Art

How to Study Comics & Graphic Novels

Here’s a brilliant free read: How to Study Comics & Graphic Novels: A Graphic Introduction to Comics Studies by Enrique del Rey Cabero, Michael Goodrum, and José Morlesín Mellado, available online at Issuu (found via Ben Towle). It’s put out by the Oxford Comics Network, part of TORCH, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities. And it’s wonderful, a comic that’s chock-full of information on how to read comics. It covers terminology (comic or graphic novel?), specialized terms (panel, gutter, ...
Tags: Art, Comics, Oxford Research Centre, Issuu, Mellado, Ben Towle, Enrique del Rey Cabero Michael Goodrum, José Morles, Oxford Comics Network

'Painted by a madman': The Scream graffiti reveals Munch's state of mind

Inscription on painting that has been subject of debate has been reattributed to the artist himselfIt is an image that has intrigued the art world for more than a century and become synonymous with existential angst, and recently inspired its own emoji, but now some graffiti has added a new layer to the story of Edvard Munch’s most iconic painting, The Scream.A tiny pencil inscription in the top left corner of one of the four versions of the painting, which reads, “Can only have been painted by ...
Tags: Art, Europe, Painting, World news, Mental Health, Culture, Art and design, Norway, Munch, Edvard Munch, National Museum of Norway

A Reckoning With Racism In Canada’s Country Music Industry

There’s no Indigenous Artist of the Year award in Saskatchewan this year, and when a committee was discussing why not, well: “Somebody made a comment about ‘why should we give them an award when they’re just going to pawn it off anyway?'” That’s led to a reckoning about anti-Indigenous and other racist (and homophobic as well) attitudes in Canada’s country music communities. – CBC
Tags: Art, Music, Canada, Saskatchewan, 02.18.21

The British Family Providing Lockdown Relief With Musical Parodies

The Marsh family of Faversham are dealing with Britain’s lockdowns by performing parodies. “This six-voice choir, with its sweet harmonies and the occasional wobbly note, is creating songs that dramatize the mundane moments of lockdown life, from too much screen time to the horrors of remote learning.” – The New York Times
Tags: Art, Music, Britain, Audience, Marsh, Faversham, 02.19.21

Black Ballerina In Utah Are Helping Change Ballet Culture

In the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the country, Ballet West’s Black dancers were asked by their artistic director what needed to change. They weren’t shy about the list. “When performances resume after the coronavirus shutdown of live events, Ballet West will no longer use makeup to lighten dancers’ skin or make them appear to be an ethnicity other than their own. Dancers will wear tights and toe shoes that match their skin color.” – Salt Lake T...
Tags: Art, Utah, Dance, Ballet West, George Floyd, 02.21.21, Ballet West s Black

Getting In The Archive Sub-Basements To Discover How Librarians In Paris Resisted The Nazis

A researcher comes up against French bureaucracy: “To learn more about the day-to-day life of Parisians during the war, I turned to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF). This modern library is made up of four buildings in a configuration that resembles four open books; however, the public resources are less accessible than this design would suggest, with the tomes for the general public on the basement level and the research library in the sub-basement.” – LitHub
Tags: Art, Paris, Words, 02.19.21, Bibliothèque Nationale de France BNF

Black Ballerinas In Utah Are Helping Change Ballet Culture

In the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the country, Ballet West’s Black dancers were asked by their artistic director what needed to change. They weren’t shy about the list. “When performances resume after the coronavirus shutdown of live events, Ballet West will no longer use makeup to lighten dancers’ skin or make them appear to be an ethnicity other than their own. Dancers will wear tights and toe shoes that match their skin color.” – Salt Lake T...
Tags: Art, Utah, Dance, Ballet West, George Floyd, 02.21.21, Ballet West s Black

Bust Of Black Member Of Lewis And Clark Expedition Appears In A Park In Portland

York was enslaved by William Clark and remained enslaved after the expedition returned. The memorial bust, which is on a pedestal where a statue of a conservative newspaper editor used to stand until it was torn down last summer, was a surprised to Portland’s Parks & Recreation Department. The city’s Parks Commissioner, Carmen Rubio: “We should regard this installation for both the important piece that it is, as well as a much-needed reminder to city leaders to hasten our work of rooting out wh...
Tags: Art, Portland, Visual, Lewis, Clark, Parks Recreation Department, William Clark, Carmen Rubio, 02.20.21

The Remarkable, And Continuing, Artistic Career Of Lorraine O’Grady

Before she burst onto the art scene with performance art with an edge, O’Grady “had worked for the Labor and State Departments, including as an intelligence analyst in the period leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis; attempted a novel in Europe; dropped out of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop; run a translation agency in Chicago; been a New York rock critic.” Then, in 1980, she changed her life again. – The New York Times
Tags: Art, Europe, New York, Chicago, Visual, Grady, Iowa Writers ' Workshop, Lorraine O'Grady, 02.19.21, Labor and State Departments

