Yearly Archives: 2012

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN: CHOICES

John Chamberlain, “SPHINXGRIN TWO,” aluminum, 2010 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St.
Friday – Wednesday through May 13, $18 (pay-what-you-wish Saturday 5:45-7:45)
212-423-3587
www.guggenheim.org

It is a shame that Indiana-born, Chicago-raised sculptor John Chamberlain didn’t live long enough to see the revelatory career retrospective at the Guggenheim, on view through May 13. While working with the museum on the exhibition, Chamberlain passed away in December at the age of eighty-four, but he left behind a legacy that flourishes at this outstanding show. Chamberlain’s most familiar oeuvre, twisted metal sculptures made from car parts, along with splendid works made from other materials, are laid out chronologically through Frank Lloyd Wright’s twisting passageway, with the first thing that jumps out at visitors being the color. Chamberlain’s automobile sculptures are like three-dimensional Abstract Expressionist and Pop paintings that have jumped off the canvas, breathing with an inner life that is intoxicating. The works, lush with blues, greens, yellows, and reds, are not mere mash-ups of fenders and front quarter panels but are carefully constructed and painted steel sculptures with such playful names as “Lord Suckfist,” “Miss Lucy Pink,” “Hatband,” “Sugar Tit,” and “Rooster Starfoot.” Chamberlain said, “It’s all in the fit,” and the works at the Guggenheim fit together extremely well. “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” resembles a quartet of Balzac-like figures. A series of untitled square collages from the early 1960s hang on the walls like oil canvases, except their various elements jut out into space.

John Chamberlain takes a seat in his studio (photo by Robert McKeever, courtesy Gagosian Gallery)

In the mid-1960s, Chamberlain began experimenting with lacquer, Formica, and foam, resulting in such works as “Untitled #7,” a sculpture of fruit made from urethane foam, cord, cloth, paint, and wooden beads, and “Couch,” a foam installation on which visitors can take a seat or lie down. Chamberlain continued working through to the very end, using materials from vintage cars to create such pieces as “HAWKFLIESAGAIN” and “PEAUDESOIEMUSIC” over the last two years, in addition to the twisted aluminum “SPHINXGRIN TWO,” which stands in the museum’s rotunda, and the steel “C’ESTZESTY” that rises outside on Fifth Ave. In some ways Chamberlain can also be seen as an early recycler, his works reusing materials that were not merely found objects but specifically chosen, now gathered at the Guggenheim in a dazzling display that justly celebrates this great American artist. In conjunction with “John Chamberlain: Choices,” on May 8 artist Amy Sillman will lead an Eye to Eye private gallery tour of the show, on May 10 the Divine Ricochet Music Series concludes with a performance in the rotunda by Zola Jesus with JG Thirlwell, and on May 12 artist and conservator Corey D’Augustine will teach the all-day workshop “AbEx3D: Abstract Expressionism in Sculpture.”

THE COLUMNIST

The Alsop brothers (John Lithgow and Boyd Gaines) toast to happier times in THE COLUMNIST (photo by Joan Marcus)

Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th St. between Broadway & Eighth Aves.
Through June 24, $67-$121
thecolumnistbroadway.com

