Archive for category Visual/ Performance Art
ART: Chihuly exhibit at MFA Boston
Posted by Amy Steele in Visual/ Performance Art on May 27, 2011
CHIHULY: Through the Looking Glass runs until August 7 at Museum of Fine Arts Boston
artist Dale Chihuly is a master of the art of blown glass. this exhibit is amazing, vibrant, enticing, magical. the light, colors, reflections, angles. everything must be taken in and absorbed. I’ll be going back.
Chandelier
Neodymium Reeds
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Women’s History Month: focus on Eartha Kitt
Posted by Amy Steele in Visual/ Performance Art, Women/ feminism on March 1, 2011
Eartha Kitt [1927-2008]—entertainer
–born impoverished in South Carolina
–abandoned by her parents, an aunt raised her in Harlem
–Kitt joined a traveling dancing troupe and moved to Europe in 1948
–she became a nightclub favorite for her singing style in Paris and London
–after returning to the United States, Kitt signed a record contract with RCA in 1952
–Kitt soon earned as much as 10,000/ week for Vegas shows
— took over the role of Catwoman for the third season of the 1960s Batman television series,
–during the sixties, Kitt became active in teaching low-income youth in Washington, D.C. to dance
–she testified before Congress in 1967 about juvenile delinquency
–President Johnson named Kitt to a Citizens Advisory Committee on Youth Opportunity
–later it was revealed that Kitt had been under CIA surveillance since 1956
–Kitt wrote two autobiographies: Thursday’s Child (1956) and Alone with Me (1976)
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National Poetry Month: Maria Shriver reads from “The Journey”
Posted by Amy Steele in Visual/ Performance Art on April 24, 2010
notice Maria’s cool blue nail polish too!
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ART: Nasturtiums at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Courtyard
Posted by Amy Steele in Visual/ Performance Art on April 3, 2010
Beginning April 3-mid-April.
–nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) were one of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s favorite flowers.
–grown at her greenhouses at Green Hill, the Gardner family estate in Brookline & Beverly summer home.
–Isabella hung nasturtiums from the balconies of the courtyard for a public viewing the week before Easter.
–Her birthday is April 14.
The Gardner Cafe also features an Edible Nasturtiums menu. 617.566.1088 for reservations.
painting by Arthur Pope
–In 1919, Arthur Pope painted Nasturtiums at Fenway Court.
from the Isabella Stewart Gardner website— FUN FACTS ABOUT NASTURTIUMS:
~ Nasturtiums are native to South America and were introduced to Europe by the conquistadors in the sixteenth century.
~ The word nasturtium comes from the Latin words nasus (nose) and tortus (twist), most likely a reference to the spicy scent and flavor of the leaves and blossoms.
~ The plant was given its scientific name, Tropaeolum majus–from the Latin word tropaeum or “trophy”–by Linnaeus because of the shield-like shape of its leaves.
~ Monet loved nasturtiums and planted them widely in his gardens at Giverny, including a place of honor in the border of the path to his front door.
~ In 1934, the Burpee Seed Company was about to introduce new colors of the Double Hybrid Nasturtium ‘Gleam’–the type of nasturtium that we grow today at the Gardner–when someone stole $25,000 worth of seeds from an experimental field.
~ During World War II, dried ground nasturtium seeds were used as a substitute for black pepper in Europe.
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Art: Isabel Riley solo installation “Regional Conditions”
Posted by Amy Steele in Visual/ Performance Art on March 4, 2010
**Isabel Riley was in one of my favorite mid-90s Boston Bands: Vera-go-go**
OPENING NIGHT
Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Proof Gallery
Street: The Distillery, 516 E. 2nd Street, South Boston, MA 02127
Proof Gallery
phone: (508) 963-9102
email: proof.gallery@gmail.com
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 12-5pm and by appointment
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STEELE INTERVIEWS: Tonya Chen Mezrich
Posted by Amy Steele in Visual/ Performance Art on December 12, 2009
photo by Eric Levin
Dr. Tonya Chen Mezrich is a non-practicing dentist who designs jewelry for her own collection: Jewel Design by Tonya. While at Dental School at Tufts University, she learned all the skills that she utilizes to design her one-of-a-kind jewelry. She finds jewels at estate sales in Boston, New York, and Paris and also uses sustainable materials, freshwater pearls and semiprecious stones as well as Swarovski crystals to create her unique necklaces.
