Category Archives: We Love Arts

Special Events, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Comic Art Indigene

1-ca-yazzie_shieldl

Jolene Nenibah Yazzie (Navajo), "Beautiful Shield" 2006. Digital print. Courtesy of the artist.

Upstairs in the intimate Sealaska Gallery at the National Museum of the American Indian is a fascinating exhibition on the intersection between Native culture and a uniquely modern art form. “Comic Art Indigene,” now through May 31st, highlights over 35 artworks of various mediums from the earliest rock art and clay figurines through to classic comic strip panels. Containing images both humorous and provocative, it’s well worth a visit.

If you’re interested in the history of how traditional methods of storytelling evolved into using comic art as a means of Native expression, the beginning of the exhibit clearly outlines this process. I just urge you to make sure you move beyond that initial area to the back walls and pay careful attention to the incredible pieces by Diego Romero, Mateo Romero, Jolene Nenibah Yazzie, and Rose Bean Simpson. These artists collectively pack a powerful graphic suckerpunch.

Jolene Nenibah Yazzie (Navajo) was a skater girl in high school, and her childhood inspiration was Wonder Woman. Both facets are evident in her supersaturated color contrast and strong female images. I loved “Beautiful Shield” – reminding me of a bit of Patrick Nagel (though these women could kick Nagel’s to the curb!). If I could own one piece of artwork from the show, this would be it. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Foggy Bottom, Special Events, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Bellydance Superstars

album_pic-3php

"Petite Jamilla" courtesy of Bellydance Superstars

A couple of years ago I took a bellydance class at Joy of Motion, totally on a whim. My instructor was an incredible American Cabaret style performer named Michelle Forner. I’ll never forget the first class when she did a quick routine for us and I thought, “Oh. My. God. There is NO way I will be able to do this.” The technique she displayed, with complete control in isolation of various core muscles, was intimidating and yet enthralling.

I recently decided to take the plunge again and take another bellydance class, this time in American Tribal at Saffron Dance. We’ll see how that goes! The differences between the many styles of bellydance, including the growing fusion between them and other branches of dance (such as urban, goth, bollywood, etc.) are highlighted in this year’s tour of Bellydance Superstars, which I had the luck of seeing Tuesday night at GWU’s Lisner Auditorium. The Superstars will be back in our area this June for Raqs America, and I highly recommend if you have any interest in this dance genre to definitely check it out.

Despite an overblown and cheesy opening voiceover, the 2009 tour titled “The Art of Bellydance” is a good introduction to the amazingly talented resurgence of this dance form in America. Featuring some incredible performers, exquisite costumes (more so for the tribal than the cabaret, which just isn’t to my personal taste), and the brilliant Issam Houshan on drum solo – it was two hours of beauty, pure and simple.

Continue reading →

Arlington, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Public/Private

P2210167

The Arlington Arts Center (AAC) is a private, nonprofit contemporary visual arts center dedicated to presenting and supporting new work by regional artists in the mid-Atlantic States. AAC is located in the Virginia Square area of the Clarendon and Wilson Blvd strip between Clarendon and Ballston. Right now, AAC is home to a few different exhibitions, but the one that got me out of the house last Saturday is the Public/Private exhibit I had been hearing so much buzz about.

The AAC web site describes it best: “PUBLIC/PRIVATE puts together two very different types of content in contemporary art: art about the artist’s immediate surroundings, domestic sphere, and personal relationships; and art that exists out in the world, inviting or requiring the public’s physical participation. Featuring Lisa Blas, Chris Barr & Veronique Cote, Mandy Burrow, Ben Kinsley & Robin Hewlett, Anissa Mack, Christian Moeller, Stephanie Robbins, Richard Saxton, Satomi Shirai, and Matthew Sutton”

The exhibit I most wanted to see was an exhibit titled “Street With A View” about a staged Google maps street view street performance. The artists got together and created interesting things during the time when the street view car would be driving down the street in Pittsburgh. I was fascinated to see all the different things they staged for the car. Continue reading →

Special Events, The Mall, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Pride Before Fall

30dutc_large1

“A Bird’s-Eye View of Amsterdam” (circa 1652), by Jan Micker, based on a 1538 work, courtesy Amsterdam Historical Museum

Two current exhibits at the National Gallery of Art are at first glance dissimilar. “Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age,” is a tightly restrained showcase of the grand Dutch Republic’s view of its cities and public spaces, using cartographic metaphor to show a mighty macrocosm at its seventeenth century height. “Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans“ takes on our own republic from a microcosmic perspective, capturing in lush yet depressing detail the consumerist chill of 1950’s America.