Based on the real life of American journalist Joseph Alsop, David Auburn’s The Columnist is a rather sterile exercise in twentieth-century historical fiction. Multitalented Tony and Emmy winner and Oscar nominee John Lithgow, a Rochester-born Harvard grad who in recent years has played a serial killer on Dexter, published a series of popular children’s books, and penned his autobiography (An Actor’s Education), gives a wonderful performance as the erudite Alsop, an acerbic columnist who believes he is more powerful than the president. A staunch conservative, he is surprisingly delighted with JFK’s victory, celebrating with his wife, Mary (Margaret Colin), stepdaughter, Abigail (Grace Gummer), and brother and sometime writing partner, Stewart (Boyd Gaines), convinced that the new president will show up at his house on the night of the inauguration. But Alsop’s power and influence begin to wane as he very publicly pushes for greater U.S. involvement in Vietnam, directly challenged by such up-and-coming journalists as David Halberstam (Stephen Kunken), while Stewart tries to protect his brother from a potential scandal surrounding a sexual fling Joe had with a young Russian man (Brian J. Smith) several years before, depicted in a very strong scene that opens the play. Auburn, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2000 play, Proof, never quite gets below the surface in The Columnist, resulting in a series of predictable, clichéd moments that feel stale and unnecessary, particularly when delving into the Vietnam war, something in interviews he claimed to know very little about, which shows. He does somewhat better handling the practical marriage between Alsop, a closeted homosexual, and Mary, a respected DC party hostess, although he changes several important facts about their relationship, including its length, and turns Mary’s two daughters into one. Directed by Shakespeare veteran Daniel Sullivan, The Columnist, despite a terrific lede and a Tony-nominated lead actor, is still in need of significant editing.

RENOIR, IMPRESSIONISM, AND FULL-LENGTH PAINTING

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies),” oil on canvas, ca. 1881-85 (courtesy the National Gallery, London)

The Frick Collection
1 East 70th St. at Fifth Ave.
Tuesday – Sunday through May 13, $18 (pay-what-you-wish Sunday 11:00 am – 1:00 pm)
212-288-0700
www.frick.org

The Frick takes a unique approach to the work of French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir in the small but delightful exhibition “Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting.” For the first time ever, nine large-scale figurative Renoir paintings have been brought together from around the world and displayed in the Frick’s East Gallery, which has never before been dedicated to a single show; in addition, it is a one-time-only event, as the Frick will be its only home. Inspired by the Paris Salons of the 1870s and 1880s, Renoir created several long, rectangular canvases that celebrated French fashion and style. Renoir favors solitary figures in “The Dancer,” “La Parisienne,” and “Madame Henriot ‘en travesti’ (The Page),” concentrating on the subjects’ dress, the first two set against an Impressionistic background. In the Frick’s own “La Promenade,” a mother guides her two young daughters through the park, all three elegantly attired amid lush blues and greens. On one wall, an 1883 trilogy of works that focus on dancing couples hang side by side. In “Dance in the City,” a formally dressed man and woman dance demurely, his right hand gently grasping the middle of her back, her gloved left hand placed delicately on his right shoulder. In “Dance in the Country,” a more casually dressed couple seems to be having more fun, the man gazing lovingly at the woman, the woman smiling at the viewer; a straw hat lying in the lower right corner adds to the simplicity and genuineness of the moment. And in “Dance at Bougival,” the most intimate and sensual of the three, the man and woman hold on to each other with bare hands as people in the background chatter on, with glasses of beer on a table and cigarette butts littering the ground. Seen together, the works form a dramatic triptych of love, romance, and class structure in late-nineteenth-century Paris. The most surprising piece in the exhibition is “The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies),” a complex canvas dominated by a woman carrying a picnic basket in the left foreground and facing the viewer, a group of open umbrellas at the top extending deep into the background. A man gazes upon the woman, perhaps about to offer her some cover, while a little girl holding a hoop looks at the viewer from the lower right. The subjects’ faces and the geometric patterns of the umbrellas, the basket, the hoop, and various hats battle for attention in this sharply painted scene. The show also delves into Renoir’s use of models as well as how some of the works changed over time, as revealed by close inspection and x-ray technology. Organized by Frick deputy director Colin B. Bailey, “Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting” is a lovely examination of Renoir’s own artistic dance with size.

