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Stuart Hodes, who danced with Martha Graham, is dead at 98
NEW YORK, NY.- Stuart Hodes, who danced with Martha Graham in the 1940s and ’50s and who for the rest of his life served the field of dance as a performer, choreographer, educator, administrator and author, died Wednesday in New York City. He was 98. His daughter Martha Hodes confirmed the death, in a hospital. Hodes did not grow up as a dancer. When he took his first dance class, at the Martha Graham Studio in 1946, he was nearly 21 and fresh from flying B-17 bombers for the Army during World War II. Within a few months, he was asked to join the Graham company. Graham was 52, already established as a founder of modern dance and believed by many to be greatest dancer and choreographer of her time. She was also known to be extremely demanding. Hodes would connect the experience of working with Graham with that as a wartime pilot. Working with Graham w ... More

Review: A contemporary music group's next era begins
NEW YORK, NY.- Some artists earn the “multihyphenate” label by doing two or three things. But Douglas R. Ewart works on a whole other level. That much was clear when this composer, visual artist, poet, multi-instrumentalist and instrument-maker put on a true multimedia event at the Chelsea Factory on Friday night. He gave a thrilling tour of his varied creativity in the company of a violist, cellist, bassoonist and two percussionists from the International Contemporary Ensemble — whose new leader, George E. Lewis, organized the concert, making his curatorial debut with the group. In the lobby were three of Ewart’s sculptures (including one dedicated to jazz musician Eric Dolphy), and inside the hall hung five of his paintings (including one titled “Rasta in Sun Ra”). Beneath those canvases, the concert featured some shimmering, percussive ... More

New partnership ensures nine more years of the popular SMK Fridays art events
COPENHAGEN.- After ten years, 58 fun-filled Fridays and almost 200,000 guests, the SMK Fridays events are firmly established as an integrated part of SMK. For seven Fridays each year, young and old alike have flocked to Denmark’s national gallery to be part of this innovative Friday format, which explores new approaches to what a museum visit can be. Previous events have included overnight stays at the museum, conversation salons, audio-only cinema experiences, intimate performances, sound healing, joint workshops, concerts set amidst art, art talks and expert insights. Always based on SMK’s rich collection covering 700 years of art and on the current exhibitions, always springing from a desire to surprise, and always free. The Bikuben Foundation has supported SMK Fridays throughout the years. Issuing a new grant, the foundation ... More

Absolutely Cultured announce new Co-Directorship
HULL.- Absolutely Cultured has announced the appointment of Marianne Lewsley-Stier, Janine Crombie and Joanne Norman as the organisation’s new Co-Directors. From April 2023 each will share the executive responsibilities previously held by CEO & Artistic Director Stephen Munn whilst leading on their own area of specialism. The appointments mark the beginning of a new direction for Absolutely Cultured with a focus on collaboration and sustainability, contributing to and enhancing the cultural offer in the city of Hull and the UK. Absolutely Cultured launched in May 2018 having evolved from Hull UK City of Culture 2017. Through arts programming, community engagement and learning, as well as artist development, Absolutely Cultured works to develop cultural opportunities for the city of Hull, its residents and for creative practitioners, ... More

Quetzal Art Center presents solo exhibition by David Maljković
PORTUGAL.- At the core of the exhibition now on view at the Quetzal Art Center, Maljković’s practice is a regimented exploration of formalist concerns. Whilst narrative is the driving element at the origin of a project, the artist’s varied means of visual implementation consistently and profoundly modifies and compromises its supremacy, whether that is through photography, video, sculpture, installation, collage or painting. The process of construction within a set of formal directives encrypts his narratives and postulates what he describes as a new semantic logic. Virtually all of Maljkovic’s work is engaged with historical and technological markers that are characterized by situations both local and universal. In each, the erosion and corruption of memory are the subjects that are left to the viewer. In the Pictorial Code presents ... More