Tonya is involved with the MFA Museum Council (nice to know as I’ve been a member for several years), the Animal Rescue League of Boston, serves as co-chair for the Boston Ballet Young Partners group, and sits on the advisory board for Mochi Magazine. She works with the Petpals program and brings her trained therapy dog, Bugsy, for regular visits with residents at Susan Ballis Home. If it sounds like Tonya isn’t busy enough, she’s also the Hot List columnist for Boston Common Magazine. The stylish jewelry designer is a nominee for the Daily Candy’s Sweetest Thing Fashion Category, and was named one of Boston Globe’s top 25 most stylish people. Tonya and her husband, best-selling author Ben Mezrich [New York Times bestsellers The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House], live in the Back Bay.
Amy Steele [AS]: You are a dentist. What did you like and not like about being a dentist?
Tonya Chen Mezrich [TM]: I loved my patients, and really being able to make a difference in people’s lives with dentistry. It was extremely rewarding to be able to give a person who had suffered with no or very little teeth, a new set of teeth and watch them light up with confidence and happiness as a result. What I didn’t particularly care for about being a dentist was all the red tape that insurance companies put patients and dentists through.
AS: Why did you start designing jewelry?
TM: I started designing jewelry during dental school. A friend of mine, who was at Harvard Dental, was always wearing beautiful jewelry. She told me she made it all, and that it was very easy to do. She encouraged me to start designing my own. So I took my tools from dental lab class and started making earrings. Everyone loved them, so I moved onto necklaces.
AS: You said that dentistry and jewelry making were closely related. How is this so?
TM: They are closely related because they involve the same skill set. A good mind in structure, foundation and design, and a good set of hands to accomplish it! Both fields are extremely detail oriented. You wouldn’t want a diamond falling out of its prong setting, just as you wouldn’t want a crown falling off of your tooth. A dentist is trained in casting metals, bending wires, waxing up, etc, the same exact skills needed to produce jewelry.
AS: How did you learn the fine art of jewelry making, even if it is like dentistry?
TM: I am a self-taught jewelry maker. I learned it all by trial and error. But it also helped me having a strong background in fashion, as well as fine arts training my whole life.
AS: Why is your jewelry unique?
TM: My jewelry is unique because my designs come from the heart, and are made of one of a kind materials. When a design is made from the heart, it shows. It’s not just some cookie-cutter piece of jewelry that you see anywhere. My jewelry turns heads, and makes the woman who wears it feel confident and beautiful.
AS: How are you making the jewelry, with what kind of techniques? [An aside I know nothing about jewelry-making]
TM: I make the jewelry using wire bending and wrapping techniques, as well as incorporating mixed media. I do not have the lab space yet to do castings, but I would like to in the future.
AS: What inspires your designs?
TM: I look around at nature, and at what people are wearing fashion-wise, to get hints as to what jewelry would pair well for each season. I am also inspired by many successful jewelry designers such as Erickson Beamon and Alexis Bittar.
AS: Where is your pug while you are working? How jealous does he get that you need creative time or have you worked out an arrangement? [writer’s note: Tonya talks about her pug a lot on Twitter!]
TM: My pug hangs around nearby when I’m working. So he’s really right there in it the whole time. He sometimes even gets to test run my jewelry to make sure the pieces are solid and wearable. I’d say he’s the most fashionable pug on the block by far.
AS: What is your favorite type of jewelry (i.e. bracelet, necklace etc)?
TM: My favorite type of jewelry to design is necklaces. I used to do a lot of earrings, but I moved over to necklaces, because I am really into the chunky statement piece style. I don’t like to make chunky earrings because they pull at the lobes and stretch the holes, so I steer away from this style. I do have a signature chandelier earring that is extremely light, but still has a substantial appearance of “looking chunky”. People love this style because they can have the chunk without the damage that actual chunk causes!
AS: How much pressure do you feel having the Style Boston show and also being named one of Boston’s most fashionable people?
