Anya M. Wassenberg's Blog: Art & Culture Maven, page 23

Dreamy Pop | 1st Base Runner - Ellis (Independent / 10 December 2021)

Dreamy Pop
1st Base Runner - Ellis
(Independent / 10 December 2021)

Stream It On SpotifyChoose your streaming service

With a sound that has familiar outlines, yet is also thoroughly contemporary, 1st Base Runner's sophomore EP Ellis skips across multiple genres.

Near Me has the smooth and irresistible beats of pop, layered with interesting electronic harmonies and his characteristic breathy dream pop vocals. 

1st Base Runner - aka Texas singer-songwriter and producer Tim Husmann - named the release after his collaboration with longtime friend Bryan Ellis. Flux is a bright hazy buzz of shoegaze, given an upbeat musical edge by the product of the collaboration. 

In Numbers, there's an alt sensibility in the melody and emotional delivery, decorated with electronic sounds. It sets a sweet kind of nostalgic mood. 

Near Me - video directed by Ellis Bahl and Johnny Chew.

 
In WXW, he ventures into a post-rock territory, with a goth-pop mood set by the melody and plaintive harmonies. Man Overboard takes a musical - and video (see below) - trip underwater, heavy on atmospheric synth and angsty vocals. 
The EP has been on the NACC Radio Top 200 Chart for 6 + weeks. Videos were produced with the help of longtime Radiohead Creative Director Dilly Gent. 

1st Base Runner successfully combines the gauzy, dreamy outlines of shoegaze with the catchy tunes and rhythms of pop. Husmann spent another life (as he calls it in a release) making music and touring with other acts. His solo journey seems to be fully underway. 
Stay in touch: Official Website: http://1stbaserunner.com Facebook: @1stbaserunnermusic Twitter: @1stbaserunner Instagram: @1stbaserunner 
Man Overboard - video directed by Heather Gildroy and overseen by production company Son & Heir (produced by Amanda Austin.
 

A Planetarium Opera | James Dashow: Archimedes (Neuma Records / December 20, 2021)

A Planetarium Opera
James Dashow: Archimedes
(Neuma Records / December 20, 2021)

Buy The 3 CD Set Listen Digitally

Spacey, intriguing, even educational, the life of Archimedes is celebrated in electronic music, and an opera written for a planetarium by composer James Dashow.

Inspired by laser and electronic music displays that he'd experienced in science museums, electronic music pioneer James Dashow wrote the monumental opera expressly for that venue. Appropriately enough, the opera deals with the life of Archmedes, the ancient Greek mathematician who is, coincidentally, the inventor of the planetarium.

“The opera utilizes always the full surround effect, even when visually the live singers are in the usual positions of traditional theatre, in front of or in the middle of the audience, fixed on a stage. The music keeps the sense of the audience being in the midst of the action, not as outside observers,” says Dashow in a release.

“The synchronization of musical phrases, rhythms, harmonies, textures with their movements around the planetarium (the spatialization) adds a whole new expressive dimension to the musical experience. There is something about experiencing musical events in space, not just in a line across a stage, that is quite moving for the human sensibility.”

It took nine years to assemble the project, which combines live voices, prerecorded instruments, immersive multimedia, and electronic sounds. This release is, essentially, its premiere.

Musically, the work is dramatic and eschews melody, for the most part, in favour of expression. Dashow uses various elements in the structure of the piece. Archimedes is represented by different guitar sounds, and as he matures in the course of the story, the sounds and guitars also change. In track 4 (In Which He Grows Up), children's' voices blend with trippy, high-pitched sounds. By Archimedes At War (in the second act), the timbre is darker and lower, and as ominous as the title would suggest. 

Roman proconsul Marcellus' appearance in the opera is depicted by a chamber ensemble, one that grows little by little from four instruments to a small chamber orchestra by the end. When Marcellus and Archimedes meet, in Act III (the third disc), the two musical modes also come together. The tragedy of Archimedes' story is that, after the Siege of Syracuse, his home, Marcellus ordered that he be kept alive - but a Roman soldier killed him anyway.

Along with the music, spoken portions of the libretto tell the details of the story. You may even learn some math along the way. Act II alternates Mathematics with musical choruses dubbed “Then Archimedes”. 

James Dashow

The cast includes a crew of freelance opera singers based in NYC, including Michael Kelly as Archimedes, Martin Bakari as Marcellus, and Adrian Rosas as Hieron. You'll note the stratospheric pitch of soprano Jennifer Zetlan as the Demiurge, her voice blending with Brian Giebler's tenor. 

Musical accompaniment includes the work of recorder virtuoso Antonio Politano, with eleven-year-old Madeleine Albus playing the role of Child. Along with singing, the piece includes spoken word sections, and an introductory narrative by noted Shakesperian actor, Philip Kerr. 

The libretto by Cary Plotkin with Ted Weiss is poetic, sometimes funny, sometimes intriguing or philosophical. It's easy to imagine this work performed as it was intended, in an atmospheric planetarium.

The album cover depicts one of Archimedes discoveries - the ratio of the volume of a cylinder to the volume of its circular end (3/2). Dashow used the ratio that Archimedes himself considered his most important. 