Phoebe Waller-Bridge Of ‘Fleabag’ Fame Is Now The President Of Edinburgh Fringe Society

It’s an honorary, spokesperson role during a year when Fringe Fest may be online or may be in-person, or both, depending. Fleabag got its start at Fringe in 2013. Waller-Bridge: “From leaking caves to cobbled streets to the glamour of the Traverse Theatre up to Arthur’s Seat, this festival is a beating heart of an industry that has been all but crushed by the pandemic, and I’m proud to be a part of the fight with the Fringe Society for its much needed survival and glorious return.” – BBC
Tags: Art, Theatre, Arthur, Waller Bridge, Phoebe Waller, 02.19.21, Edinburgh Fringe Society, Fringe Society

Equity must defend members’ interests | Letter

Tam Dean Burn says he and many other members of the union for actors and other creative workers have no confidence in the leadership of their Brexit-supporting general secretaryI write in the name of 140 Equity trade union members who support the letter sent to the prime minister (Stars including Sir Ian McKellen urge changes to visa rules for artists, 16 February). The post-Brexit situation we face working in Europe is disastrous, with a shift from no visa regulations across the EU to individua...
Tags: Europe, Politics, Theatre, Eu, European Union, Culture, Budapest, Foreign Policy, Stage, Acting, Ian Mckellen, Brexit, Tam Dean Burn

Director Lee Daniels Says His Movies Are Independent Because Hollywood Studios Don’t Fund Black Films

You’d think the director of Precious, The Butler, and more could get funding. But … “‘Studios will give you about $10 to make a black movie. I’m exaggerating, but you get the point,’ he says.” – The Guardian (UK)
Tags: Art, Media, Lee Daniels, Butler, 02.20.21, Hollywood Studios Do n't Fund Black Films

Art House Pulls 19th Century Romanian Jewish Community’s Burial Register From Auction

The register of Jewish burials in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca between 1836 and 1899, is one of very few documents left after more than 18,000 Hungarian-speaking Jews were deported from the city and murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Their homes and synagogues were ransacked, leaving almost no record of their lives and existence; the presence of this book on the auction list came as a shock. Says one survivor, “We have few documents or books, so this manuscript is a vital source of information...
Tags: Art, Visual, Auschwitz Birkenau, Cluj Napoca, 02.19.21

The Golden Globes’ Parent Organization Is A Mess, Including Accusations Of Corruption And Tax Evasion

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has some issues, with members describing monthly meetings as battle zones. The HFPA includes zero Black members. It’s “an embattled organization still struggling to shake its reputation as a group whose awards or nominations can be influenced with expensive junkets and publicity swag.” And it may be running afoul of tax law. – Los Angeles Times
Tags: Art, Media, Hfpa, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 02.21.21

Peter G. Davis, Classical Music Critic For The New York Times And New York Magazine, 84

Davis “presided over the field during boon years in New York in the 1960s and ’70s, when performances were plentiful and tickets relatively cheap, and when the ups and downs of a performer’s career provided fodder for cocktail parties and after-concert dinners, not to mention the notebooks of writers like Mr. Davis, who often delivered five or more reviews a week.” – The New York Times
Tags: Art, New York, People, Davis, Peter G Davis, 02.19.21, New York Times And New York Magazine

Where Did All Of Hollywood’s Women Go?

In 1917, Warner Bros. had eight films directed by women. In 2017, it had … one. What the heck? Well, for one thing: “Female-focused stories that perform well at the box office are repeatedly seen as flukes rather than proof that audiences want films about women. … Every summer they would write these stories like these films were sleeper hits – Eat Pray Love was a sleeper hit, and The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia. How are they still surprised by this, year after year?” – Irish Times
Tags: Art, Hollywood, Media, Prada, Warner Bros, 02.20.21

Shifts In How Kids Play Mean Playground Design Needs To Follow

A new emphasis has also changed how design firms feel about commissions. “For the new guard of playground design, the boundary between play equipment and public sculpture is blurring. … Playgrounds are increasingly seen as ‘some of the top projects to get’ – public projects which are on full display and allow landscape architects and designers to test their craft.” – The Guardian (UK)
Tags: Art, Visual, 02.21.21

The Latest Front In A Music Copyright Battle: Superhero Cartoons

Members of De La Soul were, suddenly, characters on Teen Titans Go!, where in one episode, “the plot revolves around a fraught real-life issue: the ownership and availability of the group’s back catalog.” And honestly, that’s wild (and could bring change). “A major network show tailored for kids can get away with including more didactic lessons and explanations than … countless documentaries and online entreaties read by their fans would.” – Slate
Tags: Art, Issues, 02.20.21

