this week in literature

IMMIGRANT HERITAGE WEEK

immigration

Multiple locations
Most events free
Through April 21
www.nyc.gov/immigrants

The seventh annual Immigrant Heritage Week continues through April 21 with numerous, mostly free events across the city. Art exhibitions include “Our Heritage Through Fashion: A Showcase of NYC’s Russian-Speaking Designers” at the Russian American Foundation, “Photographs of the Mexican Immigrant Community of Staten Island” at Snug Harbor, “Art Without Borders” at El Taller Latino Americano, “Immigrant Women United in Art” at Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano, “Impractical Hats: Indie Crafts Reinvent Everyday Gear” at the Bronx Council on the Arts, “LibertyNeighborhoodStory” at the A.I.R. Gallery, “Immigrant Trail Painting” at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, and a photo exhibit of “Non-Native New Yorkers” at the Statue of Liberty. On April 20 at 6:00 at the International Center in New York, a group of Tibetan immigrants will discuss their work in “Ancient Art in a Modern City,” while on April 21 at 6:00, the Greek Museum will host “In Search of the American Dream: The Greeks of New York.” Also on Wednesday, “Voices of Liberty” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage invites visitors to share their own personal stories. In addition, there will be family programs at several branches of the New York Public Library.

At NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, the Havana Film Festival will feature New York and U.S. premieres (April 19-20), DCTV will present the Oscar-nominated documentary THE BETRAYAL (April 19), and the Turkish Cultural Center will celebrate “New York Sufi Night with Rumi” through film, performance, and poetry readings (April 20). There will also be film screenings and/or theatrical productions at the YMCA, the Maysles Cinema, the Alwan Foundation, and the CUNY Graduate Center and live dance and/or music at Michael Mao Dance, the American Composers Orchestra’s Langston Hughes Branch, and the Djoniba Dance and Drum Centre as well as a host of walking tours.

NY’s GREENEST

Rod Tryon and Anthony Cappetto will create one of their “Koi Pond” 3-D paintings as part of downtown Earth Day celebration Rod Tryon and Anthony Cappetto will create one of their “Koi Pond” 3-D paintings as part of downtown Earth Day celebration

BATTERY PARK CITY CELEBRATES THE 40th ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY
Multiple locations
Through April 25
Most events free
www.batteryparkcity.org

Battery Park City is honoring the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day with a battery of special events at numerous downtown locations through April 25, with many of the events free. There will be climate change workshops at the Mercy Corps Action Center, bird watching and drawing at the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman reading at Poets House, family programming at the Skyscraper Museum, and arts and crafts and more at the Battery Park City branch of the New York Public Library. The World Financial Center will be home to a pair of Earth Day-related exhibitions, Suzanne and Mathilde Husky’s “Forest” (through May 12) and Rod Tryon and Anthony Cappetto’s “Koi Pond” (April 20-25), in addition to daily 3-D drawing programs and open houses and workshops. The National Museum of the American Indian will feature daily film screenings and a “Native Views on Sustainable Foods” lecture on April 22, while on April 25 the Museum of Jewish Heritage will host “The Earth Day Worm Disco” children’s concert with ShirLaLa and a series of earth-friendly workshops.

INSIDE MEDIA

Edie Falco will discuss Nurse Jackie’s bedside manner and more at the Paley Center

Paley Center for Media
25 West 52nd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Closed Monday & Tuesday
Suggested contribution: $10 adults, $5 children under fourteen
212-621-6600
www.paleycenter.org

While Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s and Elvis Mitchell’s “The Black List Project” continues at the Paley Center through May 1, featuring scenes from their third documentary and photographs of a wide range of successful African Americans, the institution formerly known as the Museum of Television and Radio will be hosting a series of very special events, with tickets going very fast. In collaboration with Food for Thought Productions, the Paley Center is in the midst of a three-month series of live staged afternoon readings ($65, followed by a Q&A and a reception); coming up is Arthur Miller’s sister, Joan Copeland, reenacting scenes from her brother’s plays (April 21) and Len Cariou taking on Thornton Wilder and Dorothy Parker (April 26), with future shows dedicated to Tennessee Williams’s IN THE BAR OF A TOKYO HOTEL (May 5) and A. R. Gurney’s LOVE LETTERS (June 17). The cast of THE GOOD WIFE gathers together on April 21 ($25, 6:30), while THE BIG BANG’s Jim Parsons will have the stage all to himself on May 4 ($15, 6:30). On April 26, prima ballerina Cynthia Gregory interviews choreographer Eliot Feld about his career ($25, 7:00), on April 27, actor and photographer Joel Grey will talk about television (don’t forget he was on BUFFY) and more ($35, 6:30), and on April 28, Harry Potter audiobook reader and Broadway star Jim Dale will present “Jim Dale: Still Carrying On,” previewing his new one-man show ($30, 6:30). We’re most excited about “Paging Jackie” ($25, 7:00), in which star Edie Falco and the executive producers behind Showtime’s excellent NURSE JACKIE will screen a sneak-peek episode and take the audience behind the scenes of this unusual, entertaining drama. And looking further ahead, Jimmy Fallon will get into the late-night wars on May 27 ($25, 7:30).

STREB: HOW TO BECOME AN EXTREME ACTION HERO

streb

Friday, April 16, SLAM Studios, 51 North First St., Brooklyn, performance $10-$20, after-party free, 7:00
Tuesday, April 20, KGB Bar, 85 East Fourth St., free, 7:00
Wednesday, April 21, CUNY Graduate School, Proshansky Auditorium, 365 Fifth Ave., free, 6:30
www.streb.org
www.feministpress.org

Celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of her Extreme Action Company, dancer and choreographer Elizabeth Streb has several special events planned surrounding the publication of her new book, STREB: HOW TO BECOME AN EXTREME ACTION HERO (Feminist Press, April 2010, $18.95). In 2003, Streb, who believes in what she calls PopAction and pure movement and stresses the physical, athletic abilities of the human body, established SLAM Studios in Williamsburg, the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics. “The doors of SLAM are never closed,” Streb writes on her website. “Performances at SLAM are not stiff, class-coded, regimented affairs; they are neighborhood happenings where the company’s longtime fans from the high-art crowd mingle with the at-risk kids from the local public schools and their parents. At the heart of this machine is the driving force of art and action, and the belief that art can provide a service to a community such that voters, taxpayers, and consumers will consider it indispensable.” Streb, the Evel Knievel of Dance, will be launching her book April 16 at SLAM Studios, where her company will perform RUN UP WALLS, followed by a reception. Next week she’ll be at KGB Bar on April 20 with Jack Hitt as part of the KGB Nonfiction Series, then participate in a reading and discussion at the CUNY Graduate Center for the CUNY Science & the Arts Series.

JOIN THE ECO-SEXUAL REVOLUTION

ecosex

Bar 13
35 East 13th St.
Thursday, April 15, no cover, 9:00 pm – 4:00 am
www.ten-speed.crownpublishing.com
www.stefanieirisweiss.com

In her new book ECO-SEX: GO GREEN BETWEEN THE SHEETS AND MAKE YOUR LOVE LIFE SUSTAINABLE (Ten Speed Press, March 2010, $14.99), New York-based writer Stefanie Iris Weiss combines environmental awareness with romance, taking on such topics as eco-courtship, eco-gorgeousness, eco-fashion, eco-safe sex, and ecolicious aphrodisiac foods. In the book’s introduction, Weiss offers the “dirty truth: If you haven’t thought about greening your sex life, you’re still a total environmental disaster. Your compost heap isn’t worth dirt if your bedroom is a toxic waste dump. Sex can be one of the lowest-impact forms of entertainment (and exercise) on the planet, but only if you do it right.” You can seek to do it right on April 15 at Bar 13 at the official after-party celebrating the book’s release, featuring DJ sets from Standenco, John Dill, and Vadim, who will be spinning tunes as attendees pick up signed copies of the book and hook up over Sustainable Orgasms—drinks made with organic vodka.