“This ratio is also that of the perfect fifth in musical terms. Hence, all of his music consists of different selections of the 8 pitches that make up the interval of a perfect fifth, all carefully structured within the constraints of my Dyad System. The very end of the opera has clusters of all eight pitches of a perfect fifth in overlapping clusters that depict Archimedes tragic destiny.”

The Saxophone Gets Its Due | Baljinder Sekhon: Alchemy Innova Recordings (October 22, 2021)

The Saxophone Gets Its Due
Baljinder Sekhon: Alchemy
Innova Recordings (October 22, 2021)

Composer: Baljinder Sekhon
Performers: Doug O’Connor; Eastman Percussion Ensemble; Michael Burritt; Victor LaBozzetta; Carla Lackey; Andrew Bockman; Justin Lamb; Emma Gierszal; Jeremy Vigil; Chien-Kwan Lin; Nicki Roman; Zach Stern; Colin Crake; Myles Boothroyd; Kevin Zhao; Siobhan Plouffe; Tyler Wiessner; Stephanie Venturino; Clancy Ellis; Jeremy Howell; Michael Matthews; Uday Singh; Red Line Saxophone Quartet; Brandon Kies; Gai Qun; Quinn Lewis; Baljinder Sekhon; University of South Florida Symphony Orchestra; William Wiedrich

Listen/Buy It At The Link

Playful, evocative, emotional, cinematic - the work of composer Baljinder Sekhon employs all the colours and shades of the saxophone in this collection of pieces composed and recorded over a decade-long period. 

At the heart of the project lies a collaboration between saxophonist Doug O'Connor and the composer. Sekhon, currently Assistant Professor of Composition at Penn State University, is known for his works for sax and percussion, and that emphasis on rhythm is present in the works on this release.

The saxophone is perhaps the only standard wind/brass instrument that's not a regular member of the typical orchestra. It has been excluded from the usual repertoire as a result, with a very few exceptions from early 20th century composers.

Listening to Sekkon's work, it's hard to understand why. The sax is showcased in various settings, from a chamber ensemble to sax quartet with real-time electronics. In The Offering, the sax is a soloist set against a full orchestra, and it's a virtuosic tour through the instrument's capabilities. O'Connor is a master of his instrument, and able to persuade it to sing lyrically as well as percussively.

In Gradient 2.0, a moody and emotional piece, the mournful sax is part of a percussion ensemble. Sonata of Puzzles, in three movements, has a melodic heart with a dash of comedy and theatricality, using the sax's voice in all its elastic possibility. 

Sekhon has also looked to experiment with sounds as well as the structure of composition in these five works. The intellectual depth with intrigue music nerds, but the overwhelming musicality will draw in any lover of contemporary music.

A New Digital Gateway To Culture: Now Playing Toronto

From a media release: 

A New Digital Gateway To Culture:
Now Playing Toronto

From what's new, to hidden gems, up-and-coming artists and festival favourites; a new way to discover arts and culture events across Toronto

For more information and to discover events in Toronto, visit nowplayingtoronto.com

Toronto, ON — Now Playing Toronto, a brand new free online platform as a one-stop source for arts, cultural and community events in Toronto, Ontario, has officially launched.

Developed by Destination Toronto and the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, along with an advisory group of leaders across major arts disciplines in Toronto, Now Playing Toronto captures the full scope and scale of experiences on offer and is designed to be the best place to find everything happening in Toronto tonight, this weekend or a month from now. 

A celebration of breadth and diversity, from what's new and up-and-coming to the largest shows and events, Now Playing Toronto offers a centralized information portal for residents and visitors to engage with theatre, dance, opera, comedy, live music, festivals, special events, public art, fashion, films, museums, workshops, literature, history, science, cultural experiences, and more.

Toronto - An Artistic City

“Toronto is proud to be home to diverse cultural experiences and inspiring entertainment,” said Mayor John Tory. “Now Playing Toronto helps everyone, from parents with children to experienced culture enthusiasts, find something new to see and enjoy. I encourage everyone to get out, support the local arts community and discover something new.”

Prior to the pandemic in 2018, the Toronto Arts Foundation published a Public Arts Survey that revealed 85% of Torontonians think our city has a great arts scene, with 65% specifying it’s because the arts reflect the diversity of the city’s residents. 

Nearly 90% of respondents believe that the arts make Toronto a better place to live, with 71% specifying it’s because the arts engage people with new ideas. For most Torontonians the arts not only make Toronto a more inclusive place (83%), they also make it a destination spot for visitors (73%). 

Destination Toronto, the destination marketing organization for Toronto, in partnership with Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), developed Now Playing Toronto with guidance and stewardship from an Arts and Culture Advisory Council to assist cultural organizations and event producers in re-engaging and reaching new audiences. The events calendar launches at a critical time as the cultural sector re-emerges from COVID-19. 

Image courtesy of Now Playing Toronto

“The Toronto arts and culture community has been hit hard by measures to contain the spread of COVID-19,” said Jacoba Knaapen, Executive Director, Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts. “As we look to rebuild, Now Playing Toronto will be crucial to Toronto’s cultural recovery. With the largest and most significant selection of arts and culture offerings in one place, the platform will be a hub for everyone and will help amplify the diverse experiences offered around our city.”

