cityArts May 14, 2009 by CityArts NYC

CityArts NYC

MAY 2009

Gallery Beat

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New York’s Review of Culture

Not What It’s Cracked Up To Be TK

Contemporary artists have liberated ceramics from their utility into objects of contemplation BY BRICE BROWN

JOHN GOODRICH AND MARIO NAVES REVIEW.

Classical

JAY NORDLINGER BIDS FAREWELL TO SCHENK’S RING.

Sebastian Zimmer

Jazz

he long-esteemed history of porcelain— brimming with power, wealth, corruption and even murder—is almost operatic in scope and makes for a fascinating tale. Equally fascinating, though not usually considered, is how the industry of porcelain has maintained a progressive and relevant inﬂuence on artistic practices. The medium’s aesthetic evolution since its introduction to the West in the early 18th century is intrinsically tied to the means by which it was manufactured. Patronage afforded by a relationship with a major, well-funded factory meant artists were able to fully investigate their creative impulses. The result was cutting-edge ceramic objects manufactured in shapes and decoration then unthinkable. Today, working with industrial ceramic companies affords an artist access to new tools, enabling increased speed in prototyping and production, and an ability to fund and execute conceptually complex ideas. Now being ﬁled under the somewhat generic label of

Edyta Cieloch’s “Spanish Lace”

Applied Arts, the work born of art’s marriage to industry combine whip-smart approaches to the most commonplace objects. And now that contemporary studio practice is decidedly post-material—where no one medium takes preference over another—a slew of artists from outside the world of clay are entering the fray of industrial ceramics, bringing fresh ideas and perspectives. For example, working with the Sévres factory in France, photographer Cindy Sherman took pieces from existing services and applied customized decoration–– namely, images of herself dressed as Madame du Pompadour––to create a set of witty and mischievous dishes out of traditional forms. With Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics (a version of the exhibit was on view last year at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto), the Museum of Art and Design presents a survey of over 200 examples of these contemporary ceramic works, highlighting Applied Art’s new trends and possible paths toward future developments. The roster

of artists is refreshingly international, indicating porcelain’s global appeal, and the quality of works run the gamut from underwhelming and predictable to knock-your-socks-off gorgeous. There are no outright duds, however, owing to the superb job of guest curator Marek Cecula, himself an extremely accomplished ceramic artist. Divided into the three broadly drawn categories of “Altered States,” “Collaborations” and “New Territory,” the objects on view are initially known to us: teapots, cups, saucers, plates and bowls. These vessels comprise the basic building blocks of the domestic life. Yet closer inspection reveals each piece to be corrupted, transformed and hybridized in some large or small way, making the familiar instantly strange (a snail crawling across a bowl, for example, as in Hella Jongerius’ quirky piece), and forcing us to rethink the ways we experience the objects we take for granted. Dwelling in the interstices between craft,

HOWARD MANDEL RECOMMENDS ROULETTE’S EXPERIMENTAL SUMMER ROSTER.

Theater

PLAYWRIGHT LLOYD SUH GETS FOUR PRODUCTIONS AT ONCE

Arts Agenda

GALLERIES, MUSEUMS, DANCE, THEATER AND MORE.

see CRACKED UP on page 10 A Manhattan Media publication

DANCE

Russians Take Charge American Ballet Theatre’s season includes debuts and new Russian faces

and the audience is asked to pay champagne prices for the privilege of watching. ABT hasn’t had that problem in recent years since casting has, by contrast, been on the stodgy side. Its insistence that its principal dancers perform all the leading roles that they are remotely right for doesn’t give a lot of space for anybody below that rank to move ahead. The company seems to be trying to make up for lost time. Established Slavs on ABT’s ballerina roster are Kiev’s Irina Dvorovenko, together with St. Petersburg’s Veronika Part and Diana Vishneva. Nina Ananiashvili, formerly of Moscow but now both directing and dancing in the state ballet company of her native Central Asian Georgia, takes her leave this season after a decade-and-a-half with ABT. A new ABT Russian is Moscow’s Natalia Osipova, a protégé of Ratmansky at the Bolshoi. Her rapid rise there undoubtedly took place due to a situation that sometimes gives artistic directors no choice but to quickly pull up eager and grateful youngsters. For Ratmansky’s direction, which was a shot in the arm to the company, reportedly met with intractable resistance from many of the Bolshoi’s established principal dancers. Osipova has an extraordinary jump that’s both Olympic and kinetic. She is very gifted, but she was also quite raw, as of the last time I saw her dance a year ago. In Giselle, ABT has taken care to frame her with two experienced grown ups: Part as the supernatural Mytha, and Ethan Stiefel as Giselle’s all-too-human

seducer Albrecht. In La Sylphide, the mortal hero she brings to ruin will be David Hallberg, who has indeed been given too much too soon, but who has reached a point where it’s truly interesting to see what he’ll do with a new role; this is his ﬁrst James with ABT. Also adding excitement is Roberto Bolle, who danced with ABT at the Met in 2007, and now returns for this season. Bolle is very tall, and he’s an excellent partner, which makes him useful to ABT; for the company has mostly tall ballerinas and not enough tall men to partner them. On top of this, he has a good solo technique. Trained at La Scala, Bolle is now one of American Ballet Theatre premieres Alexi Ratmansky’s On the Dneiper with Veronika Park (left), Marcelo Gomes and Paloma the world’s most in-deHervera. mand guests—or permanent guests, or gala visitors. He’s a mature Paloma Herrera—and it will be fascinating to dancer, a decade older than Osipova, but like see what responses they elicit from him. her, he also has as much to gain from ABT as to give. As a dance actor, he’s tended either American Ballet Theatre, May 18-July to the bland or the overdone. This season at 11. Metropolitan Opera House, 150 W. ABT, he is dancing with four different balle65th St. (betw. Columbus & Amsterdam rinas—Dvorovenko, Part, Michele Wiles and Aves.), 212-362-6000, www.abt.org Fsbrizio Ferri

BY JOEL LOBENTHAL hroughout its 70-year existence, American Ballet Theatre’s melting pot has shifted from degrees of Russian saturation to Russian aversion. At the moment, the Russian—or just plain Slavic—presence is in the ascendancy, and that’s to the good. Yes, they can be particularly trying as personalities, but nobody in ballet is easy. And they bring an expressive capacity and a dedication to the work that can be inspiring. Last fall, choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, who was artistic director of Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet from 2004 to 2008, was named Artist in Residence at ABT, and the company was in good shape when I saw them dance Swan Lake this past February at the Kennedy Center. ABT opens its annual two-month season at the Metropolitan Opera May 18, and its bumper crop of debuts seem plausible, which in a ballet world gone mad with debut-itis is certainly saying something. Of the premieres, we’ll see Ratmansky’s On the Dnieper performed to a Prokoﬁev score commissioned by the Paris Opera Ballet in 1932. But the Met season is also notable for a slew of debuts in leading roles by promising as well as already accomplished younger dancers in the company. This is something rather apart from the syndrome that is tarnishing ballet standards around the world today: the rash over-promotion of very young dancers, wherein workshop performances are put on professional stages

An Original Tragedy Prokofiev’s original ‘Romeo and Juliet’ receives the Mark Morris Dance Group treatment BY SUSAN REITER ancing Montagues and Capulets are a staple of the ballet world, but modern-dance choreographers have not felt the same attraction to Sergei Prokofiev’s richly textured, character-driven score. For all his range of musical interests, the announcement in 2007 that Mark Morris would be choreographing a full-length Romeo and Juliet for his company came as a surprise. Morris came up with his own, distinctive take on the tragedy, however, and his Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare, upended many of the traditional associations we have after decades of watching more epically scaled—and often bombastic—ballet productions. He also had a specific musical

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angle all his own: He is the first choreographer to work from the recently discovered original score, the one that represented what Prokofiev intended for the ballet before political and artistic intrusions forced him to compromise in crucial areas. First performed at Bard SummerScape last July, Morris’ work now has its much-anticipated New York City premiere as the culmination of Lincoln Center’s series, Russian Dreams: The Music of Sergei Prokofiev. Always exploring musical possibilities, Morris made it clear that the Prokofiev score familiar from most productions (such as Kenneth Macmillan’s version performed by American Ballet Theatre this season) had never piqued his choreographic interest. “I

didn’t like the massiveness of the score. For me, it was too heavy with strings, and too cinematic,” says Morris. “Not cinematic in the good way, like Eisenstein, whom Prokoﬁev wrote music for, but more in a Dr. Zhivago vein: gigantic swollen strings kind of sound. That was not interesting to me. It was too 19th century, and this piece is very much not 19th century. And if it’s played that way, you’re playing it wrong.” But once he was introduced to the version of the score uncovered by Simon Morrison, a Princeton University musicologist researching his book The People’s Artist: Prokoﬁev’s Soviet Years, Morris felt differently. “There’s not a lot of radically new music. But it’s been reworked and re-thought, from the beginning

back to its origins,” he said. “The orchestra’s different: You hear more percussion and brass and winds, in balance with the strings.” The version of the score to which Leonid Lavrovsky choreographed in 1940 had undergone considerable alterations from what Prokoﬁev initially composed in 1935. The tortured history of the score was known, but the original version remained unheard until Morrison discovered a complete piano version—with the composer’s instrumentation indicated, as well as a 10-page detailed scenario for the ballet—in a Moscow archive. In addition to the different orchestral textures and several unfamiliar sections, the major difference from the canonized version is heard in the ballet’s concluding sections: The lovers

Mark Morris Dance Group/Gene Schiavone

The male roles of Tybalt and Mercutio are danced by female company members, here pictured Julie Worden (left) and Amber Darragh. do not expire in a tomb; they escape the feudal society with its combative factions, arriving in a separate realm. Morris amplified his 18-member company with six additional dancers for the production, and brought back some of his finest former company members to portray the Montague and Capulet parents. He brought to life the feisty, rude, quick-to-anger Veronese streets of the period, schooling the dancers in traditional Italian hand gestures that are embroidered into the vigorous, folk-flavored choreography for the scenes in the town square. “I wanted it to be warmer and dirtier and more crowded,” he explains. “It’s a small town. The crowd scenes are very dense and complicated and violent, full of bad relations between clans and between the sexes. If you read the play, it’s very sexy and very ribald and very strange.” He made Prince Escalus, portrayed by company veteran Joe Bowie, a figure of gravitas and depth, and gave Paris—so often a bland, good-looking cipher—a more textured position within the society. The nurse is not dowdy and lumbering but, in the person of Lauren Grant, a spry, sensual younger woman with a life outside the Capulet home. And his most startling and innovative touch was to cast women—Elisa Clark and Julie Worden—as Tybalt and Mercutio. They flirt, fight and taunt with the rest, delivering invigorating and revelatory interpretations of what can become stock roles. “Mercutio, in the play, has a giant crush

on Romeo, obviously, from the language,” Morris explains. “That’s one reason I cast that part as a woman, so we could really do that. It’s pre-Italian; it’s behavior that people don’t do now. It’s much more physical and affectionate between members of the same gender.” As always, Morris took his cue from the music and paid attention to the scenario that Prokofiev was using before cultural and political interference forced him to compromise his intentions. Morris’ title is also the one Prokofiev originally gave his ballet. “It isn’t the exact same structure as the play; it’s ‘On motifs of Shakespeare.’ I put into it what I thought I needed in order to make the story happen. These very young people who are in love with one another, and dance in a very simple, young way. It’s not an adult romance.” It is a familiar romance with an unfamiliar twist, and Morris gets to stage the finale that Prokofiev composed but never got to see brought to life on a stage: an apotheosis that delivers them to a realm removed from the conflicts and confinements of their feudal reality. Other productions may have toe shoes, and vast contingents of townsfolk, and feel reassuringly familiar, but this Romeo and Juliet has the capacity to surprise. May 14-17, Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at W. 60th St., 212-721-6500; Thurs.-Sat. 8; Sun. 3; $30-$90.

ARTS STROLL PASEO DE LAS ARTES :: June 2009 :: INFO: www.artstroll.com | www.nomaanyc.org CELEBRATING THE ARTS IN WASHINGTON HEIGHTS & INWOOD! The Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA) and the Manhattan Times welcome you to a month-long celebration of the arts north of 155th Street. HONORING Marjorie Eliot, pianist, vocalist, and thespian, host of Parlor Entertainment every Sunday in her Washington Heights home and Miguel Zenón, Saxophonist/ Composer, 2008 recipient of MacArthur Fellowship Award, known as “genius award”, a Washington Heights resident. Friday, June 5, 6:00pm – 10:00pm NoMAA Granteess’ Exhibition & Performances – Uptown Arts Stroll 2009 Kick-Off The Cornerstone Center | 178 Bennett Avenue at 189th St. Saturday, June 13, 1:00pm – 7:30pm NoMAA Art in the Park A day of art, dance and music in Ft. Tryon Park. Sunday, June 28, 12:00pm – 7:00pm Open Studios An intimate glimpse into the art made in Washington Heights and Inwood. And many more great events….

