The opening of “Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks” will be celebrated at free First Saturdays program at the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, April 4, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400 www.brooklynmuseum.org
The April edition of the Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturdays program celebrates the opening of its latest exhibit on Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks,” a collection of 160 pages from his never-before-shown notebooks, focusing on his use of text and image, along with works on paper and large-scale paintings. The free evening will feature live musical performances by the James Francies Trio and Lion Babe and a DJ set by Natasha Diggs; a curator talk by Tricia Laughlin Bloom about the new exhibition; a Basquiat crown-making workshop; a Basquiat-inspired writing workshop led by Tom La Farge and Wendy Walker; Cave Canem “Poetry Meets Art” readings from LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs and Roger Reeves; a children’s book presentation with illustrator Javaka Steptoe discussing Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; a screening of Tamra Davis’s 2010 documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child; a performance of Dark Swan by Urban Bush Women; and an interactive performance and dance workshop with W.A.F.F.L.E. (We Are Family for Life Entertainment). In addition, you can check out such exhibitions as “Revolution! Works from the Black Arts Movement,” “Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic,” “The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago,” and “Chitra Ganesh: Eyes of Time.”
COP, starring James Woods, is part of overdue look at the career of James B. Harris
Who:James B. Harris What: “Overdue,” critics Nick Pinkerton and Nicolas Rapold’s ongoing series that pays tribute to overlooked films and filmmakers Where:BAMcinématek, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St., 718-636-4100 When: April 1-6 Why: Writer, director, and producer James B. Harris is finally given his due in this six-day series at BAM featuring eight of his nine films, including Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing, Lolita, and Paths of Glory and Don Siegel’s Telefon (starring Charles Bronson) in addition to four of his five directorial efforts, The Bedford Incident with Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark, the Sleeping Beauty update Some Call It Loving, and Fast-Walking and Cop, both starring James Woods. The only film left out is the 1993 crime drama Boiling Point. The eighty-six-year-old Harris will be at BAM for Q&As following the April 1 screening of Some Call It Loving and the 6:30 screening of Cop on April 4 in addition to introducing the 9:30 showing of Paths of Glory on April 4, a film in which he also makes a cameo.
Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Tuesday – Sunday through May 3, $12-$18 (free Fridays 7:00 to 9:00)
212-685-0008 www.themorgan.org www.artofbarbarawolff.com
Passover doesn’t begin until April 3, but you can get a head start on the holiday, in which Jews around the world retell the story of the exodus from Egypt, by visiting the Morgan Library and checking out its lovely exhibition “Hebrew Illumination for Our Time: The Art of Barbara Wolff,” comprising the first two illuminated Hebrew texts to join the Morgan’s celebrated collection of illuminated manuscripts, as well as its very first Haggadah. In 2011, New York artist Barbara Wolff was commissioned by the Rose family to create an illuminated Haggadah, the book used at the Passover seder that contains prayers, hymns, historical tales, biblical scenes, and other elements that expand upon the Jews’ enslavement and their battle with the Pharaoh more than three thousand years ago. Working with her unique blend of silver, gold, and platinum foils on vellum, Wolff designed beautiful artwork to accompany Izzy Pludwinski’s Ashkenazic Hebrew calligraphy and Karen Gorst’s English captions, incorporating flora and fauna native to the Middle East along with the standard elements of the Passover seder, including such symbolic food as the Paschal lamb, matzah, and bitter herbs. Each page is exquisitely designed: A large eye oversees a pyramid in which slaves are shown hard at work, more than twenty colorful ancient Egyptian gods are gathered together in the desert, and the ten plagues are depicted above and below a lush gold area featuring silver Kiddush cups spilling drops of red wine. The Rose Haggadah is a far cry from the familiar, old-fashioned blue-and-white Maxwell House Haggadah that was so prevalent throughout much of the twentieth century. Wolff’s remarkable sixty-four-page book honors Jewish tradition in a format more associated with Christianity, bringing new life to an annual ritual that honors the past while projecting hope for the future.