The most robust site for everything to do in Toronto 

Now Playing Toronto is the most diverse platform for cultural events covering all categories. From contemporary dance to classical ballet, stand-up comedy to blockbuster shows, poetry slams to food festivals and much more, the platform is designed to help arts and culture fans discover new experiences from across the wide range of creators throughout the entire city.   

“Arts, entertainment, and culture feed a city’s vibrancy reflecting the scope and scale of a destination and attracting talented artists, creators, visitors, and businesses,” said Scott Beck, President & CEO of Destination Toronto. “As Torontonians renew their sense of adventure for experiences, we believe Now Playing Toronto will become the go-to calendar for things to do, feeding the vitality of the City and supporting the regrowth of the cultural sector.”

Now Playing Toronto lists dates, times, maps and direct links for purchasing tickets;Everything is searchable by venue, date, categories and themes, keywords, location and more;The category dropdown includes an ACCESS option to search for modified performances that provide expanded accessibility features;Site users can select their choice of cultural experience and be routed directly to the organization for ticket sales.  Image courtesy of Now Playing Toronto

Editorial Content 

To help find the hottest tickets in Toronto, weekly editorial round-ups will feature curated events and performances. In addition to event listings, social editorial content will provide an in-depth look at what’s playing and feature interviews with artists and creators. 

Starting with the Now Playing Toronto Instagram, followers can learn more about some of Toronto’s most up-and-coming artists. 

Discount Tix

Through the partnership with TAPA, Now Playing Toronto will offer two discount ticket programs making the arts accessible to everyone. hipTIX, is a program that offers $5 student tickets (ID required), and provides free access to the arts for newcomers and at-risk youth via participating social services agencies.

NowPlayingToronto.com is powered by the Toronto Events Database (T.E.D.), using a technology that captures the most comprehensive and robust calendar of events, and extends information on things to do in Toronto to a wider audience through a network of event calendars. It provides a more streamlined process for event producers by reducing the time and effort to keep show and event details up to date, ensuring a higher level of accuracy of event information.

Now Playing Toronto is free and easy to use for all cultural organizations

All cultural organizations are encouraged to list their events on the platform for free. Now Playing Toronto’s role is to grow and develop new audiences for arts organizations and event producers regardless of size. 

Now Playing Toronto on Social:

Instagram: @NowPlayingToronto TikTok: @NowPlayingToronto Facebook: facebook.com/NowPlayingTO Twitter: @NowPlayingTO

DJ Meets Classical Chops | Golden Hornet Presents MXTX: A Cross-Border Exchange On Six Degree Records

From a media release:

Golden Hornet Presents
MXTX: A Cross-Border Exchange
Out April 1, 2022 on Six Degree Record

Check It Out

MXTX was born in the wake of the 2016 U.S. elections with the impetus to repel intolerance, in full alignment with Austin, Texas based Golden Hornet’s mission of collaborative creations and adventurous programming with a commitment to justice and innovation. 

A curated, gender-balanced project involving more than forty DJ-producers and composers from both Texas and Mexico, MXTX’s multifaceted and dynamic creative output includes live performances, an open-source audio sample library, and the highly anticipated studio album MXTX: A Cross-Border Exchange (April 1, 2022 on Six Degrees Records).  

Golden Hornet’s Graham Reynolds, well known for his original scores to Richard Linklater films, along with three other extraordinary co-curators, invited a carefully chosen group of 40 musical artists from both sides of the Rio Grande/Bravo to participate in the first phase of MXTX; the build out of an open source audio sample library. 

The curators included Orión García, founder of the Austin, Texas based Latinx DJ/Producer/Artist collective Peligrosa; from Monterrey, México, arts entrepreneur Coka Treviño, the founder of The Projecto; and the highly-acclaimed Felipe Pérez Santiago of Mexico City - composer, conductor, sound artist and current Artist in Residence at California’s SETI Institute. 

The album builds upon elements from the extensive audio sample library; deconstructed, reconstructed, and reinvisioned along with parts composed and arranged for chamber ensemble plus electronics. The collaborations included both DJ-producers and classically-trained composers who mixed and matched beats, drops, loops, melodic fragments and soundscapes along with live and acoustic instrumentation. 

The first single from the project “Mundo en Extinción” by Ramón Amezcua “Bostich” of the groundbreaking Nortec Collective and propelled by the unmistakable vocals of Rubén Albarrán (of the legendary Cafe Tacvba) introduces the project in proper form. 

On another standout track, “Colmena” (Beehive), Reynolds builds upon Los Texmaniacs master accordionist Josh Baca’s chords with haunting, expansive cinematic embellishments that evoke journeys along dusty Southwestern roads. 

Some of the artists of MXTX

Two time Latin Grammy nominee and recipient of Mexico’s National Prize for Arts & Literature Gabriela Ortiz highlights extended techniques on the delightfully strange and David Lynch-esque "Human Mechanics" with husband Alejandro Escuer, combining her experimental side with formidable orchestration skills. 