DEMONS AND DEVOTION

“Catherine of Cleves Praying to the Virgin and Child,” Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, ca. 1440

THE HOURS OF CATHERINE OF CLEVES
Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Tuesday – Saturday through May 2, $12 (free Fridays 7:00 – 9:00)
212-685-0008
www.themorgan.org

Betrothed at six, married at thirteen, and the mother of a half dozen children by the time she was twenty-three, Catherine of Cleves dealt with her life by delving into prayer. In 1440 she moved away from her husband, Arnold of Egmond (duke of Guelders and count of Zutphen), later getting involved in a struggle for power that tore the family apart. But she sought solace (and probably magnified her status) around 1440 by commissioning what would become one of the world’s most majestic illuminated manuscripts, “The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” Gorgeously designed by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, who incorporated Dutch painting techniques into his ornate style, nearly one hundred pages from the Hours are on view, in sequence, at the Morgan Library, including the Hours of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms, the Hours of the Passion, Suffrages, the Office of the Dead, and assorted biblical scenes.

“Mouth of Hell,” Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, ca. 1440

The Master’s creative iconography spreads into the margins of each page, and Catherine herself appears in several works, as well as her reviled husband, shown praying to Jesus. (Perhaps she thought he had better be praying, considering the family division.) Among the most impressive sections is the Hours and Masses for the Seven Days of the Week, particularly Monday, which is devoted to the Dead and features “Deathbed,” “Burial,” and “Souls Released from Purgatory,” three spectacular examples of the Master’s skill. The “Holy Family at Work” shows a unusual and touching domestic scene: the baby Jesus stands in a walker perhaps made by his dad, the carpenter Joseph, hard at work at right, while Mary is busy at a loom, all three cozy in a room whose style would be instantly familiar to a reader. Each page deserves to be pored over carefully as narratives flow and symbolism runs rampant. It’s a thrilling, one-of-a-kind exhibit, as the pages will soon be bound together back into book form, so this is a rare opportunity to see each beautiful pieces spread out. The show is supplemented with illustrations from the Master’s contemporaries, placing it in context; also on display at the Morgan is “Rome After Raphael,” “Palladio and His Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey,” and “Flemish Illumination in the Era of Catherine of Cleves.”

TWI-NY TALK: DEAN HASPIEL

Dean Haspiel is a fixture on the comic book scene and at MoCCA, seen here pointing at Neil Swaab at 2009 art festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Dean Haspiel is a fixture on the comic book scene and at MoCCA, seen here telling Mr. Wiggles creator Neil Swaab who’s the man at the 2009 festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MoCCA ART FESTIVAL 2010
69th Regiment Armory
68 Lexington Ave. between 25th & 26th Sts.
April 10-11, $10/day, $15-$20/both days
212-254-3511
www.moccany.com
www.deanhaspiel.com

For more than two decades, Dean Haspiel has been a comic book force all his own. A wildly talented and gregarious writer, illustrator, promoter, creator, and organizer, Dino works nonstop to build up his own expansive resume as well as the industry itself. In February 2006, he started ACT-I-VATE, a web-based comics collective that features such series as Josh Neufeld’s “Lionel,” Kevin Colden’s “Fishtown,” Nick Bertozzi’s “Iraq War Stories,” and his own “Billy Dogma” and “Street Code,” the latter a terrific semiautobiographical tale set in New York City, where Dino was born and raised. Along the way, he has collaborated on prestigious projects with Harvey Pekar (AMERICAN SPLENDOR, THE QUITTER), Jonathan Lethem (the upcoming BACK ON NERVOUS ST.), Michael Chabon (THE ESCAPIST), and Jonathan Ames (THE ALCOHOLIC), and he contributes drawings and illustrations to Ames’s HBO cable series BORED TO DEATH, which features Zach Galifianakis playing a character inspired by Haspiel’s real life.