SPONSORS AND PARTNERS (PARTIAL LIST): Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, Moët Hennessy USA, Inc., New York State Senator Eric Schneiderman, New York City Councilmember Robert Jackson, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, NYC & Co., NYC Parks and Recreation, Hispanic Federation, Washington Heights & Inwood Online. For more information contact: 212.568.4396 info@nomaanyc.org – www.nomaanyc.org – www.artstroll.com www.manhattantimesnews.com

May 2009

GALLERY

Forever Picasso

A show of late Picasso works reminds us that the artist and his creations performed masterfully to the very end BY LANCE ESPLUND arly Picasso was not unlike late Picasso. Like a ravenous, destructive god, Picasso devoured the world and spat it out anew. When the Spaniard was 14, inspired by his masters (by then Picasso already understood that art begets art), he painted a portrait of a barefoot peasant girl with a virtuosity and poetic reverie equal to that which Corot, decades earlier, had devoted to the subject of women. Before Picasso was 25 (when, inspired by Cézanne and tribal art, he turned Renaissance space inside out with the invention of Cubism) he was reinventing Ingres, Masaccio and Toulouse Lautrec. Yet Picasso kept his eye ﬁxed ﬁrmly on his present. Never stooping to mere homage or pastiche, and never mired in the quicksand of art history, he remained always relevant: Forever Picasso. And when the Spaniard was 90 (Picasso died, at age 92, in 1973), he was reinventing Rembrandt, El Greco, Velázquez, Goya and Cézanne, as well as—well aware of his own standing among giants—early Picasso. Gagosian Gallery’s Picasso: Mosqueteros, without doubt the most exhilarating and erotic show you will encounter in Chelsea this spring, is a whirlwind ride, a giddy,

full-throttle tailspin through the Great Late Phase of Picasso. Organized by renowned Picasso biographer John Richardson, the show comprises over 100 drawings, paintings and prints, including many rarely seen works that belong to the artist’s heirs. A revelation for anyone unfamiliar with Picasso’s late work, it focuses on the proliﬁc last decade of the artist’s life. It reminds us that Picasso was reinventing himself, and art, up to the very end. The exhibit is accompanied by a gorgeously illustrated and scholarly catalogue that (and we need to be reminded of this fact) establishes late Picasso as an artist ﬁrmly engaged with his present. In Dakin Hart’s essay, “Peace and Love Picasso,” in which the artist is referred to as “Hippie Picasso,” he discusses the makelove-not-war content of the artist’s late use of doves, lovers and musketeers. Hart relates Picasso’s work, beyond its obvious sources in Old Masters, to free love, the social impact of the Beatles, the anti-war revolution inspired by Vietnam and the erotic exploits of Alexandre Dumas’ Musketeers, who, Hart writes, “privileged their phalluses over their swords.” The “[Musketeers’] credo, ‘All for one and one for all,’ is well known,” Hart continues, “but hidden in plain sight is the tacit proviso on which

the action of the novel is based: ‘except when the dictates of love interfere.’” And what is more important than love? Picasso, in his early nineties, may have been unable to perform in the bedroom, but he was circus-master-extraordinaire of the three-ring orgy that was his studio. During the late 1960s and early ’70s, when Neo-Dadaism, Conceptualism and Pop Art supposedly reigned, Picasso, like a torrent, was at the relevant center of art, which, as always, was born out of the relevant events of his time. This is a show rich in masterpieces, in which Picasso continually turns style on its head. Picasso can do anything and everything he pleases—and he pleases to do, and to redo, all of it and to excess. (In some areas of the exhibition, I sensed that Picasso, coyly nodding to the power shift from the School of Paris to that of New York, was redoing de Kooning better than de Kooning ever did himself.) The exhibit focuses on Picasso’s “mosqueteros,” the imaginary personages—musketeers, matadors, cavaliers, prostitutes and circus performers—who act out on Picasso’s stage. “I enjoy myself to no end inventing these stories,” Picasso said in 1968. “I spend hour after hour while I draw, observing my creatures and

Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photo by Rob McKeever

Pablo Picasso, Etriente, June 1, 1972. Oil on canvas, 51 1/4 x 76 3/4 inches on view through June 6 at Gagosian Gallery, 522 W. 21st St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-741-1717; Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m..

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thinking about the mad things they’re up to.” And what mad things are these creatures up to? They are lustful, playful and transformative. They are amalgams made up of Spanish royalty, soldiers, children, actors, lions, puppets and gods. They are timeless, Cubist conflations, or stews, in which Picasso mixes everyone and everything. The figures are contortionists—but so is Picasso. In many of the paintings, Picasso presents us with characters that are both male and female, child and adult, portrait and self-portrait. Picasso merges head and flower, bell and breast, painter and muse, fondler and fondled. Like the artist, his characters must perform to keep themselves in motion. In this exhibition, we sense the erotic fervor, the urgency, of Picasso’s imagination and brush. This is all compounded when you realize that many of the works are dated by the day, not year, when they were completed; as in the lush, red, yellow, blue and green, gorgeous mess of an Ingres-like female nude—a painting that suggests landscape, storm and bodily fluids, including blood and urine—dated January 3, 1965. Many of Picasso’s late figures are knotted together, as if attempting to untangle or unfurl the self. They appear to struggle, die and resurrect themselves through numerous incarnations right there on the canvas. They turn into birds, with wings outstretched, or into coats of arms, crowns or military insignia, as if they were remembering, imagining or had become symbols of themselves. Single canvases shift through periods Blue, Rose, Cubist, NeoClassical and Surreal. We can follow the artist as he changes his mind; chasing one thing and then another. In one painting of a musketeer, the sword is fish bone, phallus and tree. In images of couples, two lovers, seen as one face, share eyes, nose and mouth; meeting at their common contour, they kiss, see and smell as they merge with each other. In the beautiful, dark and angry, almost spot-lit “Le Baiser” (October 24, 1969), the man, trailing smoke and light, is a rising storm or consuming fire. He is the artist devouring his model, and the lover devouring his mate; but he is also the creative act, a force of nature—a god—devouring us all. In André Malraux’s memoir, Picasso’s Mask, written after the artist’s death, Malraux relates his experience during a pilgrimage to Picasso’s gravesite. “It is from there,” Malraux writes, “that Picasso calls upon us, more violently than any of his predecessors, to understand that creation is as mysterious as death.” Picasso may be gone, but the mystery of creation—felt in Picasso’s last decade-long flurry of violent meditations—is alive and well, available to us all.

GALLERY BEAT John Goodrich & Mario Naves take in the local art landscape Albert Oehlen Albert Oehlen’s big paintings are only deceptively shoddy, but that doesn’t mean they avoid shoddiness altogether. A progenitor of the German variant of “Bad Painting,” Oehlen mixes and matches Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism to deadpan effect: This time around he’s doing Franz Kline once-overlightly on top of collaged Spanish posters. The work is simultaneously undernourished and overblown; it couldn’t be more cursory. That’s the point. But Oehlen’s “badness” is an affectation: He knows how to knit a picture together; his slapdash compositions hold. That he’s capable of doing this without fail means he’s an academic. That this doesn’t altogether diminish his accomplishment; it means that Oehlen is a better painter than he wants to let on. (Mario Naves)

Ella Yang

Mary K. Connelly

In/Sight = On/Site May 30 – June 11

Albert Oehlen through May 30 at Luhring Augustine, 531 W. 24th St. (near 11th Ave.), 212-206-9100

Salmagundi Club 47 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 212-255-7740

Wed-Sun, 1-6 pm Thurs, 1-8 pm

www.ellayangstudio.com | www.maryconnelly.com

Half Table-Half Chair by Wang Huaiqing

Wang Huaiqing Wang Tiantian NEW PRINTS BY FATHER & DAUGHTER MAY 9 - JUNE 19, 2009

M. SUTHERLAND FINE ARTS, LTD. 55 E 80TH STREET, 2ND FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10075 T. 212 249 0428 WWW.ARTNET.COM/MSUTHERLAND.HTML INFO@MSUTHERLAND.COM WEEK OF MAY 9 -16, DAILY 12 NOON-5 PM OTHERWISE BY APPOINTMENT

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Placing Color This traveling exhibition of work by three abstract painters, brings to The Painting Center its own dedicated website (placingcolor.com), an itinerary (it’s currently midway through a ﬁve-city tour) and a theme. As summarized in the handsome catalog, the show is an investigation of painting “as both a place of action and a destination.” Indeed, the installation unfolds as a succession of colorfully self-contained works. In some of the show’s earlier installations, Brett

Don Voisine

Baker demonstrated the theme with large, freestanding green or red panels that reﬂected colors onto gallery walls. These didn’t make it into The Painting Center’s smaller space, but ﬁve small, intense canvases did; their understated design of densely brushed tiers of brushstrokes—deep green shading into turquoise, or purple punctuating earth greens—vibrate with compact energy. Carrie Patterson’s largest canvas similarly didn’t travel to New York, but we can absorb her colorful polyptychs of variably sized, horizontally joined canvases. The tactility of her paint-edges elegantly complements the horizontal intervals. Smaller versions, incorporating wood blocks, playfully recall the wave patterns of oscilloscopes. Meanwhile, Kayla Mohammadi’s canvases of exotic, abstracted landscapes and interiors tend to dominate the installation with their sheer size. Her medium-sized painting “The Good Marriage” (2005), however, also stands out for its pictorial energy. Here, a luminous gravity of color makes a sliver of pink, atop cantilevering reds and blues, far more than just a clever conceit. The artist’s larger canvases impart earthy weight to bright, strange scenes of Maine and Panama, cunningly updating the windowframing compositions of Bonnard—an artist who knew a thing or two about placing color. (John Goodrich)

How many possibilities are there for black polygons? Countless ones for Don Voisine, apparently, whose geometric abstractions deal obsessively with the off-kilter. His latest paintings at McKenzie Fine Art show the same basic elements he’s employed for years: the broad black forms on white fields, counterbalanced in taut designs that generate heat from coolly honed shapes. As always, a moment’s observation uncovers not one black but many variations of it—matt, glossy, infinitesimally lighter or cooler—all set off by peripheral strips of color: orange-beige, acid yellow, lime-green. The 14 paintings currently on view reveal a recent propensity for opposing diagonals. They exude the peculiar quality of frozen rotations, of twisting impulses arrested by small, critical wedges of white. Where a single, broad, black diagonal encounters the surrounding white in “Thru and Thru” (2009), it mellows–slightly–into a tapering band of charcoal gray. Bold bars of tomato red bracket the design at top and bottom, edged by the slenderest lines of yellow. Like other compositions here, it starts with a proclamation and then settles into reflective murmurs. A single painting from 2001 shows earlier experiments with a different kind of symmetry: mirroring instead of rotational. Given the artist’s highly restrained vocabulary, it will be fascinating to see what happens next. (JG)

Placing Color through May 23 at The Painting Center, 52 Greene St. (betw. Grand & Broome Sts.), 212-343-1060.

Voisine through June 6 at McKenzie Fine Art, 511 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th and 11th Aves.), 212-989-5467. Carrie Patterson’s “18 ft. St. Francis Xavier” on view at The Painting Center.

& ' Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

Albert Oehlenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;39,90 on view at Luhring Augustine.

Fred Scruton Fred Scruton likens roadside carnivalsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or, at least, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;illusory escapeâ&#x20AC;? they provideâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to virtual reality, thereby making a gambit for their contemporary relevance. But Scrutonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s color photographs at OK Harris Galleryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;of deep-fried Oreo vendors, thrill rides, prize-winning cows and the immaculately coiffed John J. Pecchio (author of Hell Behind Prison Walls)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need the technological zeitgeist for a leg up. If anything, the work recalls the Renaissance in its exquisite calibrations of incident, super-saturated palette and attention to the telling detail: the grandiloquent gesture of a ticket taker, say, or the beyond-her-years pensiveness of a girl staring into space. Scrutonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s connection to the American vernacular is as palpable as the degree of chagrin it invites: Dispassion this clariďŹ ed could only have been fostered by love. (MN) Fred Scruton through May 23 at OK Harris, 383 W. Broadway (betw. Spring & Broome Sts.), 212-431-3600.

Nicolas Carone: Abstraction/Figuration: Works on Paper Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a half-century since the earnestness and angst of the Abstract Expressionists gave way to postmodernist detachment, but true-believers still hold fast to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ab-Exâ&#x20AC;? call. Prominent among the living second generation Ab-Exers is Nicolas Carone, a 91-year-old painter and sculptor long-admired by his peers, and only recently receiving wider

attention with shows at Lohin Geduld and Joan Washburn. The uninitiated are in for a treat at Lohin Geduld. The nearly 50 works on paper encapsulate a lifetime of probing the ground between abstraction and representation, in a startling range of media: charcoal, pastel and tempera on paper and boards, colored chalks on white paper, yellow chalk on black. Caroneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attack varies, too. A charcoal drawing from the 1950s combines rectilinear forms and whiplash contours with de Kooning-esque vigor. A sepia chalk drawing from the 1990s models two ďŹ gures with striking naturalism, while a 1960s mixed-media work captures theatrical poses with a linear economy worthy of Picasso. Most works, however, date from the last several years, and these build arabesques of darting, swooping lines that suggest but rarely complete the human ďŹ gure. The simplest boast continuous rhythms that may be inspired by the automatic drawing pioneered by the Surrealists; one senses the artist watching as his hand proceeds, practically on its own, to unearth limbs and torsos. In many works, the artist revisits and redresses the intervals, smudging together shapes, or brushing on new tones to consolidate them into larger gestures. These deeper investigations pay off; the results, evoking classical point and counterpoint, are some of the most memorable of the exhibition. (JG) Nicolas Carone through June 6 at Lohin Geduld, 531 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-675-2656.