The exhibit also includes Wolff’s illuminated version of Psalm 104, “You Renew the Face of the Earth,” ten elegant works in which she uses platinum, silver, and gold leaf on goatskin parchment. “This great hymn to the divine in nature directs our awareness to the miracle of the world,” Wolff writes in the free exhibition handout. “The sentiments expressed in this psalm have particular relevance for our own era, a time of growing consciousness of the profound effect of human enterprise on nature, and of questioning our role as steward of our planet.” The ten illuminations include the signs of the zodiac, which represent the twelve tribes of Israel; golden Hokusai-like waves above rising mountains; a silver leviathan encapsulating smaller sea creatures; and twenty-eight Israeli birds in and around a Tabor oak, with every animal specifically identified. Wolff adds commentary about each folio; for example, in “To Bring Forth Bread,” which shows grains growing, she writes, “Wild grass, ancestor of man’s most ancient cultivated crop, became the foundation of civilization. . . . Shining fields of wheat and filled granaries are symbols of security, peace, and plenty.” The exhibition is supplemented by illuminated manuscripts from the Morgan’s collection that influenced Wolff, as well as a twenty-two-minute film that highlights her intricate, intensely dedicated working process. In conjunction with the exhibition, Vassar professor Marc Michael Epstein will deliver the talk “Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Barbara Wolff and her Place in the History of Jewish Manuscript Illumination” on April 1 at 6:30; on April 12 at 2:00, Wolff will lead the workshop “The Midas Touch”; on April 15 at 7:00, composer and accordionist Merima Ključo, artist Bart Woodstrup, and pianist Seth Knopp will team up for the multimedia presentation “The Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book”; and on April 18 at 2:00, Stephanie Krauss will lead the workshop “My Very Own Illuminated Manuscript — Part 2: Putting It Together” for children eight and older.
The five surviving Pythons will be galloping into the Tribeca Film Festival celebrating the fortieth anniversary of MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
Beacon Theatre
2124 Broadway at 75th St.
Friday, April 24, $70-$355 (on sale March 28 at 12 noon), 7:30
Other screenings April 25-26 (on sale March 31 for AmEx cardholders and April 6 to the general public)
212-465-6500 tribecafilm.com www.beacontheatre.com
Tickets go on sale to the general public Saturday morning at 12 noon for one of the premier events of the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival: the fortieth anniversary screening of the 1975 classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, taking place at the Beacon Theatre on April 24 — with John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin on hand to talk about the film, one of the most quotable comedies ever made. “The Pythons are looking forward very much to the Tribeca Film Festival and the chance to meet anyone who can remember why we made Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” Palin said in a statement. “All we know is that it was a documentary about coconuts that rather lost its way. If anyone at Tribeca can explain why we made it and didn’t call it Braveheart, then our visit to New York will not have been wasted.” The closing weekend of the fifteenth annual TFF will also feature Roger Graef and James Rogan’s 2014 documentary, Monty Python: The Meaning of Live, on April 24 at 3:30 at the SVA Theater, Monty Python’s Life of Brian on April 25 at 12:30 at Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas, and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life on April 26 at 1:30 at Regal Cinemas Battery Park. (Tickets for those films, as well as the rest of the TFF, go on sale to American Express cardholders on March 31 and everyone else on April 6.)
Bacon and Beer Classic will take the field at Mets’ home stadium on April 25
Citi Field
123-01 Roosevelt Ave.
Saturday, April 25, brunch session 12 noon – 3:00 pm, evening session 7:00 – 10:00, $29-$129 www.baconandbeerclassic.com
Two great tastes that taste great together — bacon and beer — make up the menu at the annual Bacon and Beer Classic, returning to Citi Field on April 25 while the Mets are playing the Yankees up north in the Bronx. More than one hundred craft brews will be available, along with more than fifty bacon-inclusive dishes from local restaurants. There will also be workshops, demonstrations, live music, interactive games, a DJ, and other activities. Among the participating breweries are Broken Bow, Two Roads, Central Waters, Thirsty Dog, Knee Deep, the Radiant Pig, Elysian, River Horse, and Angry Orchard, while bacon delicacies will be served by City Crab, Landhaus, Route 66 Smoke House, Pig Guy NYC, Bamboo Bites, BarBacon, Ribs Within, BacoBurger, Carnal, and others. There are two sessions, one for brunch and one for dinner, with VIP tickets gaining you early admission, as well as access to the warning track and dugouts. If you’re not an imbiber, you can get in for a mere $29 for food and nonalcoholic beverages; otherwise, ticket packages range from $59 to $129. In addition there will be various awards given out by a panel of judges consisting of Liza De Guia, Lisa Fernandes, Derrick Prince, Adam Poch, and David “the Rev” Cancio.