She never existed. Catherine Lacey wrote her biography anyway.
NEW YORK, NY.- Tom Waits went to her wedding. David Bowie recorded her work — music so significant it was credited with helping to erode support for the Berlin Wall — but eventually found her odious. Like any interdisciplinary provocateur in the 1980s, she was an “occasional friend and occasional enemy” of Susan Sontag. And, crucially, she never existed. This controversial, identity-eschewing artist is the subject of Catherine Lacey’s new novel, “Biography of X,” a sneaky book that purports to be a work of investigative nonfiction written by X’s widow, CM. The story opens after X’s death in 1996, when CM, incensed by an unauthorized book about her wife, sets out to write a corrective. A reporter by trade, she digs into X’s archives and legacy, compelled to understand the woman who had fascinated and terrified her. CM knew ... More

Roberto Lugo embarks on artist residency at Cincinnati Art Museum
CINCINNATI, OH.- The Cincinnati Art Museum is presenting artist, educator and poet Roberto Lugo during a seven-month solo exhibition Roberto Lugo: Hi Def Archives March 17–September 24, 2023. Lugo is in residence at the Cincinnati Art Museum from March 17−24 during which he is creating contemporary pottery in conjunction with his finished works. The exhibition presents selections chosen by the artist from the museum’s collection as he examines intersections of community, place and identity in his practice and in Cincinnati’s Rookwood Pottery’s legacy. Lugo (Puerto Rican-American, b. 1981) draws from his lived experience and deep knowledge of ceramic history to create works that elevate the stories and communities who have been overlooked in the historical record of art making. Lugo’s multicultural mashups often combine ... More

Wright presents Important Design Including Masterworks from Italy
CHICAGO, IL.- Dedicated to the most influential and important designs of the 20th century, Design is a celebration of visionary creators from across the globe. From iconic standards to one-of-a-kind works, this highly vetted auction brings together the quality craftsmanship and ambitious vision that defined the past 100 years and continues to shape the way we live today. Highlights include a Carlo Mollino Unique Copenhagen chair, a Shiro Kuramata Feather stool, works by Fernando and Humberto Campana, a Rei floor lamp by Studio Wieki Somers, sculpture by Harry Bertoia, designs by George Nakashima, Ettore Sottsass, Gio Ponti, Jean Prouvé, Pierre Jeanneret, and even a First-generation iPhone! Two historic works by leading Italian architect Carlo Mollino will be offered during Design on March 30th. In December 1951, Carlo Mollino was invited ... More

Shelburne Museum hires new Director of Education
SHELBURNE, VT.- Shelburne Museum announced Jason Vrooman as Stiller Family Foundation Director of Education. He joins Shelburne from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, where he was Chief Curator and Director of Engagement, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Middlebury College Museum of Art. “Jason is an engaged and a highly experienced museum educator who joins Shelburne Museum at an exciting time as museums reflect on relevance and reinvigoration in educational programming in the post-pandemic world,” said Thomas Denenberg, John Wilmerding Director of Shelburne Museum. “I have long admired Jason’s work, and I’m pleased to welcome him to Shelburne Museum.” At Middlebury Vrooman held two posts, most recently as Chief Curator and Director of Engagement, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ... More

Tide of creativity washes along north-east coastline
SUNDERLAND.- A community project designed to connect local people to the sights, sounds and smells of the region’s seascape will wash onto our shores once again. Following the success of last year’s pilot, the Blue Wave project is a collaboration between artist-in-residence Constance Humphries, who will lead creative, exploratory activities connected to Sunderland that includes National Trust coastal land, alongside local artists, community groups, the University of Sunderland and National Trust staff. The team are delighted to be renewing the project once again, supported by Arts Council England, with various activities building up to a Blue Wave dance and movement performance in Summer 2023. Activities include participants taking part in coastal walks, making a visual diary, constructing, and dyeing sustainable costumes – all leading ... More