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ON DISPLAY THROUGH JANUARY 16, 2010

WOMEN of WALL STREET Please join the Museum of American Finance for a reception to open â&#x20AC;&#x153;Women of Wall Street,â&#x20AC;? a groundbreaking new exhibit showcasing several notable women in the world of finance and Wall Street, both historically and in modern times. Opening reception will feature remarks by Muriel Siebert, the first woman to purchase a seat on the NYSE.

Tuesday, June 9 5:30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 7:00 p.m. RSVP to Lindsay Seeger at 212-908-4110 or lseeger@financialhistory.org.

48 Wall Street New York, NY 10005 www.MoAF.org

see GALLERY BEAT on page 8 May 2009

GALLERY BEAT continued from page 7

ERIC SLOANE (1905-1985)

he can’t do with the stuff. Like a lot of naturals, Kanevsky is a showoff and, as such, annoying most of the time. But just when you want to give him a dressing down, he sets off sparks—like with the slippery veils of gray and light green halo in “A.C. in Blue Bathroom”—at which point, you don’t begrudge his ego, you congratulate him for it. (MN) Alex Kanevsky through May 30 at J. Cacciola Gallery, 617 W. 27th St. (betw. 11th and 12th Aves.), 212-462-4646

Sophie Calle: Take Care of Yourself

Sandy Hook, New Jersey, oil on masonite, 16 x 18.5 in

GREEN RIVER GALLERY SINCE 1975

SPECIALIZING IN WORKS BY ERIC SLOANE AND AMERICAN ART OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES 1578 Boston Corners Road Millerton, NY 12546 518-789-3311 Open Saturday 10-5, Sunday 12-5, or by appointment

maja lisa engelhardt the third day

april 23-may 30, 2009 64 page catalogue available

elizabeth harris gallery 529 w20 st ny 10011 212 463 9666 www.elizabethharrisgallery.com info@elizabethharrisgallery.com

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“Untitled, 2008” mixed media on paper by Nicholas Carone at Lohin Geduld.

Maja Lisa Engelhardt: The Third Day

Alex Kanevsky: Prosperine

In her second solo show at Elizabeth Harris, the Danish painter Maja Lisa Engelhardt continues to impress with her single-mindedness and fluency in a particular expressionist idiom. Visceral colors, spread in raw gestures and radiant veils, conjure apocalyptic spaces in every one of her 25 large canvases, all dated 2008. Vapors churn and seas clash, while stalactites (or possibly cathedral columns) rise from the flux. The artist’s intuitions and ardor pull us through these images—as does her knack for overlapping, anchoring and floating color elements. If tree trunks and shorelines make first appearances in this crop of paintings, it’s all according to a larger plan. The titles given to the canvases disclose that that they represent the third day of the creation of the world as described in Genesis, when God divided land from sea and created plant life. The press release reveals that the artist plans to produce further series of paintings for the subsequent days of creation. (Presumably, for the seventh series, Ms. Engelhardt will rest.) The paintings contain an astonishing assortment of plungings, loomings and soarings. An odd cloud hovers next to a vast bluff in “the third day (5).” A tree/pillar penetrates a ceiling of water in “the third day (22).” In “the third day (21),” a kind of gateway frames a sudden view onto a distant, receding plane that could be a broad avenue. The artist’s goal—the evocation of a turgid situation with turgid means—may not be new, dating back at least to J.M.W. Turner, and so much exaltation may tire some viewers before the 25th canvas. But linger: some gritty discrimination lies beneath the romance with paint. (JG)

If a combination of John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins and Francis Bacon—that is to say, unerring expertise, stringent attention to anatomical detail and unseemly isolation— sounds intriguing, then Alex Kanevksy’s paintings ﬁt the bill. His icy dioramas of displaced women supposedly take their inspiration from the Greek myth of Prosperine, but what really matters is an innate knack for oils. Whether he’s jabbing, scraping, slathering or dotting, Kanevsky’s got the touch—there ain’t nothin’

Maja Lisa Engelhardt through May 30 at Elizabeth Harris, 529 W. 20th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-463-9666.

Gallery-goers not conversant in French will be at a disadvantage upon visiting Take Care of Yourself, Sophie Calle’s multi-media presentation at Paula Cooper Gallery, since a signiﬁcant portion of it comprises French texts. A handout with English translations is available at the front desk, however, and the 40 or so videos that are also part of Calle’s exhibition, many of which are in French, have subtitles. All of which is helpful enough for non-Francophones, but it begs the question: What’s with all the reading going on at an exhibition of visual art? Originally conceived for the 2007 Venice Biennale, Take Care of Yourself is based on a “Dear John” email received by Calle. “I didn’t know how to respond,” she explains, so she forwarded the missive to 107 women—among them, a clairvoyant, a clown, Jeanne Moreau,

“A.C. in Blue Bathroom” by on view at J. Cacciola Gallery.

GOODSPEED MUSICALS East Haddam, Connecticut

Come Escape.

Enjoy the Goodspeed Experience Home of the American musical and the only musical theatre to receive two special Tony Awards. Nestled on the banks of the scenic Connecticut River Valley.

Only 2¼ hours from NYC. Temma Bell’s “Four Daughters, Early Fall, 2009” is on view at Bowery Gallery. Laurie Anderson, a Talmudic scholar, a crossword puzzle writer and, um, a parrot—and asked that each interpret it. You see—and, yes, read—the results in salon style array of large-scale photographs, oversized copies of letters, video performances and a handful of ﬁlms. Given the mealy mouthed break-up letter—“Whatever happens, remember that I will always love you in…my own way”—you have to sympathize with Calle’s therapeutic call to arms. You can admire, too, the pseudoRashomon intent. Several of the videos are hilariously dead-on in capturing the conﬂicting emotions a break-up can engender: In one segment, vegetables are sliced and diced with righteous anger. But what the viewer is left with—that is, after the overweening installation, chilly theatrics and all those words—is a compelling idea burdened by one artist’s preening intelligence. Overkill renders the exhibition emotionally null-and-void; it’s a stunt masquerading as catharsis. Were Calle to rely solely on her photographs, Take Care of Yourself would accrue in drama, intensity and mystery. The picture of “public letter writer” Rafaele Decarpigny, with its veering turquoise architecture and sleek poise, is beyond stunning. It’s not the only one, either. But showmanship bullies nuance and makes Calle’s project discursive and tinny. (MN) Sophie Calle through June 6 at Paula Cooper Gallery, 534 W. 21st St., (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-255-1105.

compatible with a wholesome life. Her upstate farm continues to provide the setting for keenly observed still-lifes and landscapes, but this show emphasizes another kind of fauna: her four daughters, depicted in two large group portraits and smaller studies. (Disclosure: I also exhibit at Bowery Gallery and am friends with Bell.) Bell’s colors are not just bright but also incisive; her rhythms not merely descriptive, but defining. That is to say, she recreates the visual exuberance of farm life with pictorial means. In the small landscape “January, Delhi” (2009), a line of trees streams between snowy fields, alternately warmer and cooler, that decisively root them before a distant mountains. With startling ease, “Still Life: Eggs and Stones” (2009) locates a still life and window view as the reflection inside another still life’s mirror. And the largest painting, “Four Daughters, Late Summer” (2007), deftly catches the rhythms of individuals of various heights before a vista of rolling fields and hills. The subject matter faintly recalls 18th-century British portraits of landed gentry, but Bell’s painting testifies to a painter’s dedication rather than a sitter’s prosperity. Nor does the painting—despite its brisk technique—stray remotely near the breezy, snapshot style popularized by contemporary art stars Elizabeth Peyton and Karen Kilimnik. Bell’s compositions, with their pictorial heft, confirm her stated predilection for Venetian and School of Paris painting. What would Matisse have looked like as a Catskill painter? More than most artists, her paintings offer a hint. (JG)

Temma Bell With her latest exhibition at Bowery Gallery, Temma Bell reminds us that painting is not only a rigorous calling but one thoroughly

Temma Bell through May 16 at Bowery Gallery, 530 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 646-230-6655.

Through July 4

July 10 - Sept 19

860.873.8668 www.goodspeed.org May 2009

CRACKED UP continued from page 1 fine art and industry is Sam Baron’s “We Are Typical” (2005). Across the top half of nine white porcelain vessels— each a crudely modeled Victoriana—is a perfectly painted band of gold glaze. Two of the pieces sit below this line, and are therefore untouched by the color, adding a satisfying conceptual rigor. “We Are Typical” is simply and completely transformed by this gilt horizon into an almost sublime amalgam of abstract color field painting, landscape, still life, assembly line production and frilly, kitschy decoration. The crisp austerity is striking, and lends a pleasing mix of gravity and weightlessness. Also using the notion of the simple intervention to great effect is Gésine Hackenberg’s “Spoon Set” (2001). Here, breaking an antique Chinese blue and white saucer to create four ceramic shards resembling primordial utensils has turned the long and esteemed history of Eastern porcelain on its head. But these are merely ghosts of spoons since the notion of using them for food consumption has been completely erased. In one fell swoop, function is put on lifesupport, replaced instead by that strange allure found when beauty arises out of disaster. The somewhat indulgent overuse of water jet cutting—an unfortunately rampant technique in the Applied Arts—is evident in Edyta Cieloch’s seductive “Spanish Lace” (2008). At first glance, the piece is striking for its aggressive use of lacey cut-out patterning, but it fails to do much more than flaunt technique and ultimately disappoints. Almost anything, no matter how mundane, can be jazzed up when covered in these cut-outs. Caroline Slotte uses a subtler touch, however, in “Blue & White, Landscape Multiple” (2008). Here, the water jet wow-factor is tempered and more appealingly integrated. Out of the center of concentrically stacked second-hand blue and white plates, Slotte cuts out delicate shapes to create a quirky diorama-esque landscape, literally incising a mysterious narrative into, and out of, these plates. It’s an almost undetectable intervention, yet effectively transforms these commonplace dishes into a fairytale experience. Economizing concept and container is Maya Vinitsky’s streamlined “Squeeze Cup” (2003). From the center of a rather pedestrian coffee cup rises a ridged juicing device. As if no mitigating steps were taken between idea and execution, this piece wears its utility on its sleeve, nicely harmonizing form with function. And its straightforward simplicity almost promotes the idea of fresh juice more convincingly than a glass of juice itself. “Panier Percé” (2006), designed by Ionna Vautrin and Guillaume Delvigne, is a delightful pun on the often-fraught relationship between craft and mass-production. A banal, mass-produced porcelain bowl pierced entirely with small holes is paired with a do-it-yourself sewing kit. The idea here is that a person uses

City Arts NYC

the needle and thread to stitch a totally customized and personal design into the surface the bowl. The result is a wonderfully irreverent fusion of lo-tech craft with hightech industrial design. An unexpected favorite is Insa Doan and Cora Gebauer’s “Porcelain Memory” (2007), a ceramic USB memory stick decorated with a small underglaze blue image of a skeleton key. Accessorized with a mini knit cover and packaged in a white lace-lined metal container, this piece has all the qualities found in smart, good design, and hits all the right references to craft and industry (and could easily be sold in MAD’s gift shop). It’s also just plainly clever and fun, infusing a ubiquitous technology with a sense of intimacy and noncloying preciousness. Curator Marek Cecula’s own works in the show hit the mark nicely, particularly his “Beauty of Imperfection Set #13” (2007). Here, Cecula introduces the element of chance by adding water to the ceramic mix during different stages of the production of a rather dowdy tea set. The resulting effect on the ﬁnished product is similar to tossing corrosive acid on skin. Pebbly scars run across the sur-

Hella Jongerius “Bowl with Snail,” 2004 Courtesy of Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg

face, holes blister through, handles take on the quality of desiccated bone, and dainty gilt rims look gnawed. Process and material have been subverted and used against themselves with startling results, rendering the tea set neutered, dysfunctional. And it’s wonderful. To its beneﬁt, the Applied Arts has been able to exist outside the long, drawn-out debate between craft and ﬁne art. The union of industry and artist has liberated—not shackled—the ceramic object, allowing it to transverse concepts and genres not traditionally its domain. Can a set of dishes really convey the mysteries of abstraction? Of course. Do four spoons seriously have the ability to stop

you in your tracks and unleash a flurry of emotion? You better believe it. Artists, critics and historians have expended a mountain of energy arguing over the studio craft versus fine art divide. MAD itself even seems to recognize that the steam has run out on this argument by recently washing the word “craft” from its name. Perhaps the works in Object Factory are indicators that the work, and the artist making it, has moved on, and it’s time to put this flat debate in to bed. Object Factory, May 6-Sept. 13, Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle, 212-299-7777.