But seeing both exhibits in the same afternoon gives you the sense of how art can mirror culture – either cleaning up reality, or showing the truth beneath. 

“Pride of Place” could be marched through very quickly, your eye breezily taking in maps and cityscapes in soothing sepia tones. It’s all power and glory and civic cleanliness. But I urge you to resist this temptation to rush, and look closer. Details on these paintings are intensely human, the small smudged faces of the Dutch citizens at work. No attempt is made to sex them up – they are potato-faced plain, staunch and proud in their sensibility and commerce. Their quiet industry is matched with the republic’s burgeoning pride. But every once and a while there’s some guy goofing off in the corner! Continue reading →

We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: The Dog in the Manger

Photo courtesy of shakespearetheatreco

DOGRHRSL_039
courtesy of shakespearetheatreco

I opened The Washington Post today and found Peter Marks’ glowing review of The Dog in the Manger and thought “yep, yep, yes, yes! Exactly right!” Then I thought “shit, what’s left for me to say?”

Who are we kidding? Of course I can still find something to say.

Seriously – while I don’t agree with Marks across the board, I do agree with him on the big points: the show is great and worth your time. The translation is so well done that this 500 year old play has dialog that feels fresh while still being from its own time. David Turner is fan-freaking-tastic and riotously funny. The show’s a winner and you should go see it.

So what else? I’m not as thrilled with Michael Hayden’s Teodoro as he is, but he fills the role well enough. Maybe that’s just my feelings about the character, a man who is almost exclusively reactive through the whole piece. It’s probably the one problem the excellent translation simply couldn’t address and the one thing that’s going to be a little odd for modern audiences. There’s not a hint that Teodoro has ever thought of Diana romantically before he catches her eye and she starts to drop anvil-like hints on his head, yet it completely derails his existing relationship. It’s not an insurmountable problem but it doesn’t give Hayden a lot of room to excel. Continue reading →

We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Disney on Ice

Disney on Ice

Okay, I get it, I know, Disney on Ice: Disneyland Adventure isn’t something you’d ususally find on WLDC, nor would it be something that I would typically write about as an author, but when you’re offered comp tickets, I mean – hey? Who would turn down some good old quality time reliving your childhood? Plus, it’s an excellent escape from all the “grown up” thinking I’ve been doing recently, what with a new job, taxes, and a stinky economy. So one night in the “happiest place on earth”? Well, fine, I’ll give it a shot. Also, truth be told, I’m totally the kid who wrote papers for school on the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan drama. I followed Michelle Kwan‘s life story. I know who Scott Hamilton is, and envied his 80’s sequined flared get-ups for the Olympics. Kristi Yamaguchi? Yes, please.

So off we went for a night of saccharine plotline and figure skating… Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Arts
By

We Love Music: Musical Moments– Kurtágs Play Kurtág at the Library of Congress

Photo courtesy of
‘2007.10.19-111c.am’ courtesy of ‘RShinozaki’

Saturday, February 7, 2009
Library of Congress, Coolidge Auditorium
György and Márta Kurtág & the Keller Quartet

After the Library of Congress’ recent parade of the rather bland contemporary American music, the premiere of a new work by Kurtág performed by the composer and his wife and long-time duet partner Márta was like a breath of fresh air.  Exquisite comes to mind, as does vital.  It was an honor to share in this celebration of a national treasure of another nation.

The programs describes György Kurtág as one of the world’s foremost composers, which is certainly true in certain circles.  He has served as Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest,  as composer-in-residence at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Konzerthausgesellschaft, and has a list of awards, honors and recordings too lengthy to even describe here.  In America, Kurtág’s name is better known than his music still, I think, and the music is better known through recordings than through live performances.  The experience of performances of works almost always exceeds the experience of hearing recordings of those works, but in Kurtág’s case, the contrast is particularly striking.