First stamp designed by Alaskan indigenous artist, showing Raven stealing the sun

USPS asked Rico Lanáat' Worl, a Tlingit and Athabascan artist, to create a stamp. He drew an awesome piece showing Raven, the Trickster, stealing the sun. Over at his web site, Worl tells a short version of the traditional story that his image is based on. — Read the rest
Tags: Art, Post, News, Usps, Raven, Trickster, WORL, Rico Lanáat Worl

The Music And Life Lessons Of Piano Teacher Cornelia Vertenstein

Vertenstein, a Holocaust survivor, was 93 when she died earlier this month. She “began giving lessons at age 14 in war-torn Romania. She did not stop for nearly 80 years. Toward the end, adapting to the pandemic, Ms. Vertenstein gave lessons on FaceTime from her home in Denver.” – The New York Times
Tags: Art, Music, Romania, Facetime, Denver, Cornelia Vertenstein, 02.20.21, Vertenstein

Is There A Way To Change, And Improve, Arts Nonprofits?

Issues: “Change will feel snail-like as long as white organizational leaders, tenured professors, board members, and funders control and dictate, the pace of inclusion and the adoption of anti-racist practices.” So it’s time, says one nonprofit leader, to change the game entirely. – Hyperallergic
Tags: Art, Visual, 02.19.21

That Podcast Exposing One Media Empire’s Bigotry And Workplace Bullying Came Under Fire For The Same Behavior

This is a twisty, turny saga that does not in any way make the original media empire – Bon Appetit, of course – look any better, but the public peeling of “problematic media property” layers may not be over anytime soon. To quote one former podcaster: “I’ve been telling you guys @Gimletmedia is toxic for a long time. I’m glad others are speaking out. I know it’s hard. Podcasting didn’t have to be like this.” – Los Angeles Times
Tags: Art, Issues, Bon Appetit, 02.18.21

The Show’s Going On Down Under

This sounds wildly exotic and dangerous to most theatregoers in the U.S. right now: “A few days ago, Kylie Estreich went to a theater in Sydney to see a Broadway show. In person. With hundreds of other people. She showed her ticket, went to her seat, and sat elbow-to-elbow with her masked mother on one side and a masked stranger on the other.” I’m sorry, what? That’s right, Australia has it figured out. – Washington Post
Tags: Art, Australia, Theatre, Sydney, Broadway, Audience, 02.19.21, Kylie Estreich

Scorsese Says Streaming Algorithms Are Ruining Film

True? Film has always had marketing, PR, and of course ratings: “It would be a mistake to present the old gatekeepers in romantic colours compared to new technology companies. In both cases, we are talking about powerful institutions that define, control and manage the boundaries of what is art and culture.” – BBC
Tags: Art, Media, 02.20.21

As The Tonys Remain Undetermined, Where Are Previous Nominees Now?

A Broadway stage manager who’s now in graduate school for (logically) organizational leadership project management: “I initially thought, well, I’ll get a class or two under my belt and then we’ll be back. Well, now it appears that I will be graduated before.” – NPR
Tags: Art, Theatre, Broadway, 02.20.21

Philip Guston's daughter on his Klan paintings: 'They're about white culpability'

The postponement last year of an exhibition of the artist’s work led to a fraught debate over race and culture. His daughter Musa Mayer fears his complex images are being misrepresentedMusa Mayer has been “holed up” in Woodstock, upstate New York, which she describes as “a liberal community in the midst of Trump land”, since the beginning of lockdown in March of last year. She is staying in a house she inherited from her parents and nearby is a building that was once the art studio of her father...
Tags: Art, Books, London, Boston, Race, Painting, Culture, Art and design, Washington Dc, Exhibitions, Tate Modern, Trump, Black Lives Matter Movement, Mayer, Teitelbaum, Philip Guston

Revealed: the scientific principles behind Dalí’s surrealist eccentricity

Unpublished drawings show a scrupulous painter inspired by the precise mathematical ratios of the Renaissance mastersAn early sketch for Salvador Dalí’s The Sacrament of the Last Supper reveals that the artist’s original thinking was far more conventional than the finished work would suggest. The painting, one of Dalí’s most popular, is a vast depiction of the Last Supper in which an ethereal torso with outstretched arms, possibly the resurrected Christ, looms over seated figures of Christ – por...
Tags: Art, Europe, Painting, Spain, World news, Culture, Art and design, Drawing, Salvador Dalí, Christ, Dali, Leonardo da Vinci, Francisco de Zurbaran, Skull of Zurbarán