We caught up with Dino in one of his very few spare moments as he was preparing to spread the word about the ninth annual MoCCA Art Festival, a celebration of comics and graphic novels that will be held April 10-11 at the 69th Regiment Armory. In addition to being all over the fair, including participating in the panel discussion “The Art of the Superhero: When Singular Vision Meets Popular Mythology” on April 10 at 2:00, Haspiel will turn into alter ego DJ Man-Size at the official festival after-party later that night at the Village Pourhouse. “I’ll mostly be spinning old school hip-hop and electronica from the 1980s with a slant on future funk,” he explained. “Think black Kraftwerk . . . think Boba Fett with tassels instead of scalps.”

twi-ny: You’ve collaborated with such talented writers as Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, and Jonathan Ames; who is your next dream collaborator?

Dean Haspiel: I’ve been itching to collaborate with author Tim Hall on an original graphic novel and we have something planned. I’d also like to collaborate with mystery writer Joe R. Lansdale on adapting his brilliant Hap and Leonard characters into comics form. Plus, I don’t think my career would feel satisfactory if I hadn’t collaborated with some of my favorite comic book writers, the likes of Mark Waid, J. M. DeMatteis, and a handful of others.

twi-ny: Who is your favorite character to draw, whether created by you or another artist?

DH: My favorite characters to draw are my creator-owned Billy Dogma & Jane Legit. But I love drawing Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s the Thing from the Fantastic Four, and I was recently afforded the opportunity to write and draw a short Thing story in an upcoming issue of Marvel Comics’ Strange Tales sequel.

Jane Legit shows her love for Billy Dogma in Dean Haspiel’s “Bring Me the Heart of Billy Dogma,” from THE ACT-I-VATE PRIMER

twi-ny: On BORED TO DEATH, Zach Galifianakis’s Ray Hueston character is based on you. Is it easy to watch him, or does it hit a little too close to home?

DH: The Ray Hueston character on BORED TO DEATH is loosely based on some events that happened to me, but I don’t think Zach Galifianakis was subjected to a parallax view of my life and my behavioral traits by any stretch of the imagination. So, I can safely declare that Zach and Jonathan Ames have wholly created Ray from spirited, albeit inspired, cloth. However, I was recently privy to the filmmaking of a certain scene in the upcoming season and I remarked how bizarre it was to watch my proposed doppelganger play out an important event, something I never got the opportunity to do in my own life, and how frustrating yet weirdly cathartic that was for me.

twi-ny How do you find the time to do all the things you do, including serving as a relentless promoter of the comics industry?

DH: Don’t even get me started. If everyone on their chosen social networking sites would just share what they liked with the simple click of a button rather than whine about this and that and publish what they had for lunch, I might be able to shrug off my self-imposed burden to cheer what is good and, instead, produce more stories and eat dinner before 10 pm with the people I love to spend time with. Alas, the internet accesses a dark gene in humanity that encourages some folks to constantly complain and act like jerks and do things they wouldn’t dare do in front of real people. I don’t do anything that we all couldn’t do together if we just took a minute to think straight and understand our information and entertainment values.

This year’s MoCCA Art Festival runs April 10-11 at the 69th Regiment Armory, featuring such participants as Kim Deitch, Emily Flake, Jaime Hernandez. Neil Kleid, Peter Kuper, Hope Larson, Frank Miller, Paul Pope, Dash Shaw, Gahan Wilson, and Klein Award recipient David Mazzucchelli. Single tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of show, with weekend tickets available for $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The official after-party will take place April 10 at the Village Pourhouse, with drink specials and free snacks beginning at 8:00; admission is $5.