TM: There’s a lot of pressure being named one of Boston Globe’s most fashionable people, and also being nominated this year as The Daily Candy’s Sweetest Thing in the Fashion category. I used to just wear my lulu lemons out all day long. But now there’s this pressure to really look the part and put a good outfit together before leaving the house. (You never know who you might run into). But the pressure is kinda fun. It takes a really creative process to come up with a good outfit that works well and is perfectly accessorized. I am lucky to have a good husband who helps vote on whether outfits make the pass or not.
AS: What do you like most about making jewelry?
TM: I love the creative process. I have a million designs in my head, and on sketches that need to be realized. I just wish there were more hours in the day to accomplish them!
AS: What is the most challenging aspect of making jewelry?
TM: The most challenging aspect is making sure a piece is solid and wearable, and finding more hours in the day to design. The solidity of a piece is very important to me; I think it is because I come from a dental background, where foundation is so key. I hear a lot of people complaining because this or that piece of jewelry from another designer or a cheap design broke. A good piece of jewelry that is well designed should not break with normal wear and tear. (But ladies, I’m not saying to treat your jewelry like it’s a chain link fence or a set of handcuffs, it IS delicate, and should be handled with care) However, from standard normal wear, jewelry should not break. If you are buying disposable jewelry from an H & M or similar line, then you shouldn’t expect it to last forever either.
AS: What is the one essential item of jewelry a woman MUST own?
TM: A statement necklace.
AS: Where can people find your jewelry?
TM: Moxie on Charles St and in Wellesley, Serenella on Newbury St.
AS: Thank you Tonya! Have a Happy Chanukah. I definitely look forward to owning one of those gorgeous necklaces one day.
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Cynthia von Buhler solo exhibition at The Nassau County Museum of Art
Posted by Amy Steele in Books, Visual/ Performance Art on November 9, 2009
directly from Cynthia von Buhler’s web site:
In addition to having written the story, Cynthia von Buhler was also the painter, sculptor, interior decorator, mason, gardener, and plumber of the sets. The rooms were built by hand from wood. The stone walls were formed from plaster. The floors are handmade from inlaid wood, mother-of-pearl, and plaster. The characters were painted in oils on gessoed paper, then cut out and placed in the sets. The scenes were photographed by Cynthia with a Nikon D300.
The MiniArtMuseum at The Nassau County Museum of Art’s Mini Art Museum for Children in New York will be featuring these miniature sets and characters from But Who Will Bell the Cats? and The Cat Who Wouldn’t Come Inside in a solo exhibition from September 20, 2009 through January 3, 2010.
for more information visit the museum site
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book review: Art for Obama
Posted by Amy Steele in Books, Visual/ Performance Art on September 28, 2009
Art for Obama
Designing Manifest Hope and the Campaign for Change
Edited by Shepard Fairey & Jennifer Gross
publication date: October 2009
pages: 184 with 150 full-color illustrations
publisher: Abrams
Art for Obama is certainly a collector’s item for “fans” of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, as well as those who love art that makes a statement. It is a beautiful coffee table book with 150 full-color illustrations throughout. President Obama stirred a grassroots political movement throughout the country and also inspired artists, illustrators and graphic designers.
The book is edited by Shepard Fairey and Jennifer Gross. Shepard Fairey shot to international stardom when his iconic “HOPE” portrait of Obama which soon became the face of the campaign. Fairey received a personal thank-you note from Obama. Shepard Fairey began his career with the ubiquitous OBEY GIANT graphics while a student at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1989. He’s known as a street artist. He likes to spotlight street art and enterprise with his work. It can currently be seen in an exhibit at ICA Boston. The show’s next stop is the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Art for Obama includes collages, paintings, photo composites, prints, and computer-generated pieces from around the world by artist such as Ron English, David Choe, Kwaku Alston, Maya Hayuk, Justin Hampton, and Shel Starkman.