Much work has been done in the press and printed program to connect this concert to a Library of Congress concert of Kurtág’s countryman Béla Bartók.  Bartók’s storied performance with violinist Joseph Szigeti, performed the at the Library of Congress in 1940 marked the premiere of Bartók Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano.  (In a spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that the recording of that recital was a staple of my undergraduate listening regime.)  Continue reading →

We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Hell Meets Henry Halfway

Hell Meets Henry Halfway

Gabriel Quinn Bauriedel & Sarah Sanford in Hell Meets Henry Halfway
Courtesy of the Pig Iron Theatre Company

If we want to compare theatre to the movies, Hell Meets Henry Halfway is more David Lynch/Being John Malkovich than it is Rob Reiner/The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The playwright in this case set out to write something with the novel as an inspiration, not to adapt the novel to the stage. The program notes say that the “theatrical mixtape” that is Henry is 1/3 the source novel, 1/3 the playwright and 1/3 the Pig Iron Theatre Company.

If that sounds a bit out of the ordinary, then you’re starting to get it. This isn’t an experience for everyone. Coming back from intermission I overheard the couple in front of me. “… well we can get our things and go, then.” “No….. we’ll stick it out.” I’m pretty sure people have gone to the electric chair with more enthusiasm than this fellow. Hell Meets Henry Halfway emphasizes character and feel over realism and does it well, but it’s a specialized taste. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: How Theater Failed America

How Theater Failed America

“You should not have come.”

That’s how Mike Daisey opens his monologue at Woolly Mammoth, acknowledging that this is going to be a different kind of show. He’s very wrong, mind you: this show has a self-selecting audience that is sure to be glad they came. The show’s title assures that. Anyone who reads “How Theater Failed America” on a program schedule and thinks “that’s something I want to see!” is pretty certain to enjoy it, since anyone who isn’t predisposed to be interested in a critical examination of the business of modern theater isn’t going to be jazzed by a moniker that holds up a metaphorical axe and grindstone.

That’s really too bad, since this is a show that anyone can take something away from. (Well, presuming they’re not afraid of the word “fuck,” which Daisey uses pretty liberally.) Daisey intertwines examination, analysis, personal anecdote and touching revelation to create something worth hearing even if you couldn’t care less about what ends up on local or national stages. Continue reading →

Penn Quarter, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Twelfth Night

Images courtesy the Shakespeare Theater Company

Images courtesy of the Shakespeare Theater Company

The biggest complaint I have with STC’s production of Twelfth Night has nothing to do with the actual production they put on, so I’m going to just get it out of the way here and move on to praising them. Why in the name of all that’s holy wasn’t this the production they chose to do an all-male version of, rather than Romeo and Juliet? Here’s a story that contains gender-bending, and an (albeit brief) moment of a character confronted with the confusion of feeling romantic love for someone he believes to be his own gender. There’s interesting ground to cover there, as opposed to stunt casting that does little more than say “hey, check out how they used to do it four centuries ago!”

The only problem with that idea is that if I’d been at that production I wouldn’t have gotten to enjoy this one. The actors are all excellent, the set is beautiful, and Director Rebecca Taichman manages a flow and rhythm that pulls you along enjoyably. There’s one odd choice in the second half that took me out of the moment a few times, but it comes and goes quickly enough. There’s only one aspect that stands out notably and delightfully so. Continue reading →

Night Life, We Love Arts, We Love Drinks
By

We Love Drinks (& Arts! & Music!): “X in DC”

"X in DC" by irrezolut, on Flickr

"X in DC, November 2008" by irrezolut, on Flickr

Friends had been trying to get me to check out “X in DC” at BeBar for a while. “It has everything you like!” they raved, “Electronica! Arts! Bellydancing!” I finally got around to the last event on November 15th, and it was definitely a case of truth in advertising. Sometimes you need a little more from your night out than the usual bar experience. “X in DC” aims to blur the boundaries between different artistic disciplines by bringing them together to collaborate or compete, depending on the evening, and this synergy makes for a constant display of creativity. It’s also just plain fun.