TICKET ALERT: BROOKLYN CYCLONES 2012 SEASON

Tickets for the Brooklyn Cyclones’ 2012 season go on sale this weekend (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MCU Park
1904 Surf Ave., Coney Island
Season runs June 18 – September 5
Tickets ($9-$17) go on sale Sunday, May 6, 10:00 am
Social media presale Saturday, May 5, 10:00 am
718-449-8497
www.brooklyncyclones.com

With all the excitement surrounding the Nets’ move to Brooklyn, don’t forget that the World’s Greatest Borough already has a beloved sports team, the single-A Brooklyn Cyclones. The Mets farm team, which plays its home games at MCU Park in Coney Island, right off the boardwalk, finished second in the McNamara Division last year, a mere half game behind their main rivals, the Staten Island Yankees, the eventual league champions. Tickets for the Cyclones’ 2012 season go on sale on Sunday morning, May 6, at 10:00 am, and at $9 to $17, they’re hard to beat. Even better, if you use the code SOCIALCYCLONES, you can get tickets a day early as part of the social media presale, beginning Saturday morning at 10:00. The home opener is set for June 18 against the Yanks, with the first three thousand attendees receiving a schedule magnet and everyone allowed to run the bases after the game, followed by fireworks. Other special promotions include the Night of Champions on June 25 with Giants Super Bowl winners Hakeem Nicks and David Diehl, WWE Anti-Bullying Night on June 27, the Friday Night Music Series on June 29 with the Five Pillars of Hip Hop, Jurassic (ball)Park night on July 7, Medieval Times Night on July 9 celebrating Bensonhurst’s 350th birthday, Ballet & Baseball: A History Lesson in Nine Innings on July 23, Jewish Heritage Night on August 12, and a Garage Sale and Bark in the Park on August 22. Among the other giveaways are old-school road jerseys (June 21), a free-ride pass in Luna Park (June 30), various colored bats (July 8 & 22, August 5 & 12, September 2), an Ike Davis T-shirt jersey (July 17), a Dillon Gee bobblehead (July 20), a Bill Gallo poster (August 3), a Sandy bobblehead (August 4), and a 1904 Brooklyn jersey (August 23).

FIRST SATURDAYS: CONNECTING CULTURES

Brooklyn Museum director Arnold Lehman mans the staff desk at new long-term “Connecting Cultures” installation

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, May 5, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum will celebrate the opening of its latest long-term installation, “Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn,” at this month’s First Saturdays program. The exhibit juxtaposes works in three sections, “Connecting Places,” “Connecting People,” and “Connecting Things,” with a desk where people can interact with a museum staffer. Saturday night features live performances by Los Colombian Roots, Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, Brown Rice Family, and Stone Forest Ensemble. Ann Agee will discuss her period room in “Playing House,” chief curator Kevin Stayton will give a talk on “Connecting Cultures,” and visitors can climb the rooftop of Heather Hart’s “Raw/Cooked” installation “The Eastern Oracle: We Will Tear the Roof Off the Mother.” (Be sure to wear flat, rubber-soled shoes.) Haley Tanner will read from and sign copies of her debut novel, Vaclav & Lena, and DJ Spooky will lead the traditional dance party. As always, the galleries will be open late, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to check out “Keith Haring: 1978-1982,” “Playing House,” “Rachel Kneebone: Regarding Rodin,” “Raw/Cooked: Heather Hart,” “Newspaper Fiction: The New York Journalism of Djuna Barnes, 1913–1919,” “Question Bridge: Black Males,” and “Body Parts: Ancient Egyptian Fragments and Amulets.”