Ron English created an oil on canvas Abraham Obama—Barack Obama as Abraham Lincoln. “If you’re Will.I.Am, you make a hit song in support of the campaign,” English said. “If you’re Shepard Fairey, you create an indelible image of Obama. If you’re Sarah Silverman, you deliver a punch line with a purpose. Obama has also allowed a plethora of artists to interpret and disseminate his image, and those of us who had any involvement with the campaign were only nudged with one mandate—please stay positive.”
Diederick Kraaijeveld created a portrait of Obama out of vintage wood found on Mombasa beach in Kenya. Maya Hayuk made Here is Now out of acrylic and aerosol on Masonite and plywood. It is a mouth designed to allow people to put themselves inside the shouting instead of merely looking on. Out of vintage license plates, Aaron Foster created a collage Fifty States—One Union. Justin Kemerling made an ink and paint series on wood panels: HEAL for universal health care, UNITE about “green collar” economy, and CATCH for “renewable energy future.” Lisa Anne Auerbach knitted a very cool sweater and skirt. The front of the sweater reads My Jewish Grandmother is Voting for Obama. The back reads Chosen People Choose Obama. There are Jewish stars all around. It’s so amazing! Photographer Kwaku Alston traveled with the Obamas during the campaign and captured some fantastic pictures.
In photographing Obama Silhouette, Alston said: “I intended to hint at a familiar profile of JFK, the young presidential candidate who is unafraid of the challenges before him. The idea was to revisit the portrait, but to make a shift and try to create a timeless image.”
100% of profits from the book will be donated to the charity Americans for the Arts.
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STEELE INTERVIEWS: Roberto Benigni
Posted by Amy Steele in Interview, Visual/ Performance Art on May 27, 2009
North American Tour of Benigni’s One Man Show– TuttoDante—
Begins May 26 in San Francisco and Ends June 12 in Chicago
For the past three years, two-time Academy Award winner Roberto Benigni [for 1999’s Life is Beautiful] has been touring in his native Italy with his one man show. TuttoDante is a celebration of the work of acclaimed Italian poet Dante. Benigni takes current events and interprets them and blends them through his own reading, study and love of the epic poem The Divine Comedy by Dante. During the final act, he recites the Fifth Canto in its original medieval Italian. The Fifth Canto recalls the tragic love story between Paolo and Francesca who are condemned to Hell for eternity for the sin of lust. His performances have now expanded to other countries such as Paris, London, Switzerland, and Greece.
I spoke with him by phone, from Rome, recently. His infectious spirit traveled through the phone and made me smile and feel energized. This theatrical project sounds like a remarkable work of love and generosity. Benigni is bringing Dante to people so that they will enjoy it as much as he does.
Amy Steele [AS]: How are you doing?
Roberto Benigni [RB]: Hi. We have to talk a little. Where are you right now?
AS: I’m in Boston, Massachusetts.
RB: Oh Boston. I envy you. I’ve never been there. I can’t wait to be there.
AS: You haven’t been here?
RB: No never. Never. But I know Boston is a marvelous, magnificent city.
AS: Well I haven’t been to Italy, so. . .
RB: No, really? Never?
AS: No. Only France.
RB: So we wait for you.
AS: So in Italy does everybody read The Divine Comedy very early as children or when do you first read it?
RB: Oh no, my goodness no. They start about age 15. They teach it in school this wonderful book and people don’t like it and they are forced to learn this book and they teach The Divine Comedy in a very particular way. Although it is so a popular book and full of mystery. Sometimes it is incomprehensible but we need sometimes to talk about incomprehensible things. It’s very healthy. It’s very healthy to talk about what is death, what is destiny, what is the Other World.
AS: What do you like about it?
RB: Oh what? Everything. There is not a single word in it that I don’t like. It is so perfect a poem that every single word, you know Amy, is perfect. Fleeing from The Divine Comedy is impossible. It is like fleeing from our own conscious. How can I say? There is no other human creation that places human conscious and human suffering at such a high point. And it is also the reach of The Divine Comedy’s beauty. Because it is beautiful. When you start to read Dante, you stop reading every other thing because it is the most glorious imagination.
AS: I haven’t read it yet. I know I need to read it.
RB: Yes it is really great. When I come to Boston I would really like to see you, because it is very rare in book. The flavor of happiness. It’s really something very special. In my opinion Dante is maybe the greatest poet of modern poetry.