These are just three examples of how each of the album’s compositions highlight the endless possibilities of the elements from the MXTX Sample Library. The results are an infinitely creative shapeshifting, kaleidoscopic collage; in each exquisite composition, we hear the fruitfulness of a full expression of fluid identities that are never constrained by borders, genres, instruments or musical realms. The compositions layer multiple textures in a way that they illuminate and reveal different beauties in each revisiting, and all the while, the listener is transported on a journey through a sonic territory whose hallmark is inclusion rather than exclusion. 

The final culmination of MXTX is a crowning achievement. The MXTX: A Cross-Border Exchange album consists of thirteen full gender-balanced works and one bonus track that demonstrate the immense beauty and power of music to overcome divides. 

As Reynolds says of the MXTX project, it reflects 

“...two communities becoming one in making an artistic statement together.”

The live MXTX world premiere is happening at the Fusebox Festival on Saturday, April 16, 2022 at the Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park in Austin, Texas. Performances in Marfa, TX and Mexico City to follow in Fall 2022.

ONLINE:

Website: https://www.goldenhornet.org/mxtx  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldenhornetatx/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldenhornetatx/Twitter: https://twitter.com/goldenhornetatx/

Art in Wine Country | Spier Light Art At Stellenbosch Wine Farm, South Africa Until April 18 2022

From a media release:

Spier Light Art
Stellenbosch Wine Farm, South Africa
Until April 18, 2022

Free - Book at the Link

The fourth and highly anticipated edition of the celebrated annual Spier Light Art opened 18 March and continues to 18 April 2022. If you're in the area, you can experience an evocative world of light, sound and video art at the historic Stellenbosch Wine Farm.

FluxIt, from Spier Light Art 2021

Spier Light Art is free to the public. Visitors need to book to ensure adherence to COVID protocol. The best time to visit is at dusk, when you can catch both the beautiful sunset and the switching on of the lights.

“We have used this opportunity during the global pandemic to look within, connect with loved ones and find joy in quiet moments of calm. But we have also sought ways to embrace the promises of the future. It would be rash not to reflect on what has happened to us all, but it must be tempered with forward-looking positivity. The artworks showcased at Spier Light Art 2022 do just that; they ask us to glance back while looking ahead, learning from the past as we stride into the future,” say the curators Jay Pather and Vaughn Sadie.

Pather and Sadie explain that while some of the works offer playful opportunities for fun, others grapple with difficult themes such as social histories and our relationship with the planet.

The installations include:

* NIGHT CRUMPLE by HEDWIG BARRY: Large sculptures made from crumpled sheets of aluminium will change in appearance between night and day. Treated with automotive paints mixed with phosphorescent powder, the artwork has two lives and dramatises the relationship between force, scale and fragility. Night Crumple, which continues from an initial series of crumpled paper sheets, invites the viewer to consider the structure’s simultaneous resilience and vulnerability. Barry’s artwork explores the relationship between visibility and invisibility. Aspects of the work that are invisible by day will take on new life in the night’s darkness, revealing hidden secrets. The amount of light absorbed by the phosphorescent paint in the day will affect how the work manifests at night in an ongoing and changing response to its site. The weather and the position of the earth relative to the sun will also influence the appearance of the work.

* MY SECRET DIGITAL GARDEN by NATALIE PENANG: Referencing the scene from the iconic Ophelia painting by Sir John Everett Millais, Natalie Penang’s video artwork injects fresh energy into the original artwork. The artist plays with the relationship between nature, technology and magical beings, while interrogating what it means to exist in an online universe.

* THOKOZA MAMA DAYS? by SANDILE RADEBE: Exploring the performance of ubuZulua bethu or ‘our Zuluness’ in a material culture is the core theme of this sculptural installation from Sandile Radebe. Equally important as a theme is the role abaphansi (ancestors) play in connecting the material and the spiritual world, and how they facilitate our spiritual purpose.

* PETRIFIED by BLAUKIND and THE RENDERHEADS: David Hecker, Alina Smith and Elzeth Calitz are The Renderheads and they are standing on the ground, looking into the clouds. Their interactive installation ‘Petrified’ asks the participant to question the prevailing narrative that science and technology, with their shiny light arcs and glassy interfaces, hold a place at the top of human creation. Instead, we should look at the holes in the ground from the lithium mining, the exploitation of the workers and the abuse of private data. As the participant walks through the reflective surfaces of ‘Petrified’, they will consider the ecological toll of our insatiable quest for technological development.

From 18 March to 18 April 2022, Spier Light Art will be accessible to the public and entry is free. Visitors will need to reserve a time slot online to ensure compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols and government restrictions.

Spier Wine Farm, South Africa

Food and drink

Pre-book a sunset picnic online (collect your basket by 19:00 and return it by 21:00).

Not in the mood for a picnic? Delicious food is available from the Spier Farm Cafe, various pop-ups, the Spier Hotel Restaurant and Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery. Or just enjoy a glass of wine from the Braai Bar on the werf.

Linger longer

Make a night of it! Take advantage of Spier Hotel’s birthday special and receive a 21% discount on the best available rate.

With one of the largest contemporary South African art collections in the country exhibited at Spier, it should come as no surprise that supporting high-quality art is as much a part of the Spier ethos as producing award-winning food and wine. Spier believes that the visual arts are a powerful tool for transformation that spark fresh insights and inspire us to engage with the world in imaginative ways. Spier supports local artists through projects that honour our African heritage and enrich our future.