MUSEUMS

Sky’s The Limit Five years in, the Skyscraper Museum sees no need to slow down hen you’re an institution that chronicles the by-products of prosperity, what do you do when you’ve got a downturn on your hands? Such is the conundrum of the Skyscraper Museum. The 1990s recession was not friendly to New York’s building boom. With the stock market crushed and the dot-com bubble deﬂated, ﬁnancing dried up on major skyscraper projects in New York, particularly in Lower Manhattan. But where glossy structures once promised to rise, an ancillary endeavor took root: the Skyscraper Museum, which opened its doors in 1997 in a vacant building on Wall Street. Over the next seven years, it hop scotched around Downtown, jumping along Wall Street to an Art Deco banking hall, then over to Maiden Lane. When that space was repurposed as an emergency information center in the aftermath of the World Trade

Center attacks, the museum set up shop in donated office space on Broad Street. Today, the museum stands in its permanent home in Battery Park City, where it’s currently showing Vertical Cities: Hong Kong/New York, which explores “the parallels during two major development booms and defining moments in the vertical identity of each city: New York in the 1920s and 1960s and Hong Kong in the mid-1980s-1990s and today.” But while the museum has finally secured its roots, with space it now owns and where it just celebrated its five-year anniversary, the industry it covers is once again in a period of adjustment. Since last fall, the credit crisis has robbed developers of their financing and their potential tenants. To cover an industry in turmoil, Carol Willis, founder and curator of the museum and a professor of urban studies and planning at Columbia University, looks to the difference between this recession’s impact on

development and that of the last, which is the global nature of the current downturn. In the ’90s, she says, the constriction was localized in the United States, so American developers opted to build abroad. “This kind of bubble of development ballooned out in other places in the world,” Willis says. “But this time around it’s happening everywhere at the same time because global liquidity markets are frozen up.” So it’s this phenomenon from past eras that the museum will look to cover in its public programming in the fall. “We’re going to look at past recessions and how the community has responded to those,” Willis says. “A lot of the American ﬁrms are the developers of the tallest towers in China. They’re New York-based companies that in the ’80s and ’90s established relationships in China so that they’d be counter-cyclical.” As for addressing the current development predicament, Willis warns not to jump the gun. “Skyscrapers take at least ﬁve years to build these days,” she says. “And the nature of investing in such big commercial endeavors as real estate is a pretty long cycle. So it’s a mistake to look at it in too short a focus.” —Erica Orden

CLASSICAL MUSIC

A Ring to Remember BY JAY NORDLINGER Years ago, Shakespeare wrote a little song: “…in the spring time, the only pretty ring time…” Well, it has been Ring time here in New York, with the Metropolitan Opera presenting Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung. They did three separate cycles of the work. The Ring, as you know, is a tetralogy: a four-opera masterpiece lasting 15 hours, plus hours more of intermission. It is one of the greatest things in art—as Wagner, for one, well knew. He did not have self-esteem issues. (He had other issues.) And you could hardly get a ticket for the Met’s Ring—for any of the three cycles. I don’t believe I have ever seen a tougher ticket. Even opera-world insiders ran into a wall: unable to secure even some humble standing room. Why so tough a ticket? First, people love The Ring, and jump at the chance to see it. Some people travel the world, attending Ring cycles. I call them “Ring-heads.” Second, this was your last chance to see the Otto Schenk Ring. The great Austrian director made this Ring for the Met in the mid-1980s. It is now retired, to be replaced by a Ring from Robert Lepage, a French-Canadian director. I think that patrons were motivated a little by fear, too: both fear and love. Love for the Schenk Ring; fear of what might follow. Would they ever see a Ring like Schenk’s again, anywhere in the world? There are few opera productions I appreciate so much as the Schenk Ring. I believe it realizes Wagner’s vision. You ask yourself, “What would The Ring look like, if you could see it? Based on the score and the libretto— what would it look like?” And Schenk shows you, right on that big stage. According to Schenk himself, the Met came to him, those years ago, and said they wanted to do “a romantic Ring, as Wagner

wrote it… They wanted to take advantage of the technical possibilities of the Met to tell a human story.” Schenk took amazing advantage. You could call this production “traditional” (or worse); I would call it Wagnerian. The Ring’s music and words take physical shape. And I contrast Schenk’s Ring with others available. Take the Ring they’ve been doing in Salzburg (please!). I could rant for pages about it, but consider one fact: There is no rainbow bridge at the end of Das Rheingold. Oh, no. That would be a “cliché”—just as a gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel is a cliché, and a moon in Rusalka is a cliché. Instead, Wagner’s characters ﬁle against a blank white wall. I mean, why bother? If you don’t like Wagner—if you don’t like the concepts baked into The Ring—ﬁne. The Ring isn’t for everyone, heaven knows. So, produce something else—not Wagner. When I see a Ring like Salzburg’s, I want to hustle home to the Met and Schenk. Not everyone agrees with me, of course. Some critics positively loathe Schenk’s Ring—and I will quote one of them, my friend Martin Bernheimer. I quote him not because he’s the dumbest of the anti-Schenkers, but for the opposite reason: He is diamondbright. Bernheimer recently wrote, “If you are looking for irony or sociopolitical undertones, modernist symbols or abstractions, stay away from the Met”—at least until Lepage’s Ring arrives. Schenk’s is a Ring where “trees look like trees.” It is a Ring “much like the one Grossvater loved.” Well, Grossvater had good taste. Bernheimer refers to those who appreciate Schenk’s Ring as “the devout,” which is an interesting term: Another way of saying that is “faithful” (to Wagnerian vision?). He also says that Schenk’s “quaint old production…brought comfort to Wagnerites who abhor adventure.”

Beatriz Schiller/Metropolitan Opera

Farewell to Otto Schenk’s production of Wagner’s four-parter

The cast of The Ring at the Metropolitan Opera. Maybe. But some of us think that Wagner has concocted more than enough adventure—and that Schenk has put flesh on it. Take a break from the production to consider some singers. There are dozens in The Ring, and I will mention only a few who had good outings on the nights I heard them. James Morris was again Wotan, after all these years of service. I feared he would not have enough gas for the role—that fear was unfounded. Linda Watson was Brünnhilde, and she showed a beautiful, warm, rounded lower register. Same with her middle. Unfortunately, she was flat on many high notes. René Pape was Fasolt, one of the giants, and he made that character as real as I have ever heard or seen him. He was also Hunding, Pape was—and a nasty piece of work that Hunding was. He was a caged animal. Did Pape make him a cartoon villain? Well, maybe, but the performance was exciting. Yvonne Naef was a smart and dignified Fricka: not a mere killjoy and shrew. Robert Brubaker was a cunning, canny and partly sympathetic Mime—extraordinary. And Wendy White was Erda: smooth, composed and alluring. She can do Earth Mother. Where The Ring is concerned, the Met has had two big things going for it: the Schenk production (no more); and the music director, James Levine, in the orchestra pit. He is a Ring conductor for all time, joining Furtwängler, Krauss, Böhm, Solti and your other favorites. (Don’t forget Keilberth.) I will say this about the cycle I heard: When Levine was his best, he was great; when he was his worst—he was still fine. And I will repeat a statement I have often made: The afro of James Levine, popping up over an orchestra pit, is the most reassuring sight in opera.

Levine certainly has an excellent orchestra to conduct, an orchestra that he himself built up, over decades. Wagner’s scores are heavily and unusually symphonic. Not many opera bands can do them justice—but the Met band can. I might add that the orchestra is particularly lucky in its principal cello: Rafael Figueroa, who shone in The Ring. Frankly, a lot of critics, administrators and other insiders are embarrassed by the Met—embarrassed by its “conservative” productions. They want the house to get with it, to hop onboard—to be like all the other opera companies in the world. But can’t we have a little diversity? Can’t there be one house—just one—that offers “traditional” grand opera? Must we all be exactly the same? Let the other houses wear the black turtleneck, goatee and beret. The Met can have its own clothes. People come from all over the world to this house, in part to see the productions: the type of production they are unable to get elsewhere. They need a place where Wagner looks like Wagner, or Bohème looks like Bohème. It would be a shame if the Met gave up and just joined the modernist herd: not just a shame for the city, but a shame for the whole opera-loving world. Innovation and daring are necessary—vitally necessary. But so is artistic judgment. There is a bag of modernist tricks, including video, blatant sex—often violent sex—and political commentary. Fine, I guess. But let directors remember composers and librettists, too. In attending the Schenk Ring for the last time, I had a nagging thought: that I would never see The Ring—really and truly see it—again. Surely, that is wrong (right?). Nevertheless, I am grateful I saw this Ring, every few years, and will remember it. May 2009

JAZZ

Take Some Chances BY HOWARD MANDEL Late spring-early summer, eagerly awaited and ﬁnally arrived, is time to stretch and venture outside. By which I mean, hear music that’s beyond conventional—“inside”—parameters, played in territory that, though longestablished, still seems off the beaten track. The place to start is Roulette (in the gallery of Location One, 20 Greene St., betw. Canal & Grand Sts.), where percussionistcomposer Adam Rudolph reconvenes his Go: Organic Orchestra of ace improvisers from a broad swathe of global traditions on Mondays May 18 and 25, and the Mixology Festival of new and unusual uses of technology in music runs on select nights, May 14 through 30. Then delve on into the Lower East Side for the 14th annual Vision Festival, which gathers international stars and emergent talents of the so-called “free jazz” world June 9 through 14 at Abrons Art Center in the Henry Street Settlement (466 Grand St.), climaxing June 15 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation (172 Norfolk, just below Houston). Experimental and adventurous sounds from the most innovative and idea-full of

City Arts NYC

musicians have been on the docket at Roulette for 30 years. The modest but determined nonprofit performance program run by trombonist Jim Staley has been at the cool heart of the Downtown scene since the days “new music” was really new, providing listeners curious and patient enough to sit through concerts they might not be sure they liked or understood a chance to check out mavericks breaking from their classical studies and renegades rejecting limitations on what “jazz” might be. Rudolph’s “organic” orchestral endeavors are not difficult to follow or enjoy, though they result in music that’s never been heard before. The leader, well-versed in rhythms from around the world, conducts some 40 musicians playing typical and rare strings, reeds, flutes, horns, guitars and percussion in spontaneously imagined movements that add up to cinematic suites. His notable soloists are too many to list, but among them are violinist Jason Hwang, Sylvain Leroux playing West African flute, Ned Rothenberg on bass clarinet and Japanese shakuhachi, Iraqui-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar and cornetist Graham Haynes, electric guitarists Kenny Wessel and

Andreas Strong

Roulette continues to provide adventurous sounds, plus Vision Festivals is the city’s only dedicated summer jazz fest

Elliott Sharp plays a Harvestworks concert during Roulette’s Mixology Fest. Leni Stern and drummer Harris Eisenstadt. During G:OO’s prior Roulette stints last fall and February, such individual’s contributions were strong statements emerging from shapely, nearly tactile ensemble episodes. Roulette’s Mixology Festival promises to be completely different. A few veteran experimentalists such as never-compromising Elliott Sharp (May 14), multi-instrumentalist Hahn Rowe (May 22) and “no-wave” associated guitarist

David Rosenbloom (May 30) are featured, along with artists totally new to me but who sound intriguing from their promotional descriptions. Thus, Zach Layton (May 15) explores “synaesthesia, geometric forms and minimal surfaces;” Bill Hsu and James Fei (May 16) use reeds and electronics with an interactive system that “tracks timbral and gestural information;” Mikey IQ Jones (May 20) presents “new songforms…centered around [his] bodily and technological manhandling;” the duo Evidence (May 23) puts “commonplace electrical devices and found objects into unstable relationships with each other [to] build humming, whirring, rattling contraptions on the fly,” with Benton-C Bainbridge making “live visuals in much the same spirit.” And Aaron Siegel (May 29) “writes experimental music that lies at the intersection of abstraction and intuition,” representing “the flowering DIY chamber music scene in Brooklyn.” A complete schedule is at www.Roulette.org. Am I curious and patient enough? Are you? If those descriptions seem a trifle highfalutin’, trust the Vision Festival’s 40 acts over

JAZZ continued on next page

THEATER

All Around the World In a spirit of collaboration, four diverse theater companies present separate productions of the same play BY MARK BLANKENSHIP very season, a few plays catch fire and get produced all over the country. Pulitzer Prizes generate heat, of course, and so do Broadway productions, but what about the dozens of other new works whose world premieres are followed by nothing much at all? “There tends to be a real problem with plays getting produced once and then disappearing,” says Kate Loewald, co-founder and producer of Off Broadway’s Play Company. In an effort to reverse that trend, her theater is participating in an ambitious project that will stage a new play not once, not twice, but four times. The initiative is spearheaded by the Manhattan-based Lark Play Development Center and largely funded by a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Under this unique model, four theaters—including one based outside the United States—agree to mount separate productions of the same play, all while sharing resources and information. Artistic directors and key collaborators from all four theaters (as well as Lark) are expected to travel to see each staging and exchange insights on the show. Lloyd Suh’s American Hwangap is the first play to benefit from this experiment. A comedy about a Korean-American family celebrating their father’s 60th birthday, it was produced last month by San Francisco’s Magic Theater, and on May 17, it will open Off-Broadway at The Wild Project, in a co-production from The Play Company and Ma-Yi Theater. A third American staging will be announced soon, and Manila’s Tanghalang Pilipino will launch its version in 2010. Both the San Francisco and New York productions were in development before the Mellon money arrived, but the funding removed many of the remaining obstacles. Now, for instance, the theaters are not only sharing ideas, but are also sharing a director, Trip Cullman, and several designers. Loewald stresses the benefits of this particular arrangement, which lets theaters work autonomously, yet learn from one another. “It’s not like we’re reinventing the wheel, but being able to collaborate like this is exciting, especially when we’re working with a writer who isn’t as well-known,” she says. “Hopefully, this model can give new plays an ongoing life, because it gives everyone the opportunity to get a much deeper knowledge of the play.” For Suh, that knowledge is especially empowering. He recently left New York

Lloyd Suh’s American Hwangap is part of an ambitious project to produce the same play in four separate productions. San Francisco’s Magic Theater’s recent production pictured.

rehearsals, for instance, to see American Hwangap again in San Francisco. “When we got to New York, we were in a room with just ourselves again, so it was nice to get that audience feedback,” he explains. “The assumption is that once a play is produced, it’s ﬁnished, but for someone like me, it’s nice to be able to keep working.” Suh recalls that on opening night in San Francisco, he had an idea for a rewrite, but instead of just mourning a missed opportunity, he was able to pull Cullman aside and discuss changes for the New York version. As bracing as these back-to-back productions have been, however, it has taken effort to keep them from blurring together. “We couldn’t look at San Francisco as an out-oftown tryout,” Suh says. “We had to see it as a

complete production all on its own. But at the same time, we didn’t want to get so attached to what happened in San Francisco that we shut down our imaginations for the next steps.” Cullman adds that as a director, he’s had to master the balancing act of simultaneously working with two completely different casts. “The challenge has been remaining as open as possible to the creative impulses that come from the new cast while at the same time honoring the good choices that have already been made,” he says. The director says that one member of the New York cast was especially worried about being asked to mimic a performance from the California run. However, Suh’s continual rewrites for the Off-Broadway production helped the company feel they were developing

their own project. Despite such delicate situations, Cullman, who has been connected to American Hwangap since its early development, says he appreciates the production-focused model. “I can’t tell you how many literary managers have called me to say, ‘Oh, this play is perfect for our diversity reading series, but that’s not what Lloyd needs,” he says. “He needs to see his play produced. You can’t be a playwright if all you get are readings, so having all these people around, all over the place, who are actively producing the play is extremely beneﬁcial.”