THE CONNECTION

THE CONNECTION celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with a beautifully restored new print at the IFC Center

THE CONNECTION (Shirley Clarke, 1962)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
May 4-24
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.milestonefilms.com

“Now look, you cats may know more about junk, see,” square film director Jim Dunn (William Redfield) says midway through The Connection, “but let me swing with this movie, huh?” Adapted by Jack Gelber from his play and directed and edited by Shirley Clarke, The Connection is a gritty tale of drug addicts awaiting their fix that was banned for obscenity after only two matinee screenings back in October 1962. It opens in a sharp new fiftieth-anniversary print on May 4 at the IFC Center, beautifully restored by Ross Lipman of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. In a New York City loft, eight men are waiting for their man: Leach (Warren Finnerty), the ringleader who has an oozing scab on his neck; Solly (Jerome Raphael), an intelligent philosopher who speaks poetically about the state of the world; Ernie (Garry Goodrow), a sad-sack complainer who has pawned his horn but still clutches tight to the mouthpiece as if it were a pacifier; Sam (Jim Anderson), a happy dude who tells rambling stories while spinning a hula hoop; and a jazz quartet consisting of real-life musicians Freddie Redd on piano, Jackie McLean on sax, Larry Richie on drums, and Michael Mattos on bass. Dunn and his cameraman, J. J. Burden (Roscoe Lee Browne), are in the apartment filming the men as Dunn tries to up the drama to make it more cinematic as well as more genuine. “Don’t be afraid, man,” Leach tells him. “It’s just your movie. It’s not real.” When Cowboy (Carl Lee) ultimately shows with the stuff, Bible-thumping Sister Salvation (Barbara Winchester) at his side, things take a decidedly more drastic turn. Mixing elements of the French New Wave with a John Cassavetes sensibility and cinema verité style, Clarke has made an underground indie classic that moves to the beat of an addict’s craving and eventual fix. Shot in a luridly arresting black-and-white by Arthur Ornitz, The Connection is like one long be-bop jazz song, giving plenty of time for each player to take his solo, with standout performances by McLean musically and Raphael verbally. The film-within-a-film narrative allows Clarke to experiment with the mechanics of cinema and challenge the audience; when Dunn talks directly into the camera, he is speaking to Burden, yet he is also breaking the fourth wall, addressing the viewer. Cutting between Burden’s steady camera and Dunn’s handheld one, Clarke adds dizzying swirls that rush past like a speeding subway train. A New York City native, Clarke made such other films as The Cool World and Portrait of Jason and won an Academy Award for her 1963 documentary Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel with the World. This new print of The Connection is part of Milestone Films’ Shirley Clarke Project, which will preserve and restore a quartet of her best work, with the 1985 documentary Ornette: Made in America up next.

CINCO DE DERBY

New York City farm band will lead the festivities at Cinco de Mayo / Kentucky Derby party at Pine Box Rock Shop

Pine Box Rock Shop
12 Grattan St., Bushwick
Saturday, May 5, free, 2:00
718-366-6311
www.pineboxrockshop.com

Mint juleps and margaritas converge this weekend as the 138th Kentucky Derby takes place on May 5, Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates the outmanned Mexican army’s heroic stand against the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla. Twenty horses will be running for the Roses, including the aptly named I’ll Have Another, with Mario Gutierrez aboard, and you can catch all the action at the Pine Box Rock Shop in Brooklyn, which is hosting Cinco de Derby beginning at 2:00. The festivities will feature such specialty drinks as the Pine Box Derby, Thriller Jesus, Kentucky Cough Syrup, and Louisville Lemonade in addition to flights of tequila and bourbon and vegan snacks from Champs Family Bakery. While Kentucky natives will be spinning such tunes as “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Eight More Miles to Louisville,” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” as well as “Tequila,” “Banditos,” and “La Bamba” in the front, there will be live music in the back room, highlighted by New York City’s own metrobilly farm band, 2/3 Goat. Consisting of Kentucky native Annalyse McCoy on lead vocals and mandolin, Ryan Dunn on vocals and guitar, Ryan Guerra on fiddle, Jon Cavendish on bass, and Andy Wilmoth on drums, 2/3 Goat has several songs that would fit in nicely during Cinco de Derby: “Band of Gold,” “Ride On,” and “Lay It on the Line” from their 2011 EP, Stream of Conscience. There will also be a Derby hat contest, and a portion of the day’s proceeds will go to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Post time is 6:24. Good luck!