By choosing Spier, you are supporting Spier’s Growing for Good learning initiatives that empower communities to create positive social and environmental change.

Details:

Spier Wine FarmTIME: 6:30pm - 9:00pmFree Entry

The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop Opens Opens April 20 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art

From a media release:

The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop
Cinema’s Creative Legacy
Opens Opens April 20, 2022 through January 23, 2023
at the Boca Raton Museum of Art 

World premiere of this larger-than-life show: the first dedicated museum exhibition of its kind honoring the unsung heroes of Hollywood’s artistic DNA.

Art of the Hollywood Backdrop: Cinema’s Creative Legacy honors the unsung heroes who created these monumental canvases for the camera, going back almost 100 years. These artists were the backbone of the film industry.

Hollywood Backdrops - An American in Paris; Photo courtesy of JC Backings

The first museum show dedicated to Hollywood’s painted backdrops, the grandest illusions ever created for the movies, makes its world premiere in South Florida (April 20 ‒ January 22) at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. 

These American treasures were rescued from the studio lots, and saved from being lost forever by this passionate group of Hollywood insiders who led the salvage efforts.

The exhibition will feature a fully immersive experience with interactive video reels created by some of Hollywood's leading digital designers. Soundscapes engineered especially for this show will surround visitors with atmospheric sound effects related to the classic movies and these giant scenic vistas. 

The exhibition is co-curated by Thomas A. Walsh and Karen L. Maness, who played pivotal roles among a group of passionate Hollywood insiders to salvage these American treasures.

Pictured above: a film still from The Sound of Music, showing the actual location which was recreated with one of the iconic backdrops that will be seen by the public for the first time in this exhibition, 20th Century Fox (1965).

The result in the Museum’s galleries is a magical portal that takes the terms “large-scale,” “immersive,” and “virtual reality” to a whole new level.

“For almost a century, and were never meant to be seen by the public with the naked eye. Having this rare opportunity to experience these American masterpieces up close is long overdue,” said Leonard Maltin, the renowned film critic, historian and author.

This exhibition of 22 scenic backdrops, made for the movies between 1938 and 1968, celebrates an art form nearly forgotten.

This is a well-deserved moment in the spotlight for the dozens of unidentified studio artists. Their uncredited craftsmanship made scenes of Mount Rushmore, Ben-Hur's Rome, the Von Trapp Family's Austrian Alps, and Gene Kelly's Paris street dance possible. 

Warner Brothers scenic artists (ca. 1930). (L-to- R) Verne Strang, Bill McConnell, Frankie Cohen, Charley Wallace, Jack Brooks, James McCann, Emmett Alexander (Ed Strang Collection, from the book The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, by Karen L. Maness and Richard Isackes.

The show’s immersive components include interactive video reels created in Hollywood specifically for this exhibition, telling the stories behind each backdrop.

Soundscapes have been engineered to surround visitors in the museum, including atmospheric sound effects related to the original movies, and to the scenic vistas.

Young Bess (40’ x 22’), exterior high-angle view of Westminster Abbey in the 1550s, MGM Studios (1953).

Said Irvin Lippman, the executive director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art: “It is miraculous that these historic monumental paintings were not lost forever, as so many Hollywood treasures have disappeared. The concept for this show had its genesis with a CBS Sunday Morning segment that called attention to the campaign to preserve scenic backdrops that had laid rolled up in the basement of MGM's studios."

"Lynne Coakley, Karen L. Maness, and Thomas A. Walsh have played a significant role in preserving this inventory from Hollywood's golden age. Their vision and partnership with the Boca Raton Museum of Art made this exhibition possible,” added Lippman.

Lynne Coakley heads J.C. Backings Corporation, which acquired over two thousand backdrops from MGM storage in the 1970s. In 2012, The Art Directors Guild Archives, then under the direction of Thomas A. Walsh who was the Guild's president, launched the Backdrop Recovery Project, a partnership with J.C. Backings.

Their goal was to preserve the backings and make them available for study. One of the recipients of this cache of gigantic paintings was the University of Texas at Austin and Associate Professor of Practice, Karen L. Maness.

She saw the opportunity to use the artifacts as part of a learning laboratory where students could use them for visualization and inspiration to succeed in high-realism scenic painting.

With Walsh and Maness agreeing to be the co-curators of this first major exhibition of the Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, the Museum project began to take shape.

They accepted an invitation to visit the Boca Raton Museum of Art in the fall of 2021, by Irvin Lippman who had seen the television segment on CBS Sunday Morning.

MGM Studios

Twenty backdrops, including the famous Mount Rushmore, are being loaned by the Texas Performing Arts Hollywood Backdrop Collection at the University of Texas.

In addition, a 1952 backdrop for Singin' in the Rain and the tapestry backdrop for Marie Antoinette (1938) are on loan from the Motion Picture Academy in Los Angeles.

Donald O'Connor danced his brilliant comic performance of Make' Em Laugh in front of the backdrop from Singin' in the Rain. The 1938 tapestry backdrop interestingly was reused in the North by Northwest (1959) auction house scene, a relatively common practice in the film and television industry of the time.