It doesn’t hurt that “X in DC” takes place at BeBar, one of the sexiest lounges in DC. A long room lined with a bar on one side and pillow-tossed banquettes on the other, it’s all anchored by a small stage that morphs into a dance floor later on. BeBar survived a somewhat rough birth in Shaw when a local church tried to block its opening back in 2006, but I’m glad they toughed it out and two years later it remains a gorgeous space. The design is simple yet elegant, the lighting delicately flattering, and the drinks menu dangerous. Not to mention, no attitude from the door or the bar. Continue reading →

Downtown, Penn Quarter, Special Events, The Mall, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Pompeii at NGA

Marine mosaic detail, from a house in Pompeii (2nd century BC), by chrisjohnbeckett, on Flickr

"Marine mosaic detail, from a house in Pompeii (2nd century BC)," by chrisjohnbeckett, on Flickr

One of the most incredible sights in my life was watching angry red streaks of lava etch the side of Mount Etna. I was on my way to the Catania airport during a vicious rainstorm. As the lightning crackled through the dark sky and the burning streams pulsated, the laconic driver assured me in typical Sicilian fashion – “c’è normale” – that’s nothing, it’s normal, it isn’t even a “real” eruption. My heart was racing even though I was safely miles away from the volcano, so awesome was the power of nature.

So I can only imagine how more horrifying the power of Mount Vesuvius was when it erupted in AD 79. But the people of the Bay of Naples still live under its threat, no doubt echoing their Sicilian counterparts in thinking, “c’è normale,” even with the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum close by to remind them. Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around the Bay of Naples, at the National Gallery of Art, cleverly lulls you into a similar state of complacency. The exhibit first highlights the decorative art of Pompeii and the surrounding area, taking you through the various rooms and courtyards of a typical villa of the Roman Empire. Only at the end are you hit with a dark room and depictions of volcanic explosions, a haunting evocation of “La Civita” – the lost ancient city.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Special Events, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Kooza (Cirque du Soleil)

Chavari 2 Courtesy of Cirque du Soliel

Chavari 2 Courtesy of Cirque du Soliel

Earlier this past summer WaPo’s DC Scout sent me an email giving me pre-sale access to tickets for Cirque du Soleil’s touring show, Kooza. I bought tickets, and then promptly forgot about the show until looking at my calendar for November. I was pretty excited to remember Kooza! I’d never been to see a Cirque show, though I always hear rave reviews every time I talk with someone about a Cirque show that they’ve seen.

Kooza is playing at National Harbor, up above the main harbor on what they call the plateau, basically a huge parking lot and a big paved surface for Kooza’s tent. Matt and I arrived at the big top tent, or the “The Grand Chapiteau” about an hour before the show started. We got there just as the 4 p.m. showing was letting out, which was good because we got a good parking spots. And then we headed up to the main tent, which opens an hour before the show. Smart, since Cirque has shops and refreshment stands open before the show and lets you take food in. The beer selection is not to shabby (they featured Magic Hat‘s aptly named Circus Boy hefeweisen) and we got to share a chocolate mousse pie.

We headed into our seats and that’s when the show began. Immediately clowns started coming out into the audience, picking on people. There were a few scattered through the audience acting as spectators, and then surprising people by jumping up and being a part of the show. I love that kind of audience interaction, and knew we were in for a good time.

Continue reading →

People, We Love Arts
By

We Love Art: Mark Eisendrath

Sculpture by Mark Eisendrath, image courtesy of the artist

I find writing about art difficult. Music as well. Both disciplines hit me on a profoundly visceral level, a wild and wordless place that for a writer is disconcerting.

So to encourage you to attend a local artist’s opening (and full disclosure, he’s a friend as well), I think it best to stay clear of attempts to put into words what should be experienced on a tactile emotional plain.

I’ll just say – Mark Eisendrath’s sculptures are fascinating forms, riffs on glyphs, and well worth a drive out to Towson this Saturday.