Macy’s Flower Show is dedicated to “Art in Bloom” (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Macy’s Herald Square
151 West 34th St. at Broadway
Daily through Sunday, April 4, free
212-494-4495 macys.com art in bloom slideshow
Macy’s annual Flower Show is up and running, offering a lovely indoor respite during this cold start to spring. This year’s theme is “Art in Bloom,” with displays dedicated to abstract art, surrealism, impressionism, Pop art, the Renaissance, Art Nouveau, Contemporary, and portraiture. Bouquets of the Day will be designed by Martha Stewart (March 22-24), DeJuan Stroud (March 26-26), Kenji Takenaka (March 27-29), Polux Fleuriste (March 30-31), Olivier Giugni (April 1-2), and Jes Gordon (April 3-4). Among the related special events are a floral seminar with Michael Gaffney on March 27 at 1:00, the Puzzle Art Installation & Collaboration Project on March 28 at 2:00, an H.BLOOM floral seminar on March 30 at 1:00, and a Starbright floral seminar on April 3 at 1:00.
Chitra Ganesh, “Eyes of Time,” detail, mixed-media wall mural, 2015 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Brooklyn Museum
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Herstory Gallery, fourth floor
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Thursday, March 26, free with museum admission, 6:00-9:30
Exhibition continues through July 12
212-864-5400 www.brooklynmuseum.org www.chitraganesh.com eyes of time online slideshow
In her exceptional new site-specific installation, “Eyes of Time,” in the Brooklyn Museum’s Herstory Gallery, multimedia artist Chitra Ganesh investigates female divinity, multiplicity, and power, inspired by the goddess Kali, one of the women honored with a place setting in Judy Chicago’s seminal work “The Dinner Party,” the centerpiece of the museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, home to the Herstory Gallery. Ganesh, a lifelong Brooklynite, supplements her wall sculpture with selections from the museum’s collection, comprising contemporary works by Kiki Smith, Shoichi Ida, and Barbara Jones-Hogu as well as a small seventeenth-century Indian bronze of a standing Kali and an ancient Egyptian bronze of a seated Sekhmet. “In mythic tales both Sekhmet and Kali are connected to blood, death, destruction, and protection, and to fierce animals such as lions and tigers,” Ganesh writes in a wall label. “These qualities contrast with characteristics typically idealized in women today and point to the formidable roles played by the ancient goddesses.” About Louise Bourgeois’s 1996 drypoint, “Eyes,” Ganesh adds, “The third eye, as seen on Kali, has often been associated with supernatural powers in Indian mythology and continues to appear in contemporary imagery. The act of gazing into numerous eyes might also recall the practice of darshan, a dialectical and spiritual way of looking that considers the object as both image and living being, providing an experience of seeing that informs South Asian culture.”
Those explanations also offer just the right way to approach “Eyes of Time,” a sprawling mural of three women that covers one wall of the gallery. At the left is a contemporary figure holding a jagged, starlike piece of the universe over one eye while the other eye looks directly at the viewer. In the middle is a figure based on Kali, the goddess of time, change, and destruction, who has six arms, three legs, three breasts, and a skirt of severed arms of different colors. Words emerge from her long hair, including “quicksand,” “rainbows,” and “knowing.” One hand has an eyeball in its palm, one holds a whip, while another wields a blood-dripping scythe with an eye on it. Instead of a head, on her neck is the Grand Central clock, without its hands. And on the right is a science-fiction woman made out of such machine parts as gears and speakers laid out in a kind of architectural rendering. All three women, representing the past, the present, and the future, have shiny jewels embedded into their being, while two rows of decorated flags hang above them. In some ways, it’s like the three figures have escaped from Ganesh’s comic book Tales of Amnesia, which is also on view, giving three-dimensional life to these superhero characters. “These narrative devices allude to the power of multiple forms of femininity that coexist within the same frame and, at times, within a single being, as well as to darker aspects of Kali,” Ganesh writes about her 2002 book. On March 26, the Brooklyn Museum’s next edition of “Art Off the Wall” will celebrate “Eyes of Time” with an evening of special activities, consisting of an artist and curator talk with Ganesh and Saisha Grayson, a zine library inspired by Tales of Amnesia, screenings of three of Ganesh’s short films (Rabbithole; What Remains; My dreams, my works must wait till after hell…), a movement workshop with Ajna Dance Company, and a Bhangra dance party with DJ Rekha.
