Calling developer Gerald Wolkoff’s painting over of the famous graffiti murals – with no warning for the artists – “an act of pure pique and revenge for the nerve of the plaintiffs to sue” (what’s more, Wolkoff was an arrogant brat in the courtroom), Judge Frederic Block awarded each artist the maximum legal amount, $150,000, for each destroyed work.
Tag: 02.12.18
Actress Jan Maxwell, Five-Time Tony Nominee, Dead At 61
“Ms. Maxwell was a longtime favorite of critics. Ben Brantley of The New York Times, for one, praised her again and again. In 2005, when she played the world-weary Baroness of Vulgaria in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (the role led to her first Tony nomination and a Drama Desk award), he called her ‘the real heroine for anyone who demands wit and sophistication from a Broadway production.'”
New Trump Budget Proposes Killing Funding For Public Broadcasting
Trump’s budget proposes eliminating federal funding for the CPB over a two-year period. The budget has to be approved by Congress before it can take effect. In a statement released Monday, PBS president Patricia Harrison said that the “elimination of funding to CPB would at first devastate, and then ultimately destroy public media’s ability to provide early childhood content, life-saving emergency alerts, and public affairs programs.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.12.18
Monday Recommendation: Dawn Clement In Tandem
Dawn Clement, Tandem (Origin)
Dawn Clement’s recording history includes piano collaborations with saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and trombonist Julian Priester, among other prominent colleagues. The Seattle Times has called her … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-02-12
Propwatch: the dolls in John
The best scene in any play in London right now (don’t argue, I’m not listening) opens the second act in John by Annie Baker. Three women – Mertis, who runs a guesthouse in Gettysburg, … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2018-02-12
Yannick’s Hollow Parsifal
The highwater mark for Wagner at the Metropolitan Opera in recent decades was the 2013 Parsifal,handsomely directed and strongly cast. The crucial ingredient, however, was Daniele Gatti’s leadership in the … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2018-02-11
Aletheia to Tour Northeastern U.S.
Composed by William Osborne for singer-instrumentalist, computer-controlled piano, and quadraphonic electronics, Aletheia is a music theater work featuring the solo performance of Abbie Conant as the title character. Osborne writes, “Aletheia is an opera singer … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2018-02-12
Kennicott: Obama Portraits That Redefine The Genre
The Obamas took a significant chance on both artists and were rewarded with powerful images that will shake up the expectations and assumptions of visitors to the traditionally button-down presidential galleries.
The Obama Portraits As Artistic Statement
Holland Cotter: “Not only are the Obamas the first presidential couple of African descent to be enshrined in the collection. The painters they’ve picked to portray them — Kehinde Wiley, for Mr. Obama’s portrait; Amy Sherald, for Mrs. Obama — are African-American as well. Both artists have addressed the politics of race consistently in their past work, and both have done so in subtly savvy ways in these new commissions. Mr. Wiley depicts Mr. Obama not as a self-assured, standard-issue bureaucrat, but as an alert and troubled thinker. Ms. Sherald’s image of Mrs. Obama overemphasizes an element of couturial spectacle, but also projects a rock-solid cool.”
How Big Data Has Changed How We Look At The World (But It Could Lead Us Astray)
“In many scientific fields, from genetics to economics to palaeobiology, a kind of implicit trust is placed in the images and the algorithms that produce them. Often viewers have almost no idea how they were constructed. The complexity of computers has made data-analysis a black-box, something it’s hard for humans to peer into. At the same time, computer jockeys such as my dad have achieved a new cultural status – if not quite Indiana Jones, they still have a kind of power and authority most of us can’t access. Increasingly, with the advances in machine-learning and AI, even those authorities are sometimes mystified by how their algorithms work.”
Could Gagosian’s Mega-Gallery Empire Survive Him As A Brand?
Gagosian’s mortality might even have a silver lining if he can tap the right successor. As Galloway writes, “Dying removes the icon from the inevitable judgment of everyday existence, including aging, and elevates persona to legend—ideal for a brand.” Just think: Louis Vuitton (the company) was founded in 1854. Louis Vuitton (the man) died in 1892. So the brand has been stacking cash for 164 years, and the founder has spent 126 of them stitching in that grand atelier in the sky.
Watch The Unveiling Of Michelle And Barrack Obama’s Official Portraits
Barrack Obama called the process of sitting for a portrait “torturous,” noting that as far as he knows he’s the first person in his family to have a portrait done. “I tried to negotiate less gray hair, smaller ears,” Obama joked at the unveiling. “Maybe the one are where there were some concessions … his initial impulse may be in the work may be to elevate me … mounting me on horses … and I had to explain I’ve got enough political problems without you making me look like Napoleon.”
Parents Are Not Happy About The New ‘Peter Rabbit’ Film, Which Makes Light Of Serious Food Allergies
One mom who won’t take her son said, “I’m pretty sure Beatrix Potter will be turning in her grave about now. … Allergies are often not taken seriously enough anyway. To have them trivialized on the big screen by such a popular character is immensely disappointing.”