JAZZ continued from previous page

Zim Ngqawana performs with Vision stalwarts Matt Shipp (piano), William Parker (bass) and Nasheet Watts (drums) on June 12. Phenomenal drummer Milford Graves has pianist D.D. Jackson in his quartet on June 13, same night as vocalist Lisa Sokolov’s trio and Boston-area Joe Morris playing bass in his GoGo Mambo tentet. Chicagoans seldom found in New York—such as Douglas Ewart (June 9), Ernest Dawkins with his New Horizons Ensemble (June 11) and 80-year-old tenor saxist Fred Anderson (June 14)—will be here, same as New Orleans’ saxist Kidd Jordan and double reedist Bill Cole (both June 10), drummer Sonny Murray (June 11) and German saxo-

phonist Peter Brötzmann’s trio (called “Full Blast”—fair warning—on June 14). There are also dancers, video installations, panel discussions, student ensembles, for a complete schedule visit www.visionfestival.org. The Vision Festival is the only dedicated “jazz” festival in New York City this summer, as the more mainstream JVC Jazz FestivalNew York has, without announcement, been suspended after 25 years. We’re going to miss the big-name touring acts and straight-ahead jazzers who’ve usually been booked under JVC auspices in Carnegie Hall and other Midtown concert venues. But no problem: Try something different. It’s nice outside.

seven days to connect the far out and conceptual with the nitty-gritty and street-smart. Festival “Lifetime Achievement” honoree Marshall Allen, alto saxophonist and director of the Sun Ra Arkestra (appearing June 10) is a master of both realms, having been an early adopter of electronic wind instruments back in the 1960s. Of New York-based Visionaries, violinist Billy Bang opens the fest (June 9) with a three-trumpet plus trombone band; Butch Morris conducts poets and strings (same night) in an “Erotic Eulogy;” Charles Gayle has a noholds-barred trio and South African saxophonist

American Hwangap, May17-June 7, The Wild Project, 195 E. 3rd St. (near Ave. B), 212-352-3101.

May 2009

ARTS AGENDA

Work by Jem Cohen, Olivia Wyatt, Molly Surno and Paul Baumann from 12 Instances at Heist Gallery.

GALLERIES ACA GALLERY: Humanity: A Hundred Years

of Figurative Art. Through July 3. Ivan Albright’s 1897-1983. Through July 3, 529 W. 20th (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-2068080, www.acagalleries.com A.I.R. GALLERY: Three photo exhibitions featuring Elisabeth Munroe Smith, Regina Granne and Jennifer Williams. Through May 24, 111 Front St. #228 (at Washington St.), Brooklyn, 212-255-6651, www.airgallery.org. ANDREA MEISLIN GALLERY: Photography by Lili Almog. Opens June 18, 526 W. 26th St., suite 214 (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212627-2552, www.andreameislin.com. ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY: Nigel Cooke. 525 W. 24th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-6276000, www.rosengallery.com. ARENA STUDIOS: Manifesto, a group show featuring Kenny Scharf, John Toth, Rob Roth, Mufﬁnhead and more. Through May 31, 407 Broome St. (betw. Lafayette & Centre Sts.), 212-889-1591, www.arenanyc.com. ARMOND BARTOS FINE ART: Collect With Us. Paintings by Matisse, Warhol, Pollack, Brancusi and others. Through May 30, 25 E. 73rd St. (betw. 5th & Madison Aves.), 212-288-6705, www.armandbartos.com. BABCOCK GALLERIES: Marylyn Dintenfass’ Good and Plenty Juicy. Through June 12, 724 5th Ave. (betw. W. 56th & W. 57th Sts.), 646556-5876, www.babcockgalleries.com. BETTY CUNINGHAM GALLERY: Works on Paper by John Lees and Gordon Moore. Through June 13, 541 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-242-2772, www.bettycuninghamgallery.com. BOWERY GALLERY: Janet Gorzegno. May 19 through June 13, 530 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 646-230-6655, www. bowerygallery.org. CLAMP ART: Andrea Diefenbach’s AIDS in Odessa. Stan Gaz’s Impact. Through June 6, 521-531 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 646-230-0020, www.clampart.com. CHELSEA TERMINAL WAREHOUSE: Commune: a group exhibition organized by Dominique Nahas. Through June 27, 636 W. 28th St. (at 11th Ave.), 212-244-3007, www.blacka-

City Arts NYC

ndwhiteartgallery.com. CH’I CONTEMPORARY FINE ART: Twelve Gates:

Encounter with Hildegard of Bingen by HeeSook Kim. Through June 8, 293 Grand St. (betw. Roebling & Havermeyer Sts.), Brooklyn, 718-218-8939, www.chicontemporaryﬁneart.com. CULTURAL SERVICES OF THE FRENCH EMBASSY:

Photos by Gérard Rondeau. Through May 29, 972 5th Ave. (at E. 79th St.), www. frenchculture.org. D’AMELIO TERRAS: Wall Show. Sculptures by Tony Feher. Noguchi Rika’s The Sun. Both through June 20, 525 W. 22nd St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-352-9460, www. damelioterras.com. CRISTIN TIERNEY FINE ART: Themes and Variations: On the Use of Repetition in 21st Century Art; Contemporary Art and Portraiture. Through June 13th, 547 W. 27th St., suite 630, 212-594-0550, www.cristintierny.com. DANEYAL MAHMOOD GALLERY: Unrevealed. Photographs and video by Lisa Ross. Through June 13, 511 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-675-2966, www.daneyalmahmood.com. DAVID FINDLAY JR. FINE ART: Lorrie Goulet’s Recent Sculpture. Through May 23, 41 E. 57th St. (at Madison Ave.), 212-486-7660, www.davidﬁndlayjr.com. DAVID NOLAN GALLERY: New Paintings by Peter Saul. Through May 23, 527 W. 29th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-925-6190, www.davidnolangallery.com. DC MOORE GALLERY: Barbara Takenaga’s Last Blue Wheel. Through June 6, 724 5th Ave, 8th Fl. (betw. E. 56th & E. 57th Sts.), 212247-2111, www.dcmooregallery.com. DCKT: Michael Velliquette: Abundant Creatures. Through June 13, 195 Bowery (at Spring St.), 212-741-9955, www.dcktcontemporary.com. DRAWING CENTER: Unica Zurn: Dark Spring. Through July 23, 35 Wooster St. (betw. Broome & Grand Sts.), 212-219-2166, www.drawingcenter.org. EXIT ART: Négritude. Through July 11, 475 10th Ave. (at W. 36th St.), 212-966-7745, www. exitart.org.

FIAF GALLERY: Jonathan Demme Collection:

Inspiration of Haitian Art. Through June 13, 22 E. 60th St. (betw. Madison & Park Aves.), 646-388-6667, www.fiaf.org. FIRST STREET GALLERY: Michele Libeler. Opens May 26, 526 W. 26th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 646-336-8053, www.firststreetgallery.net. FLOMENHAFT GALLERY: Group Exhibit. Through June 20, 547 W. 27th St., suite 308 (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-268-4952, www. flomenhaftgallery.com. FREIGHT AND VOLUME: Kim Dorland. Opens May 21, 542 W. 24th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-691-7700, www.freightandvolume.com. FUSE GALLERY: That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore (America at the Turn of the Century). Photographs by Leo Fitzpatrick. Through July 4, 93 2nd Ave. (betw. E. 5th & E. 6th Sts.), 212-777-7988, www.fusegallerynyc.com. GREENBERG VAN DOREN GALLERY: Sung: My Girls and Our World. Through June 12, 730 5th Ave., 7th Fl. (at W. 57th St.), 212-4450444, www.gvdgallery.com. GREENWICH HOUSE POTTERY: Eat Clay or Die. Opens May 12, 16 Jones St. (betw. Bleecker & W. 4th Sts.), 212-242-4106, www.greenwichhousepottery.org. GREY ART GALLERY AT NYU: John Wood: On the Edge of Clear Meaning. Through July 18, 100 Washington Sq. East (at Washington Pl.), 212-998-6780, www.nyu.edu/greyart. HEIST GALLERY: 12 Instances, curated by Molly Surno. Opens May 12, 27 Essex St. (betw. Grand & Hester Sts.), 212-253-0451, www. heistgallery.com. HENRY GREGG GALLERY: Greenhouse Gases Photos. May 14 through June 21, 111 Front St., suite 226 (betw. Washington & Adams Sts.), Brooklyn, 718-408-1090, www.henrygregggallery.com. HOWARD SCOTT GALLERY: Nervous System: Recent works by the collage artist Lance Letscher. Through June 13, 529 W. 20th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 646-486-7004, www.howardscottgallery.com. HUDSON FRANKLIN: Picturehood. Photographs by Keiko Narahashi. Through June 6, 508 W.

26th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-7411189, www.hudsonfranklin.com. JUNE KELLY GALLERY: James Little, De-Classiﬁed: New Paintings. Through June 9, 591 Broadway #3C (at W. Houston St.), 212226-1660, www.junekellygallery.com. KATHARINA RICH PERLOW GALLERY: Obstructions. Through May 31, The Fuller Building, 41 E. 57th St. (at Madison Ave.), 212-644-7171. KATHRYN MARKEL FINE ARTS: (Re)treat: Prints by artist Sarah Smelser. Through May 30, 529 W. 20th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212366-5368, www.markelﬁnearts.com. KIM FOSTER GALLERY: Overlay. Paintings and prints by Antonio Petracca. Through June 20, 529 W. 20th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212229-0044, www.kimfostergallery.com. KNOEDLER & COMPANY: American Icons and Early Work by Mimmo Rotella. Through July 31, 19 E. 70th St. (betw. 5th & Madison Aves.), 212-794-0550, www.knoedlergallery.com. L&M ARTS: John Chamberlain: Early Years. Through June 27, 45 E. 78th St (betw. Madison & Park Aves.), 212-861-0020, www.lmgallery.com. LANA SANTORELLI GALLERY: Artwork inspired by the city. Through June 13, 110 W. 26th St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), 212-229-2111, www.lanasantorelligallery.com. LAURENCE MILLER GALLERY: A memorial tribute to Helen Levitt. A series of works from the artist’s 70-year career, including her most recent show, entitled Passages. Through June 26. 20 W. 57th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-397-3930, www.laurencemillergallery.com. LEHMANN MAUPIN: The Dance of the Machine Gun & other forms of unpopular expression by Hernan Bas. Oil, acrylic, and mixed media paintings on linen. Through July 10, 201 Chrystie St. (at Stanton St.), 212-254-0054, www.lehmannmaupin.com. LEHMANN MAUPIN CHELSEA: Large-scale painting and works on paper by Adriana Varejão. Through July 10, 540 W. 26th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-255-2923, www. lehmannmaupain.com. LEICA GALLERY: Curse of the Black Cold. A

