter: “Not only are the Obamas the first presidential couple of African descent to be enshrined in the collection. The painters they’ve picked to portray them — Kehinde Wiley, for Mr. Obama’s portrait; Amy Sherald, for Mrs. Obama — are African-American as well. Both artists have addressed the politics of race consistently in their past work, and both have done so in subtly savvy ways in these new commissions. Mr. Wiley depicts Mr. Obama not as a self-assured, standard-issue bureaucrat, but as an alert and troubled thinker. Ms. Sherald’s image of Mrs. Obama overemphasizes an element of couturial spectacle, but also projects a rock-solid cool.”
Study: Top UK Arts Schools Are Now More Elitist Than Oxford, Cambridge
London’s Royal Academy of Music was bottom of the list – less than half (44%) of pupils starting its undergraduate courses last year were from state schools. The third-least accessible body was the Courtauld Institute of Art, also based in London, where 55% of new students were from state schools. By comparison, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge accepted 58% and 63% of students from state schools respectively in 2016/17. According to research by the Independent Schools Council for 2016/17, just 7% of UK children go to independent schools at any one time.
How Big Data Has Changed How We Look At The World (But It Could Lead Us Astray)
“In many scientific fields, from genetics to economics to palaeobiology, a kind of implicit trust is placed in the images and the algorithms that produce them. Often viewers have almost no idea how they were constructed. The complexity of computers has made data-analysis a black-box, something it’s hard for humans to peer into. At the same time, computer jockeys such as my dad have achieved a new cultural status – if not quite Indiana Jones, they still have a kind of power and authority most of us can’t access. Increasingly, with the advances in machine-learning and AI, even those authorities are sometimes mystified by how their algorithms work.”
Could Gagosian’s Mega-Gallery Empire Survive Him As A Brand?
Gagosian’s mortality might even have a silver lining if he can tap the right successor. As Galloway writes, “Dying removes the icon from the inevitable judgment of everyday existence, including aging, and elevates persona to legend—ideal for a brand.” Just think: Louis Vuitton (the company) was founded in 1854. Louis Vuitton (the man) died in 1892. So the brand has been stacking cash for 164 years, and the founder has spent 126 of them stitching in that grand atelier in the sky.