On Saturday night, October 21st, I attended Auction 2006, presented by the Museum of Latin American Art. The event was held at MOLAA’s beautiful building in downtown Long Beach, CA, a gleaming alabaster structure of inspiration and transformation.
The event itself was terrific, attended by almost 1000 art lovers and collectors. The museum achieved a new standard — Auction 2006 reached the goal of $1,000,000 in proceeds.
The collection offered a marvelous diversity of style and subject matter, and included sculpture as well as paintings.
Panorama 2 (2003) by Patricia van Dalen, is a mixed-media collage on canvas. This strikingly original representation of timeless and fractured time is compelling and captivating. Panorama 2 could serve as the meditative focus for an endless inquiry into the origin of life.
Mi Calle Bella (2006) by Ricardo A. González is a gorgeous invitation to fun, a stunning Shakespearean proscenium opening onto a snow-capped vista. This delightful storytelling composition rewards close inspection, each repeat viewing revealing an undiscovered secret.
Sin Titulo (2004) by Manuel Espinoza presents a writhing landscape, a countryside alive with movement and energy.
Overall, I experienced a strong desire to learn much more about the numerous Latin American artists represented in the MOLAA collection. My ignorance of the activities of these talented and innovative contemporary artists could be remediated, in part, by paying attention and taking an active interest in this vibrant sector of the art world.
November 13th, 2006
I attended the opening-night performance of IMAGO moves at the gorgeous Molli and Arthur Wagner Dance Building at UC San Diego. IMAGO moves presented Garden Trilogy.
Yolande Snaith, Artistic Director of IMAGO moves, is an award-winning choreographer for the stage and film, and created the choreography for Stanley Kubrick’s terrific film, Eyes Wide Shut.
The first piece, Ghost Garden, was a thrilling, complex, fully formed work that succeeded on many levels, reminding me of the best that dance can be. In fact, and before I read the program note that mentioned the Kubrick film, I had the strong notion of cinematic choreography, and I don’t think I’d ever had that impression or experience before.
Film, of course, is a collaborative medium. And, film is very much like opera — the costumes, the sets, the lighting, the detailed story, the score, and the actors/singers/dancers combine to provide a rich sensory experience for the viewer. Ghost Garden was like this. (more…)
November 1st, 2006
On Sunday, October 8th, I attended the closing event for Drive-by Shooting: April Greiman Digital Photography, at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.
This spectacular exhibition — whose works speak directly to the primal subconscious artist residing in all of us — offers an astonishing amalgam of photography, painting, graphic design, and digital composition.
The works presented in Drive-by Shooting began life as photographs — low-res digital images. By a series of remarkable transformations, the finished products have the strongest resemblance to paintings. And, it’s very easy for you to think you’re looking at artworks created with paint, rather than with light and a reflecting mirror in a camera-box.
April Greiman’s compositions in Drive-by Shooting are BIG — 42 x 60 inches, 42 x 80 inches, 42 x 102 inches. And, ingeniously, they’re not hung on the walls, but rather they’re suspended in space, cantilevered away from the walls, or lying on the floor. In this way, you’re confronted with the images — an active, rather than a passive, interaction is established. A very personal relationship is thus created, almost an immersive experience.
I was reminded forcefully of psychedelic experiences — viewing these vivid, kinetic, cinematic digital images, I felt as if all my creative faucets were thrown open to full, and the widest possible range of relationships, and ideas, and interconnections were free to interact. (more…)
October 17th, 2006
I sometimes think Twyla Tharp has ruined an entire generation of choreographers.
On Friday, October 6th I attended “Gabriel Masson Dance”, presented by San Diego State University School of Music and Dance. My comments here will focus on the choreography, not the choreographer.
It’s important to make this clear distinction. As human beings it’s so easy to leap directly from “I failed” to “I am a failure”. It’s very difficult for us to distinguish what we did from who we are. So I want to be very clear — what I have to say is about the choreography. Only the choreography.
I believe choreography is one of the most elusive art forms, one of the most challenging in which to create something vital, true, and real. Think about it. As dancers, we spend years training in particular dance styles and methods. Those styles, characteristic movements, and language are deeply rooted in our bodies, in our muscle memories. When a dancer trained in Graham technique makes his or her own choreography, it’s so natural for those dances to look like Graham copies. This isn’t intentional, no one wants to be derivative. But those steps, sequences, and combinations are what that body and mind knows. They are what’s available in the moment.
And this is extremely hard to change. It’s very difficult for a choreographer to find his own voice, to create a brand new language of expression.
I assert that a certain style has cast this exact thrall over the last 25 to 30 years of new choreography. And, for me, this is not a good thing. My particular problem with this style is that, for me, much of the movements are simply not organic. Not truthful.
OK, yes, there’s a lot of frantic eye-catching movement and much of it is pretty bravura. Dancers dancing these sequences have terrific control and strength. It’s inspiring. But ultimately, it’s not that interesting because it’s merely kinetic. Not much else. (more…)
October 14th, 2006
EMERGE III, Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, La Jolla, CA, 9-9-06
I attended EMERGE III last night, subtitled “A Showcase of San Diego’s Emerging Contemporary Dance Choreographers”. EMERGE III was presented by the San Diego Dance Alliance.
EMERGE III presented works by six choreographers, and featured a good eclectic mix. The evening included works by Daniel Marshall, Jillian Chu, and Rebecca Bryant.
Daniel Marshall, Artistic Director of LaDiego Dance Theater, presented “Unbreakable” and “Bach to Ballet”, two terrifically entertaining and enjoyable modern ballets. My sense of these dances was “ballet to a beat”.
“Unbreakable” opens with a dancer dashing diagonally across the stage, coming to a dead stop downstage right and arriving in a frozen tendu. Her foot beautifully pointed, energy surging down her leg and out through her toes, she posed regally, vibrating gently. All I could think was, “This is the kind of dance I came to see, the kind of dance that makes me want to jump up on stage, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.” (more…)
September 10th, 2006
ARTSCAPE features conversations on film, theater, dance, music, fine art, and arts education. ARTSCAPE supports the growth and development of young artists and performers everywhere.
I’m also the Executive Producer and Host of SCIENCE AND SOCIETY. The mission of SCIENCE AND SOCIETY is to promote and enhance public awareness and understanding of science, and promote and enhance math and science education. The show focuses on medical breakthroughs, energy and the environment, space exploration, nanotechnology, and K-12 science education.
ARTSCAPE guests on 9-8-06 included Peter Mays, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Art Association, Charles Santos, Executive Director of TITAS, and Jillian Chu, Founding Director of BOUNDcontemporaryDance.
September 10th, 2006
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