series of triptychs exploring the relationship between individual images. Through June 6, 670 Broadway (betw. W. 3rd & Bleeker Sts.), 212-777-3051, www.leica-camera.com. LESLEY HELLER GALLERY: Triple Play: Sculpture and painting by John Duff, Ron Gorchov, and Alain Kirili. Through June 19, 16 E. 77th St. (betw. 5th & Madison Aves.), 212410-6120, www.lesleyheller.com. LOHIN GEDULD: Nicolas Carone: Figuration to Abstraction. Through May 30, 531 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-6752656, www.lohingeduld.com. LORI BOOKSTEIN FINE ART: A selection of late 1980s sculpture by Garth Evans. Through April 25, 37 W. 57th St., 3rd Fl. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-750-0949, www. loribooksteinfineart.com. LUHRING AUGUSTINE GALLERY: Albert Oehlen. Through May 30, 531 W. 24th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-206-9055, www. luhringaugustine.com. M. SUTHERLAND FINE ART: Wang Huaiqing and Wang Tiantian’s New Prints By Father & Daughter. Through June 19, 55. E 80th St. 2nd floor (betw. Madison & Park Aves.), 212-249-0428. MARIANNE BOESKY GALLERY: Robert Elfgen. Through May 31. Project Space & Rooftop: Paula Hayes. Through June 30, 509 W. 24th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-6809889. www.marianneboeskygallery.com. MARLBOROUGH GALLERY CHELSEA: Flowerscapes by L.C. Armstrong. Acrylic paintings of flowers and cityscapes also use the artist’s signature bomb fuse and resin. 545 W. 25th St. (betw 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-463-8634, www.marlboroughgallery.com. MARTOS GALLERY: Lyle Starr. Through June 6, 540 W. 29th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-560-0670, www.martosgallery.com. MICHAEL ROSENFELD GALLERY: Part One: Painting. A collection of paintings from various artists. Through May 16, 24 W. 57th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-247-0402, www.miachaelrosenfeldart.com. MICHAEL STEINBERG FINE ART: Gerald Monroe: Recent Paintings. Through May 22, 526 W. 26th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212524-9770, www.michaelsteinbergfineart. com. MICHAEL WERNER GALLERY: Sigmar Polke’s Lens Paintings. Through June 19, 4 E. 77th St. (betw. 5th & Madison Aves.), 212-9881623, www.michaelwerner.com. MITCHELL INNES & NASH: Jessica Stockholder: Sail Cloth Tears. Through June 13, 534 W. 26th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-7447400, www.miandn.com. NABI GALLERY: Elsie Taliaferro Hill’s Pangaea: Paintings on canvas. Through June 7, 137 W. 25th St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), 212929-6063, www.nabigallery.com. NOHO GALLERY: Joy Saville: (Re)generation – Transformation. Fabric constructions reflecting the rebuilding of a life following the loss of a loved one. Through June 6, 530 W. 25th St., 4th Fl. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-367-7063, www.nohogallery.com. THE OLD PRINT SHOP: Will Barnet’s Printmaker. Through May 29, 150 Lexington Ave. (betw. E. 29 & E. 30th Sts.), 212-6833950, www.oldprintshop.com. PACE MACGILL GALLERY: Works by photorealist

Chuck Close. Through May 30, 32 E. 57th St., 9th Fl. (betw. Park & Madison Aves.), 212-759-7999, www.pacemacgill.com. PACE WILDENSTEIN: Sculpture by Tim Hawkinson. Through July 25, 32 E. 57th St., 3rd Fl. (betw. Park & Madison Aves.), 212-4213292, www.pacewildenstein.com. PARK AVENUE ARMORY: Park Avenue Armory’s ﬁrst commissioned installation with anthropodino, a large-scale, participatory work by Ernesto Neto. Through June 14, 643 Park Ave. (at E. 67th St.), 212-671-5167, www. armoryonpark.org. PAUL KASMIN GALLERY: Sheila Berger: New Paintings. Through June 6. Les Lalanne. Through July 3, 511 W. 27th St. (at 10th Ave.), 212-563- 4474, www.paulkasmingallery.com. PRINCE STREET GALLERY: Katharine Butler: Paintings. May 19 through June 13, 530 W. 25th St., 4th Fl. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 646230-0246. www.princestreetgallery.com. RAANDESK GALLERY OF ART: It’s Only Black and White. Colorless work that ﬁnds texture by combining painting, mixed media, drawings and photography. April 23 through July 3, 16 W. 23rd St., 4th Fl. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-696-7432, www.raandeskgallery.com. RONALD FELDMAN FINE ARTS: Edwin Schlossberg: At the Moment. Paintings combining text and abstract images on aluminum panels. Through May 30, 31 Mercer St., 212-2263232, www.feldmangallery.com. SARAH MELTZER GALLERY: Moyna Flannigan: Trouble Loves Me. Paintings in oil, pastel, and watercolor. May 13 through June 27, 525-531 W. 26th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-727-9330. www.sarameltzergallery.com. SLATE GALLERY: Recent Paintings by Dorothy Robinson. Through June 14, 136 Wythe Ave. (at N. 5th St.), Brooklyn, 718-3873921, www.slategallery.com. SHEPHERD & DEROM GALLERIES: Works on Paper by Jules Pascin. Man Ray: Works From a Private Collection. Through June 27, 58 E. 79th St. (betw. Park & Madison Aves.), 212-862-4050, www.shepherdgallery.com. SUSAN INGLETT GALLERY: Work in Progress, photography by Sarah Charlesworth. Through June 13, 522 W. 24th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-647-9111, www.inglettgallery.com. SWISS INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART: Manon. A retrospective by the internationally recognized body and performance artist includes works from shows as early as 1974 to her most recent in 2007. Through June 30, 496 Broadway (betw. Broome & Spring Sts.), 212-925-2035, www.swissinstitute.net. TABLA RASA GALLERY: Pioneer Women. Through May 30, 224 48 St. (betw. 2nd & 3rd Aves.), Brooklyn, 718-833-9100, www. tablarasagallery.com. THOMAS ERBEN GALLERY: Looped and Layered: A Selection of Contemporary Art from Tehran. Opens May 14, 526 W. 26th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-645-8701, www. thomaserben.com. TIBOR DE NAGY GALLERY: Patricia Broderick’s Paintings and Works on Paper. Through May 22. Richard Baker & Tom Burckhardt’s Book Covers. Through May 22, 724 Fifth Ave. (betw. W. 56th & W. 57th Sts.),

212-262-5050, www.tibordenagy.com. VON LINTEL GALLERY: Marco Breuer: Part __ of

__ Parts. Through June 13, 520 W. 23rd St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-242-0599, www.vonlintel.com. WHITE BOX: Lee Bae: Mark/Motion/Imprint. May 16 through June 14, 329 Broome St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie Sts.), 212-7142347, www.whiteboxny.org. WOODWARD GALLERY: Signs of Life. Mixed media paintings by Mark Mastroianni and Rick Begneaud. May 16 through July 10,133 Eldridge St. (betw. Delancey & Broome Sts.), 212-966-3411, www.woodwardgallery.net. YANCEY RICHARDSON GALLERY: PERSONA, a presentation of works by Hiroh Kikai. His Asaskusa Portraits depict people in an “urban backwater” of Tokyo known as a center of popular entertainment. Through July 2, 535 W. 22nd St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 646230-9610, www.yanceyrichardson.com. ZABRISKIE GALLERY: Pat Lasch’s If You Make a Mistake, Put a Rose on It, cake sculptures. Through July 2, 41 E. 57th St. (at Madison

Ave.), 212-752-1223, www.zabriskiegallery. com.

AUCTION HOUSES DOYLE NEW YORK: European Art, Modern &

Contemporary Art and American Art. May 19. Belle Epoque: 19th & 20th Century Decorative Arts. June 3, 10 a.m. 175 E. 87th St. (betw. Lexington & 3rd Aves.), 212427-2730, www.doylenewyork.com. SWANN AUCTION GALLERIES: Photographic Literature and Fine Photographs. May 14, 10:30 a.m. & 2:30. Modernist Posters. May 21, 1:30 p.m. 104 E. 25th St. (betw. Park & Lexington Aves.), 212-254-4710, www. swanngalleries.com.

EVENTS LINCOLN CENTER CELEBRATE 50 YEARS: Lincoln

Center ofﬁcially launches a year-long celebration with artistic, civic, government

ELSIE TALIAFERRO HILL Pangaea Through June 7

Kaeru, 40 x 40 inches, oil on canvas, 2009

CONCERTS AT THE NABI: Thursday, May 28, the Nouveau Classical Project Thursday, June 4, the Verbier Festival New York Chamber Ensemble Saturday, June 6, Triango Sunday, June 7, the Nabi Piano Quartet For more information see www.nabigallery.com

NABI GALLERY 137 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001 | 212 929 6063 | www.nabigallery.com May 2009

leaders and invited guests paying tribute to Lincoln Center’s celebrated past and to its next generation of artists and audiences. May 11, Starr Theater at Alice Tully Hall, W.65th St. (at Broadway), www.lincolncenter.org. NEW YORK PHOTO FESTIVAL: The second annual festival features exhibits, artists workshops and the 2009 Photo Awards. May 13 through 17, various locations, www.nyphotofestival.com. WHITE COLUMNS BENEFIT AUCTION: Cocktail party and live auction, featuring work from Rita Ackerman, Cecily Brown, Jules de Balincourt, Cindy Sherman, Elizabeth Peyton and more. May 16, White Columns, 320 W. 13th St. (betw. 8th Ave. & Hudson St.), 212-924-4212, www.whitecolumns.org; 7, $150 and up. THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL TRIBAL AND TEXTILE ARTS SHOW: The 15th annual show will host

more than 60 galleries with a heavy emphasis on extraordinary textiles from native cultures. Through May 17, 69th Regiment Armory, E. 26th St. (at Lexington Ave.), www.caskeylees.com. MUSLIM VOICES: ARTS & IDEAS: Asia Society, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and New York University Center for Dialogue present this 10-day festival featuring over 100 artists and speakers participating in performances, ﬁlms, exhibitions, talks and other events that aim to present multiple perspectives from the Muslim world. June 5 through 14, various locations, www.bam.org.

MUSEUMS AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS: Exhibi-

tion of Works by Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards. May 21 through June 14, 633 W. 155th St. (betw. Broadway & Riverside Dr.), 212-368-5900, www.artsandletters.org. AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM AT LINCOLN SQUARE:

The Treasure of Ulysses Davis features sculpture from the Savannah, Georgia Barber. Through September 6. Kaleidoscope Quilts: The Art of Paula Nadelstern. Through September 13, 2 Lincoln Sq. (at W. 66th St.), 212-977-7170, www.folkartmuseum.org. AMERICAS SOCIETY: Dias & Riedweg:…and it becomes something else. Opens May 12, 680 Park Ave. (at E. 68th St.), 212-2778359, www.americas-society.org. BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Living and Learning: Chinese Immigration, Restriction and Community in Brooklyn, 1850 to Present. Through Aug. 30, Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont St. (at Clinton St.), Brooklyn, 718-222-4111, www.brooklynhistory.org. BROOKLYN MUSEUM: Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea. The first major exhibition of Caillebotte’s work in New York for more than 30 years. Through July 5. Sun K. Kwak: Enfolding 280 Hours. A site-specific work composed of approximately three miles of black masking tape in the fifth-floor Iris and B. Gerald Cantor. Through July 5. Exhibition of a New Generation of Feminist Video

City Arts NYC

Summer Space What’s happening outside the city this summer SUMMERSCAPE AT BARD COLLEGE: The Fisher Center will hosts the seven-week festival, which includes film, live music, dance, cabaret and more. The fest opens July 9 with Lucinda Childs’s Dance, set to music by Philip Glass and a film by Sol LeWitt. Other mustbe-there performances include Les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer and Ted Hughes’ The Eumenides. It’s all capped off Aug. 14-23 with the 20th annual Bard Music Festival, which focuses on “Wagner and His World,” featuring 12 concerts as well as panels Leon Botstein musical director of the American Symphony Orchestra in and lectures discussing the composer. American residence at the Bard Music Festival. Symphony Orchestra, under its music director, Leon Botstein, is in residence throughout. Don’t forget the Spiegeltent will feature cabaret by Justin Bond and performance art by Taylor Mac. Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, 845-758-7900, www.fishercenter.bard.edu. GOODSPEED OPERA: Producing opera since 1877, the Tony Award-winning Goodspeed’s summer schedule includes 42nd Street (through June 28), Camelot (opening July 10) and Lucky Guy, a new music comedy based in Nashville (opening May 14). 6 Main St., East Haddam, CT, 860-873-8668, www.goodspeed.org. THE DAN FLAVIN ART INSTITUTE: Maintained by the Dia Arts Foundation, this former Baptist church in Bridgehampton houses nine fluorescent light works by Flavin. This season also features the special exhibition Imi Knoebel: Knife Cuts Part 2 (through October)—part of series that has included works by Louise Bourgeois, Andy Warhol and John Chamberlain. Corwith Avenue (off of Main Street), Bridgehampton, NY, 212-989-5566 ext. 518, www.diabeacon.org; Thurs.-Sun., Noon-6, Free. DIA: BEACON: Showcases artwork created after the 1960s, most of which cannot normally be accommodated by smaller museums. The large-scale, sky-lit galleries stretch over 300,000 square feet of a historic printing factory featuring numerous renowned artists. May 16 will see the debut of a series by Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies. 3 Beekman St., Beacon, NY, 845-440-0100, www.diabeacon.org; Thurs-Mon., 11 a.m.-6, $10. THE TILLES CENTER: Located on the C.W. Post campus in Brookville, this concert hall has hosted Yo-Yo Ma and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. This season, along with the New York Philharmonic’s appearance on June 19, will see John Pizzarelli’s tributes to Frank Sinatra on May 17 and chamber music—featuring star soprano Monica Yunus—on May 31. 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville, NY, 516299-3100. STORM KING ART CENTER: This 500-acre outdoor museum “celebrates the relationship between sculpture and nature.” Large-scale art pieces by Alexander Calder are framed by natural flora, landscape and horizon. Opening this season with the impressive landscape sculpture, the Storm King Wavefield, is Maya Lin: Bodies of Water—a study on the many structures of water by the same artist who designed the Vietnam War memorial in Washington D.C. Old Pleasant Hill Rd., Mountainville, NY, 845-534-3115, www.stormking.org; Open Wed. through Sun.; 10 a.m. to 5:30, $10. THE POWERHOUSE THEATER: A collaboration of New York Stage and Film and Vassar College, the Powerhouse serves as a center for big players in the creation of new and influential theater. The 2009 season will include works by John Patrick Shanely and Beth Henley and a new collaboration by Spring Awakening composer Duncan Sheik, and Daily Show comedian Lewis Black. Vassar, 124 Raymond Ave, Poughkeepsie, NY, 845-437-5599, powerhouse.vassar.edu ERIC SLOANE AT GREEN RIVER GALLERY: Opened in 1975, this upstate gallery specializes in 19th- and 20th-century American art, with an emphasis on art of the American Eest and Eric Sloane. Sloane’s paintings will be on display this summer as well as other paintings, bronze sculpture and early American furniture. 1578 Boston Corners Rd, Millerton, NY, 518-789-3311; Sat. 10 a.m.-5; Sun. Noon-5. THE HUDSON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: Set in the gardens of the gorgeous Boscobel House property, the company will play Pericles, Much Ado About Nothing and the ever-popular parody, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), which includes 37 plays in 97 minutes. Boscobel, Rt. 9D, Cold Spring, NY, 845-265-7858, www.hvshakespeare.org.

