The 1960s were a divisive time in America, and the music of the period reflects the “protest” movement that flourished at the time. And though overtly political music has been out of fashion for decades now, the protest song is showing signs of making a comeback, thanks in large part to the divisive qualities of the Bush Administration. “These artists’ dissent is not the innocuous, war-hurts whine of U2, R.E.M., Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams or the Dead Kennedys that has passed in recent years as an expression of conscience, but a rage-grounded strain that sounds a lot like the potent snarl of the dispossessed and betrayed.”
Tag: 05.06.06
The Business Of Being Twyla
Twyla Tharp is unquestionably one of the most influential figures in the dance world of today, but it sometimes seems as if the general public is completely unaware of her existence. A new biography aims to change that, and dovetails nicely with Tharp’s own efforts to market herself and her dances in recent years.
Berlin Goes For Glory
It seems like we’ve been hearing forever about the imminent rise of Berlin as a global center of contemporary art, but the city has never really taken the final steps necessary to compete with heavyweights like New York, Paris, and London. But this year’s Berlin Biennial may finally be serving notice that the scene is ready to be seen alongside the world’s best.
Wolitzer’s Return
Hilma Wolitzer has a new novel out, and that, in itself, qualifies as news. Wolitzer, who was one of the more celebrated authors of the 1980s and early ’90s, went through a series of personal tragedies following the publication of her last novel in 1994, and simply stopped writing fiction. She seems almost embarrassed by the 12-year bout of writer’s block, but the malaise came to an abrupt end last year, when the main character in her new book sprang to life in her head.
Tracking The Mystery Bidder
Last Wednesday, a single bidder at an art auction at Sotheby’s in New York spent a whopping $95.2 million for a Picasso portrait, and more than $102 million overall. This would be big news under any circumstances, but what really has the art world buzzing is the fact that no one seems to know who the buyer is, despite the fact that his photograph has been published worldwide. “Those who sat near him at the auction said that they were convinced that he sounded Russian. There were also clues to support that theory… Officially, Sotheby’s is declining to comment, but its executives were obviously caught off guard the night of the auction.”
City Officials Shut Down Brooklyn Art Show
“The administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has done more to promote the arts than any in a generation, but that enthusiasm did not extend to a graduate-student art show that opened this week in a city-owned building near the Brooklyn Bridge. After visiting the exhibition, which featured a penis sculpture, a caged rat and a sexually charged video, the Brooklyn parks commissioner ordered it closed on Thursday and changed the locks to the building.”
Sondheim The Accessible (Really!)
“There is, accidentally, a sort of mini-Sondheim festival taking place around Britain at the moment… The revivals reveal the range of Sondheim’s concerns: from the motivations of the men and women who assassinate American presidents to the opening up of Japan; from the psychological power of fairy-tales to the travails of art. It is this kind of list that leads to Sondheim being branded ‘difficult’, but he isn’t really. He smuggles intellectual concerns into musicals, but they remain first and foremost musicals, full of light, life and colour, with songs that may not be traditionally catchy but have a remarkable way of winding themselves into your mind and heart.”
Rothko, With Rage
Tate Modern has a new gallery devoted entirely to the work of Mark Rothko, and if there is a single element running through the room’s contents, it is raw, blistering anger. “The set of colossal canvases housed in Tate Modern’s Rothko Room originated, as every art-aware schoolboy knows, in a commission for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building on New York’s Park Avenue,” and the story behind the commission explains what exactly it was that made Rothko so angry.
What Was That About Glass Houses?
Last year, glassblower Robert Kaindl found himself on the business end of a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against well-known glass artist Dale Chihuly. Rather than settle the suit, Kaindl is countersuing, and his complaint takes some potentially devastating shots at Chihuly’s business practices, claiming that the artist is “not involved in conceiving, creating, designing or even signing a ‘substantial number’ of artworks that bear his name. Kaindl also maintains in his claim that Chihuly sometimes buys glasswork from other artists, removes their names and then puts his own trademarked name on it.”
Merger Mania Comes To The Arts
“Taking a page from the current flurry of big deals from telecom to banking, arts groups are merging and forming alliances at an unprecedented pace. In recent months, at least a dozen groups around the country have teamed up… One factor behind the deals: The growing role of corporate executives on cultural organizations’ boards. Groups have been recruiting veterans from the private sector to bring business acumen to their back offices. Another driver: a small cadre of consultants carving out a niche advising arts mergers. And increasingly, big foundations, with less money to spend, are giving money to groups only when a partnership is involved, to make sure their dollars are spent efficiently.”