Museum visitors will be able to take selfies in front of an original backdrop from Singin’ in the Rain, including a recreation of the sofa and mannequin from the famous scene. 

"The Granddaddy, the Babe Ruth of all Hollywood Backdrops"

This scenic backdrop (below) is from the 1959 MGM film North By Northwest. Produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the film starred Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.“This is the grandaddy, the Babe Ruth of all Hollywood backdrops,” said Karen L. Maness. “Especially because it was such a key player in the telling of this story.”

Backdrop from 1959 MGM film North By Northwest

The backdrop is part of Texas Performing Arts' permanent backdrop collection, the most extensive educational collection of Hollywood Motion Picture backdrops in the world. Maness also conducted extensive oral history interviews with the last surviving artists, their family members, and their acolytes, to record and preserve their previously unacknowledged histories.

“It was essential to capture these artist’s stories before they disappeared,” said Maness.

Some of these artists came from a family tradition of the craft, with lineages spanning three generations of painters. The craft stayed within the family.

Most were trained as professional artists, yet they remained uncredited, sometimes because of union agreements, and mainly because the studios wanted to keep a firm grip on the secret techniques that were handed down from master to apprentice on the backlots.

The physicality of painting across these giant canvases was often overwhelmingly difficult. Some artists even suffered tragic consequences in the early years of this craft, before the studios developed more sophisticated working platforms: John Coakley’s father fell to his death from a perilously high scaffold while painting a backdrop.

“This has become my passion project, to tell their stories. I will be their champion in this lifetime,” says Karen L. Maness.

“Historically, as a woman I would have never been allowed to work alongside them in that era. As a teacher, they have now become my masters. When you choose your mentors as ghosts, they can’t say no,” adds Maness.

These creations were painted for the camera lens itself, not for the human eye. It is a very impressionistic style of painting ― not really photo-realism, but it snaps together as photo-realistic when viewed from a distance.

Up close they look totally different. When visitors to the Museum take selfies with their phone cameras, the resulting image will look very different from what they see in person in the gallery.

Hollywood Backdrops - MGM Studio, Scenic Art Supervisor George Gibson & Prod Designer Robert Boyle

This unique concept of “photo-realism for the camera” was spearheaded by George Gibson, he took scenic art to an entirely new level of artistry. In the hey-day of MGM, they had three shifts of scenic artists working day and night, non-stop.

“This show is about the joy of re-living something you grew up with, that you always thought was real. It’s about getting as close to that magical moment in time as you can. Being in the same space with that giant, familiar scene. It is difficult for people to get their minds around the awesome size of these magical spaces, until they see them in person. People are often shocked and surprised by the scale and visual impact of these massive creations," says Walsh.

"These are literally some of the largest paintings ever created in the world, similar to cyclorama paintings. Aside from the technicians working in the soundstages, no one else has set eyes upon this collection. This is the first time the public can see this collection in person,” adds Walsh.

Throughout his career, Walsh has been a mentor to many young designers. “After the digital/synthetic revolution took over filmmaking, the young designers today who are most successful in the computerized realm are those who continue to hone their real-life painting and drawing skills." says Walsh.

"They know about perspective and really understand art, nature, light, and architecture. They can still be tactile. The idea that you can still get personal and dirty with your art is a revelation to many of the current generation. Those who do, are better at their computer arts," adds Walsh

Walsh was born into a Hollywood show business family. His father, Arthur Walsh, was a contract actor and jitterbug champion at MGM Studios in the 1940s, and went on to have a successful solo career as a nightclub comedian.

It was through exposure to his father's world of live performance that Walsh began his lifelong journey in the film and performing arts. Walsh attended Hollywood High School, and starting at the age of 17, Walsh served as an apprentice to some of these Hollywood scenic artists.

Today, Walsh is a leading Production Designer in the entertainment industry. He was President of the Art Director’s Guild when this recovery project started, and it was his vision to make sure his Guild’s members were seen and recorded.

Photo by Jen Reel, University of Texas at Austin, College of Fine Arts.

“Credit went to everyone in these classic films except the scenic artists who made these cinematic moments possible by creating the backdrops,” said Irvin Lippman. “The heroic efforts by these preservationists to recover the singular artistic knowledge of these masters is the heartbeat that underlies this exhibition at our Museum. Hollywood’s most closely guarded creative secrets can finally be revealed through this never-before-seen exhibition that we are proud to debut here in South Florida.”

The show also features an Education Gallery created especially for this exhibition, showcasing historic tools of the trade used by these artists in Hollywood.

One of the most memorable experiences for visitors to the Museum will be the opportunity to see up close the actual brushstrokes and dynamic hand-painted techniques that were used by these artists, to create the necessary effects they developed for the camera lens.

“In this form of painting, the deadlines and physicality required speed and confidence. The canvas was attacked with wild abandon, not courted,” said Thomas A. Walsh. “Their unique industrial techniques permitted them to be Norman Rockwell at one moment, and then Turner, Rembrandt or Vermeer at another."

As artists, they made motion picture artworks ‒ whether with brush, roller and sponge, spray guns and Hudson tanks, brooms, or just sheer tactile-aggression ‒on a massive Ford‘s River Rouge type of industrial scale and output schedule. 