Artists. Through 2010, 200 Eastern Pkwy. (at Washington Ave.), Brooklyn, 718-6385000, www.brooklynmuseum.org. CHELSEA ART MUSEUM: modern modern: a group exhibition curated by Pati Hertling featuring works by 34 contemporary artists. Through June 13, 556 W. 22nd St. (at 11th Ave.), 212-255-0719, www.chelseaartmuseum.org. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THE ARTS: 2009 M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition. Through May 23, Fisher Landau Center for Art, 38-27 30th St. (at 38th Ave.), Queens, 718-9370727, www.ﬂcart.org. COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM: The exhibition Fashioning Felt explores the varied uses, designs and innovations in this ancient fabric. Shahzia Sikander Selects:

Works from the Permanent Collection. Through Sept. 7, 2 E. 91st St. (at 5th Ave.), 212-849-8400, www.cooperhewitt.org. THE FRICK COLLECTION: Portraits, Pastels, Prints: Whistler in The Frick Collection. A collection of paintings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Through Aug. 29, 1 E. 70th St. (betw. 5th & Madison Aves.), 212-2880700, www.frick.org. HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA: Gallery Talk on Gabriel Joly. Joly was a sculptor from the northern French province of Picardy. May 23, 613 W. 155th St. (at Audobon Terr.), 212-926-2234, www.hispanicsociety.org. JEWISH MUSEUM: The Danube Exodus: The Rippling Currents of the River by Peter Forgacs and The Labyrinth Projects, a multimedia exhibition about the displacement

of ethnic minorities. Through Aug 2. Mary Koszmary (Nightmares): A Film by Yael Bartanal. Through Aug. 27, 109 5th Ave. (betw. E. 92nd & E. 93rd Sts.), 212-4233200, www.thejewishmuseum.org. THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984. 160 works in all media by thirty artists. Through Aug. 2. Art of the Korean Renaissance, 1400-1600. Fifty works of art demonstrating the art and patronage of the early Choson dynasty are presented. Through June 21, 1000 5th Ave. (at E. 82nd St.), 212-535-7710, www. metmuseum.org. THE MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM: Recent Acquisitions. Through Oct. 18. On the Money: Cartoons for The New Yorker from the Melvin R. Seiden Collection. Through May

23. Creating the Modern Stage: Designs for Theater and Opera. Opens May 22, 225 Madison Ave. (at E. 36th St.), 212-6850008, www.themorgan.org. MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FINANCE: Women of Wall Street: Exhibit showcasing several notable women in the world of ﬁnance and Wall Street. Through January 2010, 48 Wall St. (betw. William & Hanover Sts.), 212-9084110, www.moaf.org. MUSEUM OF ART AND DESIGN: Gord Peteran: Furniture Meets Its Maker. Furniture to an unprecedented range of psychological and conceptual content. Opens May 27. Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics. Opens May 6, 2 Columbus Cir. (at Broadway), 212-299-7777, www.madmuseum.org. MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE: Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges. Opens May 1. Seeking Justice: The Leo Frank Case Revisited. Opens May 1, 36 Battery Pl. (at 1st Pl.), 646-4374200, www.mjhnyc.org. MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: Into the Sunset: Photography’s Image of the American West. This exhibit examines how photography has pictured the idea of the American West from 1850 to the present. Through June 8, 11 W. 53rd St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212708-9400, www.moma.org. MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: Amsterdam/ New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson. Through Sept., 1220 5th Ave. (at E. 103rd St.), 212-534-1672, www.mcny.org. NATIONAL ACADEMY MUSEUM: The 184th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art. Features the new work or 186 artists including the renowned Tom Nozkowski, Pat Steir, John Moore and Mark Greenwold. April 16 through June 10, 5 E. 89th St. (at 5th Ave.), 212-996-1908, www.nationalacademy.org. NEUE GALERIE: Brucke: The Birth of Expressionism in Dresden and Berlin, 1905-1913. Through June 29, 1048 5th Ave. (at E. 86th St.), 212-628-6200, www.neuegalerie.org. NEW MUSEUM: The Generational: Younger Than Jesus. The work of 50 artists from 25 countries, all under the age of 33, will be on display. Through June 14, 235 Bowery (at Prince St.), 212-219-1222, www.newmuseum.org. NYU DEPARTMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING:

Class of 2009 Final Group Show. Through May 16, Gulf & Western Gallery and the Photo Center Gallery, 721 Broadway (at Waverly Pl.), 212-998-1930. QUEENS MUSEUM OF ART: Tarjama/Translation. This unprecedented exhibition features artists from the Middle East, Central Asia and its diasporas. Through Sept. 27, New York City Build, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, 718-592-9700, www. queensmuseum.org. RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART: NAGAS: Hidden Hill People of India. Through Sept. 1. Stable as a Mountain: Gurus in Himalayan Art. Through July 13, 150 W. 17th St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), 212-620-5000, www.rmanyc.org. SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: Intervals: a new contemporary art series designed to reﬂect the spirit of today’s most innovative practices.. Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward. Sixty-four projects

designed by one of the most inﬂuential architects of the 20th century. Opens May 19, 1071 5th Ave. (at E. 89th Street), 212-4233500, www.guggenheim.org. STUDIO MUSEUM OF HARLEM: Collected. Propositions on the Permanent Collection presents fourteen different takes on the permanent collection. Kulup Linzy: If It Don’t Fit features twenty videos from the artist over the last seven years. Through June 28, 144 W. 125th St. (betw. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. & Malcolm X Blvds.), 212-864-4500, www. studiomuseum.org. WILLIAMSBURG ART & HISTORICAL CENTER: Women Forward (Part Two), featuring work by Judy Chicago, Nivi Alroy, Bahar Behbahani and Elle Burchill. Through May 31, 135 Broadway (at Bedford Ave.), Brooklyn, 718-4866012, www.wahcenter.net.

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tra closes its 36th season with the world premiere of three new songs and eight new orchestrations written by Ned Rorem. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham will sing. May 11, Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave. (at W. 57th St.), 212-632-0540; 8, $29-$98. MANHATTAN STRING QUARTET: Music In Midtown completes its 2008-2009 season with the acclaimed Manhattan String Quartet performing Beethoven’s String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130. May 14, Elebash Recital Hall, 365 Fifth Ave (at W. 34th St.), 212-817-7000; 1, FREE. SALONEN CONDUCTS SIBELIUS: Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts violinist Christian Tetzlaff in Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5. May 14 & May 16. Avery Fisher Hall, 132 W. 65th St. (at Broadway), 212-875-5030; times vary, $35-$109. GUARNERI STRING QUARTET: The famed quartet performs the final concert of a 43-year run at The Metropolitan Museum of Art featuring Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat Major, Op. 127, and the quartet will be joined by its original cellist, David Soyer, for Schubert’s Cello Quintet in C Major, Op. 163, D. 956. May 16, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave. (at E. 82nd St.), 212535-7710, www.metmuseum.org; 8, $50. MET ORCHESTRA WITH LANG LANG: Conductor James Levine leads the orchestra and superstar pianist in Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka (1947 version) and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1. May 21, Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave. (at W. 57th St.), 212-632-0540; 8, $51-$162. THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC: Performs a Memorial Day Concert with conductor David Robertson. May 25, St. Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave. (betw. W. 111th & W. 112th Sts.) 212875-5030; 8, FREE. BARBARA COOK: Pop singer Cook performs with the New York Philharmonic on the heels of her Feinstein’s cabaret show. May 30 & June 2, Avery Fisher Hall, 132 W. 65th St. (at Broadway), 212-875-5030; 8, $35-$175. BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM: Lorin Maazel leads soprano Nancy Gustafson, tenor Vale Rideout and baritone Ian Greenlaw in Benjamin

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ART MARKET MONITOR he art market felt its way slowly through the run-up to the marquee sales of Impressionist and Modern art in early May. The first big test of buyer interest was the semi-annual round of sales of Russian art and works of art. With the rise of Russian commodities wealth in the early years of this century, the Russian sales became increasingly important to both auction houses. New York plays an interesting role in global transfer of Russian property back to the motherland. London is now home to a large population of non-domiciled Russian residents. As the market for Russian art and works of art has grown, London has become the center of the trade. So much so that this year will see the launch of a Russian Art Week in London during June to take advantage of the influx of buyers attending no less than four major auction sales of Russian art. London may be home to the buyers, but New York is home to much of the art. Many important pieces of Russian art found their way to the United States during the Soviet years as Russian émigrés brought small reminders of their nation’s heritage with them. Other figures had long-standing connections to the U.S. Nicholas Roerich, a Russian painter who was also a mystic explorer, spent

Britten’s 1962 piece War Requiem. June 11 through 13, Avery Fisher Hall, 132 W. 65th St. (at Broadway), 212-875-5030; times vary, $36-$114.

JAZZ CATALAN DAYS/BARCELONA NIGHTS: A Catalan

jazz festival featuring six acts; cuisine from celebrated Catalan chef Isma Prados will also be served. May 13 through 17, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street (betw. Park & Lexington Aves.), 212-576-2232; times vary, $20-$30. VOICES OF JAZZ: Jazz vocalist Kevin Mahogany performs with Daryl Sherman, Bill Easley and other contemporary voices. May 14,

time in New York before making extensive journeys to India and Tibet. Roerich’s work was one of the stars of the New York sales. His Himalayan mountainscapes found many eager buyers willing to compete over his work. The Roerich craze extended to his son Svetoslav’s work as well, with a large portrait of Nicholas in Tibetan robes painted in the 1930s selling for $2.9 million against a $1.1 million high estimate. At both Christie’s and Sotheby’s there were many Russian painters whose work popped in the marketplace despite greatly reduced sales volumes. Though no one could have known it at the time, the Russian sales proved harbingers of the better-watched Impressionist and Modern sales at the beginning of May. There the marketplace was alive for works in the $1-$3 million range. Tent pole pieces with eight-ﬁgure estimates didn’t make it this spring. But many smaller works with good provenance exceeded expectations as buyers latched on to items they considered blue chip. At Sotheby’s, the top lot was a Piet Mondrian composition in black and white that sold for $9.2 million, well above the $5 million high estimate. Camille Pissarro was the unacknowledged champion of Sotheby’s sale with three

works among the top 10 lots. All the Pissarros in the top 10 sold well above their high estimates, though not one of the estimates exceeded $2 million. The other star of the week was art deco portraitist Tamara de Lempicka. A colorful and dramatic personality, de Lempicka’s

BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St. (betw. Greenwich & West Sts.), 212-220-1460; 8, $35. MCCOY TYNER TRIO: Four-time Grammy winner Tyner plays with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. May 15 & 16, The Allen Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Time Warner Center, Broadway (at W. 60th St.), 212-721-6500; 7:30 & 9:30, $60. MARC DEVINE: This Bebop jazz pianist from Austin, TX performs with his trio. May 18, Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St. (at 7th Ave.), 212-252-5091; 7:30 & 9, $20. MINGUS MONDAYS: Mingus Dynasty celebrates the 50th anniversary of their 1959 albums. May 18, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street (betw. Park & Lexington Aves.), 212-5762232; times vary, $20-$30.

