Alexis Soloski: “Though [Denzel] Washington’s first Broadway outing, as Brutus in Julius Caesar, generated tepid reviews, he has since become a heavy hitter, winning a Tony for Fences in 2010 and warm notices for A Raisin in the Sun in 2014. But some celebrities haven’t gained the same applause. Here are ten Hollywood luminaries and pop sensations who made lesser appearances on the Great White Way.”
Tag: 08.23.17
‘Bizarre’ Scam Selling Fake Jackson Pollocks Uncovered
The International Foundation for Art Research has identified four forgeries that were alleged to have come from the estate of an American collector who apparently never existed. “This scam is not aimed at the super-rich in major art centers. It targets modest collectors and so far is unfolding in the Mountain States and along the East Coast.”
M. T. Liggett, 86, Ornery Outsider Artist Who Made Roadside ‘Whirligigs’
“Mr. Liggett’s idiosyncratic scrap-metal gallery – conceived, shaped and welded in his shop nearby – stood on farmland in tiny Mullinville [Kansas], where a stiff prairie wind kept the whirligigs spinning, lending kinetic energy to his hodgepodge of installations. His clownish, abstract, cartoonish and grotesque works reflected his bent for provocation.”
Jazz Guitarist John Abercrombie Dead At 72
“Abercrombie was a confident but unassuming artist, whose abundant gifts did not include the knack for self-promotion. He emerged in the immediate wake of electric-guitar trailblazers like Sonny Sharrock and John McLaughlin but, at least temperamentally, he belonged more to the generation a decade or so his junior: cheerful omnivores like Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Bill Frisell.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.23.17
Storm Brewing
The fact that in many places more than the lion’s share of public arts funding goes to organizations focused on the cultural tradition of upper class European whites is a center that will not hold. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-08-22
Voyeurism At The Balenciaga Exhibition
Summer has simply sped by and I haven’t even really gone on vacation yet (that’s coming up at the end of September). … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-08-23
John Abercrombie And Bea Wain, RIP
John Abercrombie, a guitarist of stylistic flexibility and uncompromising musical vision, died today in a hospital in New York’s Hudson River Valley. He was 72. … Bea Wain, who achieved popularity in the late 1930s when she sang with Larry Clinton’s band, died today in Los Angeles. She was 100. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-08-23
Sondheim: Beware The Directors
When asked what he looks for in the people he entrusts to interpret his work, Stephen Sondheim said In London This week: “Mostly it’s the directors you have to be careful of. Many, many directors, particularly in musicals, are more interested in serving themselves rather than serving the text, because musicals invite a lot of invention. Even if that director is inventive, he or she should be serving the piece, and you don’t always get that. That’s the thing I look for.”
Christopher Knight: Berkshire Museum’s Plan To Sell Art Is A Threat To Every American Museum. Here’s Why:
“The public owns the painting, along with all the rest scheduled to go on the block, starting in November. Trustees and staff are stewards of the art collection, charged with taking whatever measures are best for it. Yet this museum’s leaders are behaving as if they are stewards of the institution, not the art. Absurdly, museum standards are being vandalized to protect the museum.”
Geffen Playhouse’s Former Artistic Director Sues For Age Discrimination
In his 27-page complaint filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court (read it here), Randall Arney who was the theater’s artistic director for 17 years before leaving in February, claims that Geffen Playhouse board co-chairs Pamela Henderson and Martha Robinson “abruptly and without explanation changed the terms of his employment” shortly after he turned 55 in 2012, “presenting him with a contract limiting his employment to two years” with a Geffen option for a third.
A Tiny Town In Arkansas Has A Plan To Thrive – Using The Arts
A $70 million infusion is key to the project: The money comes from a combination of donors, including Murphy Oil Corporation, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Walton Family Foundation. The first phase of the initiative, the $54 million, six-block Murphy Arts District in downtown El Dorado, is making its debut on Sept. 27. The district’s five-day opening celebration will have performances by artists like Brad Paisley, Smokey Robinson, Ludacris and the hip-hop trio Migos.