”Bold, efficient brushstrokes pull forms into a loose realism that breathes with the energy of the artists who laid the marks on the canvas,” said Karen L. Maness. “These monumental witnesses to cinematic history vibrate with impressionistic optical blending techniques, applied with pneumatic guns, to deliver fine points of color that pull together and hold up as realism for the camera’s eye,” adds Maness.

The Museum will present a series of events and educational presentations for the community throughout the run of the exhibition. Learn more about this special programming at bocamuseum.org/visit/events.

Afro-Futurism | Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman's Acclaimed Film 'Neptune Frost' In Limited N American Release June 3 2022

 From a media release:

Afro-Futurism
Neptune Frost
Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman's Acclaimed Afro-Futurist Sci-Fi Musical
Opens in Theaters Nationwide June 3 2022

— Including the Quad and BAM in NYC

Multi-hyphenate, multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams brings his unique dynamism to this Afro-Futurist vision, a sci-fi punk musical that’s a visually wondrous amalgamation of themes, ideas, and songs that Williams has explored in his work, notably his 2016 album MartyrLoserKing. 

Co-directed with his partner, the Rwandan-born artist and cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman, the film takes place in the hilltops of Burundi, where a group of escaped coltan miners form an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective. From their camp in an otherworldly e-waste dump, they attempt a takeover of the authoritarian regime exploiting the region's natural resources – and its people. 

When an intersex runaway and an escaped coltan miner find each other through cosmic forces, their connection sparks glitches within the greater divine circuitry. Set between states of being – past and present, dream and waking life, colonized and free, male and female, memory and prescience – Neptune Frost is an invigorating and empowering direct download to the cerebral cortex and a call to reclaim technology for progressive political ends.

Rwanda / U.S. | 2021 |  105m
In Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Swahili, French, and English with English Subtitles

Official Selection: Cannes' Directors Fortnight, Toronto International Film Festival, The New York Film Festival, BFI London, Sundance Film Festival
Dedza Films, Recipient of Sundance's Catalyst Pilot Program Will Partner with Kino Lorber on the Release

About Saul Williams

Saul Williams is an American poet, musician, and actor. He made his acting debut in Marc Levin’s Slam, which he co-wrote. The film won Sundance's Grand Jury Prize and the Cannes Camera D'Or in 1998. Saul was a series regular on Girlfriends and has appeared in films including: K-Pax, Lackawanna Blues, New York, I Love You, Akilla’s Escape (TIFF 2020) and Alain Gomis's TEY, which won 2013's L'Etalon D'Or at FESPACO. He has published five books of poetry and as a musician, has released six albums and collaborated with artists including: Janelle Monae, Trent Reznor, Nas, Massive Attack, Erykah Badu, and more. 

About Anisia Uzeyman

Anisia Uzeyman is a Rwandan born actress, playwright, and director. As an actress, Anisia starred in Alain Gomis's TEY and Guetty Felin's Ayiti, Mon Amour (TIFF 2016). Her experimental film DREAMSTATES, shot entirely on iPhones, premiered at LAFF in 2016.

Choreographer Anne Plamondon Makes Toronto Harbourfront Debut With 'Only You' April 8 & 9 2022

From a media release:

Canadian Dance Artist Anne Plamondon Makes Harbourfront Centre
Choreographic Debut with Fascinating New Work, Only You
April 8 & 9 2022

Anne Plamondon and James Gregg explore vulnerability and acceptance in duet, as part of Torque contemporary dance series

Tickets  

TORONTO, ON – Harbourfront Centre presents the Ontario premiere of Only You, an exhilarating new duet from Montreal-based choreographer Anne Plamondon, on stage April 8 and 9, 2022, at 7:30pm at Fleck Dance Theatre, as part of the contemporary dance series Torque. A kinetic work imbued with super-charged emotion, Only You is a passionate exploration of the evolution of an intimate relationship. In a quest towards understanding, acceptance and honesty, the work’s two protagonists gradually remove the invisible veils between them to unmask a greater truth about self-discovery and identity. 

Anne Plamondon in Only You (photo by Michael Slobodian)

“We are delighted to present the Ontario premiere of Anne Plamondon’s full-length piece Only You to  Toronto audiences," says Nathalie Bonjour, Director, Performing Arts at Harbourfront Centre. “Lauded for her compelling versatility and physicality, combined with emotionally intelligent narratives derived from her own lived experiences, Anne’s work offers audiences a powerful commentary on self-identity. As we navigate the complexities of our closest relationships, more so than ever before, we discover the courage and strength that exists within ourselves.” 

Postponed in March 2020 due to COVID-19, Only You will make its long-awaited premiere at Usine C in Montreal on March 31, 2022, before its Ontario premiere at Toronto’s waterfront campus. Featuring Anne Plamondon and longtime collaborator James Gregg, the breathtaking duet probes the passionate struggle between two people, vulnerably examining the forces that bring the pair together and those that drive them apart. As they begin to break down their walls, a universal truth emerges: it’s up to each person to find their own path. 