AS: My boyfriend has read the whole thing and he’s an engineer and he doesn’t read that much. On his own time, he read it. We did go to a visual interpretation at a museum.
RB: Right it is a very visual poetry The Divine Comedy. You can touch The Divine Comedy it is a book that is alive. It comes to life from the nervous system. Something that appeals to the mind and the nervous system. It’s in the eyes of a woman and we will never forget this. Beatrice: So written you are eternal. He promised to write something for her that nobody did before. And he kept his promise. It is really unbelievable what he did this man.
AS: So why did you want to write a show from this?
RB: No it is a show, Amy. I am not a professor and I am not an intellectual and I am not a critic. The show is separated into two parts. The first part of the show is about our time. The second part is Dante’s Fifth Canto about lust and sex and passions and loves and they are related. We can see how the sentiments are related. This is one of the most popular Cantos. It is the story of Paolo and Francesca and why they are in Hell. We would like to understand why two people in love are in Hell. This passion that can guide us and is concerning us very deeply and profoundly. The beauty of the language, the sound of his Italian is a symphony. The old sounds like Beethoven, Bach and Jimmy Hendrix. It’s really something beautiful and unforgettable. It’s very beautiful in my mind.
I decided to make my show about Dante and thought I would lose some people. But you know what happened, Amy. I am doing what I really love. To present Dante is like a gift. To present the most luminous poem of Italian culture. So I try, and really I was so surprised because I thought I would make this about Dante for some months and now it’s been three years and I’m continuing to make the tour about Dante. Incredible. So beautiful, really moving.
AS: How do you keep it fresh?
RB: What I present is always different. I couldn’t say no because I’m changing the show. It is never the same. I cannot write because we cannot use subtitles. What I am saying is always different. I try to continue. Although I would like to make a movie now: a comedy. Without The Divine [Comedy] in it. The first part of the show is a moment of lightheartedness. It is carefree. I do some research. But little about the town where I am doing the show.
AS: So the main subjects are covered in Dante’s work that you are weaving through the whole thing?
RB: It is related and we can immediately feel that because Dante is a great poet. Everything you read about Dante is something that is concerning you deeply and you can feel that it is something that moves into your soul into your bone. He found words for sentiments we can hardly feel because we don’t have words for them.
AS: What should U.S. Audiences expect?
RB: [To see me on stage] conveying my passion for Dante. And also if only one person starts to read The Divine Comedy, this is wonderful. It is a big thing.
AS: I have an online Israeli friend who asked me to ask you a question that is not related to this but is related to Life is Beautiful. How do you respond to critics who state there’s nothing good that can emerge from the Holocaust?
RB: Life is Beautiful was a real tragedy and sometimes they were confused because I am a comedian. They said, “It’s a comedy about Holocaust, my God.” I never thought about comedy about Holocaust. Impossible. The movie was a real tragedy but was starting in a happy way and the ending was tragic. In making this movie I put all my love and respect. I couldn’t hold back the beauty of the idea. I had to say something about the Holocaust and this is my way. It was a comedy body in a tragedy.
AS: I look forward to coming to your show.
RB: Come visit me in my dressing room. I would like to know you Amy.
AS: Thank you for speaking to me. It has been a real pleasure.
North American Tour Dates:
Tues. May 26–San Francisco–Davies Symphony Hall
Sat. May 30–New York City–Hammerstein Ballroom
Tues. June 2&
Weds. June 3–Montreal, Quebec, Canada–St. Denise Theatre
Sat. June 6–Boston–Berklee Performance Center
Sun. June 7–Toronto, ONT, Canada–Casino Rama
Wed. June 1–Quebec City, Canada–Gran Theatre de Quebec
Fri. June 12–Chicago–Harris Theatre
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About Me
covering mostly music and books. focus on alternative/indie and women in music, literature and the arts. feminist. vegan. mostly alternative, a bit bohemian. Masters in journalism from Boston University. BA from Simmons College.
Entertainment Realm by Amy Steele is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at entertainmentrealm.comCopyright © 2009. All writing, unless otherwise noted, by Amy Steele.
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