RAY SANTOS 80TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: The

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buyers, most at levels above the high estimates, which is an astonishing performance for an artist whose work is thinly traded. This re-conﬁrms the experience of a number of artists whose works excited the market when sold in the kinds of quantities that makes the art trade shutter with fear. If those examples were not enough to reassure buyers of the underlying health of the art market, the two house’s Impressionist and Modern day sales both performed beyond expectations. At Sotheby’s the day sale nearly reached the overall high estimate and achieved nearly an 87 percent sell through rate, a huge number for a day sale of lowerpriced paintings and works on paper. Christie’s, too, sold well at these lower price points, with an 84 percent sellthrough rate. In the end, the Impressionist and Modern sales didn’t approach anything like the numbers seen during the boom years. But in comparison to the last recession in the early 2000s, the market continues to hold up well with total sales ahead of May 2003 and average prices near par. If this is the worst it gets for the Impressionist and Modern market, there’s still a lot of life left in art. —Marion Maneker

Though no one could have known it at the time, the Russian sales proved harbingers of the betterwatched Impressionist and Modern sales at the beginning of May.

NYC

www.artmarketmonitor.com

works are generally associated with movie-star collectors and fashion designers. Indeed, a large cache of her paintings was on offer from Wolfgang Joop, who announced in the press that he was selling because he felt he could better devote his collecting energies into making his own paintings. All 10 of the de Lempicka paintings found

four-time Grammy winning Latin musician will be honored with performances by Jimmy Bosch, Chocolate and Candido. May 18, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Time Warner Center, Broadway (at W. 60th St.), 212-721-6500; 7:30 & 9:30, $20. JOE MAGNARELLI: Grammy nominated trumpeter and composer “Mags” plays with his quartet. May 19, Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St. (at 7th Ave), 212-252-5091; 9 & 10:30, $20. AHMAD JAMAL: The inﬂuential jazz pianist, who’s known for his distinctive rhythmic and harmonic innovations, will play with his trio. May 19 through 24, The Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St. (betw. 6th Ave. & MacDougal St.), 212-475-8592; times vary,

$30-$40. GEORGE COLEMAN QUINTET: This inﬂuential saxo-

phonist, who has played with B.B. King and written for Ray Charles, will play with a band including his son on drums. May 22 & 23, Smoke, 2751 Broadway (at W. 106th St.), 212-864-6662; 8, 10 & 11:30, $30. THE NEAL MINOR TRIO: A performance in celebration of the release of the band’s latest CD, “Happy Hour.” May 25, Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St. (at 7th Ave.), 212-252-5091; 7:30 & 9, $20. TERESE GENECCO & HER LITTLE BIG BAND: The group plays a monthly residency. May 26, Iridium Jazz Club, 1650 Broadway (at W. 51st St.), 212-582-2121; 8 and 10, $25. THE ART OF THE DUO: Part two of this series featuring Ray Drummond and Peter Leitch

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ART DIRECTOR Jessica Balaschak SENIOR ART CRITIC Lance Esplund SENIOR MUSIC CRITIC Jay Nordlinger SENIOR DANCE CRITIC Joel Lobenthal CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Mark Blankenship, Brice Brown, Adam Kirsch, John Good, Howard Mandel, Marion Maneker, Mario Naves, Ryan Tracy

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examines the history of New York jazz and the music that came from the legendary Bradley’s club. May 29, BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St. (betw. Greenwich & West Sts.), 212-2201460; 8:30, $25. FOURPLAY: This contemporary jazz quartet reached the top of Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Album charts through their innovations in combining R&B and pop within the jazz genre. June 1 through 4, The Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St. (betw. 6th Ave. & MacDougal St.), 212-475-8592; times vary, $30-$45. STACEY KENT: As a globally celebrated jazz artist, Kent received a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Jazz Album. June 2 through 6, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-581-3080; 8:30 & 11, $30-$40.

FILM

through 14, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave. 9at Ashland Pl.), 718-636-4100, www.bam.org; $11/$7. THE NEW INDIA: A series of 10 contemporary Indian features, ranging from narratives to documentaries. June 5 through 17, The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-708-9400, www. moma.org; $10/$6. THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Annual fest of ﬁlms reﬂecting human

struggles around the world. June 12 through 25, Film Society of Lincoln Center, 165 W. 65th St. (betw. Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.), 212-875-5601, www.filmlinc.com; $11/$7. BAMCINEMAFEST: A new film fest celebrating the 10th anniversary of BAMcinematek, featuring 18 new features, filmmaker discussions, outdoor screenings and more. June 17 through July 2, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave. (at Ashland Pl.), 718-6364100, www.bam.org; $11/$8.

THE WEST: Myth, Character, and Reinvention by

Andy Warhol: Warhol’s ﬁlms from his road trip to CA in the 60s, featuring Elvis at Ferus and Tarzan and Jane Regained…Sort Of. May 6 through June 26, The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-708-9400, www.moma.org; $10/$6. CRUEL AND UNUSUAL COMEDY: SOCIAL COMMENTARY IN THE AMERICAN SLAPSTICK FILM: Series of

silent slapstick films that address social and political issues that are relevant today. Films accompanied by a live pianist. May 20 through June 1, The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-708-9400, www.moma.org; $10/$6. DANCEAFRICA FILM: Selection of Africa’s best new films, including standouts from the African Film Fest. May 22 through 25, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave. (at Ashland Pl.), 718-636-4100, www.bam.org; $11/$7. JULIEN DUVIVIER: Retrospective of 22 films including melodramas, religious epics, wartime propaganda and more. Through May 25, The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-7089400, www.moma.org; $10/$6. THE COMPLETE DARDENNE BROTHERS: An extensive retrospective of the Dardenne brothers’ films, including their rare early features. May 27 through June 2, Film Society of Lincoln Center, 165 W. 65th St. (betw. Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.), 212-8755601, www.filmlinc.com; $11/$7. TRIBUTE TO YOUSSEF CHAHINE: A retrospective of Egypt’s most celebrated director, whose films tackle controversial political issues such as bisexuality and women’s rights. May 29 through June 7, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave. (at Ashland Pl.), 718-636-4100, www.bam.org; $11/$7. OPEN ROADS: New Italian Cinema: Recent films from new Italian filmmakers. June 5 through 11, Film Society of Lincoln Center, 165 W. 65th St. (betw. Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.), 212-875-5601, www. filmlinc.com; $11/$7. MUSLIM VOICES: Film: A festival and conference of artists ranging from the Middle East to Brooklyn who aim to showcase the diverse cultures within the Muslim world. June 5

DANCE MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY: The company

performs Graham classics, Clytemnestra as well as Sketches from “Chronicle,” Errand Into The Maze, Maple Leaf Rag and Lamentation Variations, in repertoire. May 12 through 16, Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Pl. (at Washington Square South), 212-352-3101; times vary, $35-65. AYNSLEY VANDENBROUCKE MOVEMENT GROUP: Presents the premiere of 3 Dancers, 4 Chairs, 26 Words. May 14 through 17, Center for Performance Research, 361 Manhattan Ave. (at Jackson St.), Brooklyn, www.cprnyc. org; 8, $12. WENDY OSSERMAN DANCE COMPANY: Czech musician and actor Iva Bittova will join the Osserman Dance Company in the world premiere of more is more is more or less, inspired by Gertrude Stein. May 21 through 24, Joyce Soho, 155 Mercer St. (betw. Houston & Prince Sts.), 212-352-3101, www.joyce.org; 8, $20. DANCEAFRICA 2009: The 32nd annual DanceAfrica festival, lead by Chuck Davis, will feature Evidence, A Dance Company; percussion and dance ensemble Faraﬁna Kan; SeèWè African Dance Company; BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble; DanceAfrica bazaar; African ﬁlms; outdoor performers; an art exhibit and live music in BAMcafé. May 22 through 25, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave. (at Ashland Pl.), Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, www.bam.org. LIONEL POPKIN: Presents There Is An Elephant In This Dance with original music performed live by Robert Een. May 28 through 30, Danspace Project, 131 E. 10th St. (betw. 2nd & 3rd Aves.), 212-674-0910, www. danspaceproject.org; 8:30, $18. LA MAMA MOVES: The three-week dance festival includes work by Mavericks in Motion, Jen Abrams, Tom Pearson, East Village Dance Project and more. Through May 31, various locations, 212-475-7710, www.lamama.org; $15 per event.

THEATER 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL: Staged for Broadway from

the movie, with new lyrics and music by Dolly Parton, this 1980s comedy about getting back at the boss stars Allison Janney and Marc Kudisch. Open run, Marriott Marquis theater, 1535 Broadway (at 45th St.), 212-382-0100. ACCENT ON YOUTH: A revival of the Samson Raphaelson comedy from 1934 about a love triangle between a playwright, his secretary and the leading man. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, the cast includes David Hyde Pierce, Charles Kimbrough, and Lisa Banes. Through June 28, Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 W. 47th St. (betw. Broadway & 8th Ave.), 212-239-6222. CORALINE: The feature ﬁlm based on Neil Gaiman’s novel is reincarnated into a musical, composed by Stephin Merritt, adapoted by David Greenspan who also plays the Other Mother and with Jayne Houdyshell as Coraline. Through June 20, Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher St. (at Bedford St.), 212-279-4200. EVERYDAY RAPTURE: Little Mermaid star Sherie Rene Scott plays a Mennonite who leaves the homestead for New York City. The show includes music by David Byrne and U2. Opens Through May 31, Second Stage Theater, 307 W. 43rd St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-246-4422. EXIT THE KING: Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Rush and Andrea Martin star in the Ionesco comic fable about an incompetent king on the verge of death. Through June 14, Barrymore Theater, 243 W. 47th St. (betw. Broadway & 8th Ave.), 212-239-6200. HAIR: THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE ROCK MUSICAL:

Those who danced along with the cast at Summerstage can relive the experience with Gavin Creel as the new face of Claude, and Will Swenson reprising his role as Berger. Through November 29, Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 W. 45th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.) 212-239-6200. IRENA’S VOW: Moving uptown from an offBroadway run is Dan Gordon’s play based from a true story. Tovah Fledshuh portrays Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish Catholic housekeeper of a Nazi ofﬁcer who hid 12 Jews from the camps in her employer’s coal cellar. Through September 6, Walter Kerr Theater, 219 W. 48th St. (betw. Broadway & 8th Ave.), 212-582-4536. THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: Propeller, the British, all-male Shakespeare troupe who put on several productions at BAM in 2007, returns to play this classic piece on justice. Through May 17, BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St. (at Rockwell Pl.), Brooklyn, 718-636-4100. THE NORMAN CONQUESTS: Originally debuting in 1975 on Broadway, these three comic plays by Alan Ayckbourn portray a frenzied family weekend while Norman, played by Stephen Mangan, tries to seduce three different women. Through July 25, Circle in the Square Theater, 235 W. 50th St., 212-239-6200. OFFICES: Three one-act comedies from Film-

maker Ethan Coen about workplace pressures, directed by Neil Pepe. Through June 7, Linda Gross Theater, 336 W. 20th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-691-5919. OUR TOWN: Director David Cromer takes on Thornton Wilder’s famed show. Open Run, Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St. (at Seventh Ave. South), 212-868-4444. THE PHILANTHROPIST: Christopher Hampton’s 1970 comedy about a professor who is much too nice stars Matthew Broderick. Directed by David Grindley. Through June 28, American Airlines Theater, 227 W. 42nd St. (betw. 7th & 8th Aves.), 212-718-1300. REASONS TO BE PRETTY: The third in a series of plays about the American obsession with beauty, this show by Neil LaBute will be directed by Terry Kinney of the off-Broadway production, while Marin Ireland and Steven Pasquale join some of the original cast members. Through Sept. 5, Lyceum Theater, 149 W. 45th St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), 212-239-6200; $31.50-$111.50. THE SINGING FOREST: In this piece by Craig Lucas, Olympia Dukakis plays a Holocaust survivor living in Staten Island with her dysfunctional family, but the show travels to 1930s Vienna to ﬁnd the root of her familial struggles. Through May 17, The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., 212-967-7555. TWELFTH NIGHT: This much-loved comedy is the ﬁrst show in the summer’s Shakespeare in the Park series. Featuring Audra McDonald and Anne Hathaway as Viola, directed by Daniel Sullivan. Through July 12, Delacorte Theater, Central Park, 212539-8750. WAITING FOR GODOT: Nathan Lane heads the all-star as Estragon in this Samuel Beckett play that has searched for meaning since 1953—Bill Irwin plays Vladimir, John Goodman plays Pozzo and John Glover as Lucky. Through July 5, Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St. (betw. Broadway and 8th Ave.), 212-719-1300.

LITERARY EVENTS JEFFREY EUGENIDES: The Middlesex and Virgin

Suicides author reads. May 12, Barnes & Noble, 33 E. 17th St. (betw. Broadway & Park Ave. South), 212-253-0810; 7, FREE. TED SORENSEN: Legendary advisor to President Kennedy and author of the memoir Counselor, Sorenson discusses his life and work with Bob Herbert of the New York Times. May 14, Barnes & Noble, 2289 Broadway (at W. 82nd St.), 212-362-8835; 7, FREE. JANE MAYER: THE AUTHOR OF THE DARK SIDE: Winner of the J. Anthoy Lukas Book Prize. The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals speaks with New York Times columnist Frank Rich about her book as well as current events and issues of national security, civil liberties and American ideals. May 19, 92nd Street Y, E. 92nd Street (at Lexington Ave.), 212-415-5500; 8, $27. COLSON WHITEHEAD: The Sag Harbor author talks with John Freeman, American editor of Granta. May 26, McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince St. (betw. Lafayette & Mulberry Sts.), 212-274-1160; 7, FREE. May 2009