Anne Plamondon & James Gregg in Only You (Photo by Michael Slobodian)

Renowned for her intelligent and versatile approach to choreography and “allowing ideas and forms to create powerful, unforced narratives” (Calgary Herald), Plamondon’s newest work boasts exquisite form, moving between frenetic and highly synchronized movements to fluid and elegant lines. Set within a landscape of entangled brambles and thorns created by visual artist Hua Jin and amplified by a pulsing score by Olivier Fairfield, the dancers courageously tackle vulnerability, abandonment and fortitude. 

Lighting design is by Nicolas Descôteaux, costumes by Marilène Bastien and set design is by both Marilène Bastien and Anne Plamondon.

Anne Plamondon (photo by Michael Slobodian)

Classically trained at the National Ballet School of Canada, Plamondon began her career as a ballet dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Nederlands Dans Theater II and Portugal’s Gulbenkian Ballet before transitioning to contemporary dance. In addition to working with Canadian choreographers, like Jean Grand-Maître and James Kudelka, Plamondon has collaborated with renowned choreographer Crystal Pite and her company Kidd Pivot, including the 2015 Olivier Award-winning A Picture of You Falling. 

From 2002 to 2015, Plamondon was instrumental in developing the Montreal-based RUBBERBANDance Group, first as a performer and later as Artistic Co-Director with company founder and choreographer Victor Quijada. There, Plamondon blended classical ballet, contemporary dance and hip-hop dance styles to create a signature and versatile dance vocabulary that continues to impact today’s dance creations. 

Free Jazz | Satoko Fujii/Joe Fonda: Thread of Light (FSR Records / January 21, 2022)

With material from a media release:

Free Jazz
Satoko Fujii/Joe Fonda - Thread of Light
(FSR Records / January 21, 2022)

Buy It

Recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic separately, in their respective homes in Kobe and New York, Thread of Light brings together the work of two old friends who also happen to be innovative jazz artists.

Satoko Fujii/Joe Fonda: Thread of Light

Bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Satoko Fujii met years ago on the concert tour circuit, and struck up a friendship. While their touring schedules were both busy, they began a series of collaborations and live performances in a variety of formats. The duo previously apepared together in Duet (2015), Mizu (with Natsuki Tamura in 2017), and Four in 2019.

Thread of Light is bold, dissonant, decisive even in a track called Reflection. The combination of bass and piano gives both artists room to take up space and explore the possibilities of each composition, as well as, in Fonda's case, the sonic possibilities of the instrument.

The Fonda composition My Song gives the bass centre stage, along with his talent for coaxing a myriad of sounds from his instrument. Likewise, Winter Sunshine, by Fujii, is a fascinating piano-centric piece. The rest of the release was written by both artists together.

The fact that it was recorded separately is an interesting detail, but one that doesn't intrude on the music.

About the Artists Joe Fonda (Image courtesy of the artist)

Joe Fonda “is a serious seeker of new musical horizons,” according to the Boston Phoenix. From 1984 to 1999, he was the bassist with composer-improviser and NEA Jazz Master Anthony Braxton. Fonda also has been an integral member of several cooperative bands, including the Fonda-Stevens Group with Michael Jefry Stevens, Herb Robertson and Harvey Sorgen; Conference Call, with Gebhard Ullmann, Stevens, and George Schuller; the Fab Trio with Barry Altschul and Billy Bang; and the Nu Band with Mark Whitecage, Roy Campbell, and Lou Grassi. 

He is currently a member of The 3dom Factor, Alschul’s trio with saxophonist Jon Irabagon, and guitarist Michael Musillami’s trio, among others. He has led some truly unique ensembles of his own including From the Source, which features four instrumentalists, a tap dancer, and a body healer/vocalist; and Bottoms Out, a sextet with Gerry Hemingway, Joe Daley, Michael Rabinowitz, Claire Daly and Gebhard Ullmann. He has released twelve recordings under his own name.

Satoko Fujii (Photo by Brian Murray)

Pianist and composer Satoko Fujii, “an improviser of rumbling intensity and generous restraint” (Giovanni Russonello, New York Times), is one of the most original voices in jazz today. For more than 25 years, she has created a unique, personal music that spans many genres, blending jazz, contemporary classical, rock, and traditional Japanese music into an innovative synthesis instantly recognizable as hers alone. A prolific composer for ensembles of all sizes and a performer who has appeared around the world, she was the recipient of a 2020 Instant Award in Improvised Music, in recognition of her “artistic intelligence, independence, and integrity.”

Since she burst onto the scene in 1996, Fujii has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music. Highlights include a piano trio with Mark Dresser and Jim Black (1997-2009), and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins (2001-2008). 

In addition to a wide variety of small groups of different instrumentation, Fujii also performs in a duo with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, with whom she’s recorded eight albums since 1997. She and Tamura are also one half of the international free-jazz quartet Kaze, which has released five albums since their debut in 2011. Fujii has established herself as one of the world’s leading composers for large jazz ensembles, prompting Cadence magazine to call her “the Ellington of free jazz.”

www.joefonda.com/ www.satokofujii.com/

All tracks composed by Joe Fonda (GEMA) and Satoko Fujii, Koro Music (BMI) except #5 My Song by Joe Fonda and #8 Winter Sunshine by Satoko Fujii.

Sample three tracks below:

Thread Of Light by Satoko Fujii & Joe Fonda