“We have the power to decide to value art and culture in ways that support the kind of lives we want to be living. But to do that, we need more skin in the game—a greater shared commitment among a wider pool of stakeholders to recognize, articulate, and collectively wield the power art and culture already has, and to ensure it’s doing the civic, political, and social work we value the most. ” – Artnet
Tag: 04.29.20
OMG! How I Got Obsessed With Oil Painting
“By the time the eight-week course was over, I was the wretch I am now: an unhinged woman vehemently obsessed with oil painting who wrestles with it like a feral person for hours every day. I had earth-moving revelations as I graduated from using makeup brushes to real sable, and switched from canvas to linen panels. My formerly adorable kitchen now looks as though Francis Bacon had assaulted a pope in it. I know things about linseed oil its own mother doesn’t know.” – New York Review of Books
Of Course Streaming Is Up; Why Are Movie Chains Flipping Out?
The reactions of AMC and other chains to NBCUniversal’s touting of a streaming-only release of the movie Trolls: World Tour is head-shakingingly weird. Almost everyone is stuck at home – and almost no one has access to movie theatres (drive-ins excepted). “If there were ever a time not to make proclamations about the future of theatrical distribution, it’s now. Which is not to say that our re-emergence into the world of movies, whatever form that takes, won’t have its share of problems, because some of the old problems will follow us.” – Time
Lockdown lessons: ‘Singin’ in the Rain’
We learned a lot of things about Singin’ in the Rain during the Lockdown Theatre Club group watch. Here are 20 of them – from dubbing the dubbers to Gene Kelly’s buttock-framing trousers. – David Jays
Matthew Shipp’s ‘Piano Equation’
The dictionary defines equation as “the act of making equal.” In his engrossing new solo album, pianist Matthew Shipp creates eleven new pieces of music in which the equality of his powerful hands is important to the venture’s success, but not as important as his fertile imagination. – Doug Ramsey
Idled Professional Dancers Start Making TikTok Videos
“Since its release in 2017, TikTok has become a wildly popular global platform for dance, especially among teens, with tools that make it easy to film yourself dancing to music, integrate special effects and share the results. … In recent weeks, the app has attracted a small but growing contingent of professional dancers in their 20s and 30s, who … are tapping into its joys and questioning how TikTok might shape the future of their field.” – The New York Times
Paris Plans To Keep Cars Out Of The City When It Reopens
The city’s mayor: “I say in all firmness that it is out of the question that we allow ourselves to be invaded by cars, and by pollution. It will make the health crisis worse. Pollution is already in itself a health crisis and a danger — and pollution joined up with coronavirus is a particularly dangerous cocktail. So it’s out of the question to think that arriving in the heart of the city by car is any sort of solution, when it could actually aggravate the situation.” – CityLab
How The NEA Is Responding To The COVID Crisis
With its relief funding, the NEA is switching tack from supporting individual art projects to ensuring that non-profit institutions and organisations are able to reopen. “We want to preserve as many jobs as possible—that’s number one,” says Mary Anne Carter, the chair of the NEA. “At some point the crisis will pass, and we want the nation’s art organisations to still be there to open their doors and welcome the community back in.” – The Art Newspaper
Turns Out Shared Danger Brings People Together
“It turns out that being in a dangerous situation with others fosters a new social identity. Boundaries between us, which seem so salient when things are normal, disappear when we perceive we’re locked in a struggle together, with a common fate, from an external threat. People go from me thinking to we thinking.” – Nautilus
Covid Obit: William Gerdts, 91, Distinguished Scholar of American Art (& my tipster)
He was a renowned expert on American Impressionism and 19th-century American still-life painting as well as author of more than 20 books on American art, notably his three-volume Art Across America: Two Centuries of Regional Painting 1710-1920. – Lee Rosenbaum