 (More images and gallery info after the break)

Continue reading →

We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Fritz Scholder at NMAI

Red No. 5
Red No. 5 by tbridge

When Fritz Scholder came to New Mexico in the 1960s, he sword he’d never paint the Indian. When he got there, and saw the condition of the state of Indian art, he changed his mind. A quarter Luiseño, he was invited to join the Rockefeller Southwest Indian Art Project, and would eventually join the faculty at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Scholder’s work would cross all manner of boundaries.

The exhibit at NMAI that opens on Friday is nothing short incredible. The color palette alone should get you out there. Scholder’s palette ranges from day-glo pink to earthen brown and meets in the middle with some incredible combinations. “Red No. 5” pictured above is one of his later pieces, part of his second Indian phase. His works seek to show the reality of the Indian life in the US, from alcoholism to a distorted self-image, Scholder hasn’t found a taboo that he won’t delve into.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Love Arts
By

Shakespeare no longer in the park


from Love’s Labor Lost in 2007
photo courtesy of The Shakespeare Theatre

I didn’t think to mention it after I read the news in the WaPo, but since the Shakespeare Theater took the time to send me a press release, what the hell. WSC is going to continue their annual free performances but they’re moving indoors. It’s not entirely clear what prompted this, though they point out that the move allows them to be metro accessable, avoid weather complications, and have more snazzy-dazzy theater doodads.

The most obvious upside, however, comes from their increasing the number of showings from 10 to 22. They’ll be shifting the performances to somewhat later in the year as well and run two weeks mid-September rather than late May. Overall it seems like a net gain, though there’s a certain fun in outdoor theater. I wonder how much of their motivation was to expose potential ticket purchasers to the Harman, a pretty impressive venue.

We Love Arts
By

We Love Theatre: Second Line at the Atlas

Second LineMy Lovely Wife and I went to see Second Line, by Seret Scott, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center last week. What a great show. From the show’s website:

Spanning a 20-year period of tumultuous social change, Seret Scott’s Second Line is the story of two black college students whose lives are shaped by the stormy events of the 1960s and ’70s. Bennie and JoJo are in love, but their commitment is tested by the upheaval of the civil rights movement and Vietnam.

The story chronicles a 20-year love that was certainly tested by time, as the description says, but moreso by conflict. Outwardly by the ones listed above, but more deeply by interpersonal dynamics and differing opinions on their roles in society. Was it more important to be active in achieving change in society or was it more important to keep your head down and rise from within? Is there a greater obligation to oneself or to society? How should one go about satisfying that obligation?

Continue reading →

Downtown, History, Interviews, Special Events, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: “Breaking News”

Courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare Library

A true and exact relation of the late prodigious earthquake & eruption of Mount Ætna. London, 1669

The Folger Shakespeare Library recently opened their newest exhibit Breaking News: Renaissance Journalism and the Birth of the Newspaper on September 25. The exhibit runs through January 31, 2009 and is free to the public. I recently had a delightful Q&A session with Jason Peacey, one of the exhibit’s curators and a Lecturer in History at University College London, and Amy Arden at the Folger here in DC.

Give us an idea what a visitor to the Folger’s latest exhibit should expect.

Breaking News follows the story of the newspaper from England to America. Visitors will see many things that they recognize, from the kinds of topics covered – politics, natural disasters, extreme religious sects, crime – to the actual format of newspapers from this period with headlines, columns, and serialized issues. One thing that may surprise people is how much of a role wartime reporting played in launching the newspaper; during the 1640s civil war raged in England between the supporters of the king (known as Royalists) and the supporters of Oliver Cromwell and Parliament (the Parliamentarians). Both sides produced their own accounts of the conflict and printed newspapers in an attempt to sway public opinion in their favor. It was a ripe time to be a journalist!

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Love Arts
By

City Oasis: The Portico Cafe at the National Portrait Gallery

national portrait gallery porch

Aren’t fall afternoons lovely? I spent a relaxing afternoon meandering Penn Quarter/Chinatown recently, and my boyfriend and I wound up in the National Portrait Gallery. After visiting the Ansel Adams and Georgia O’Keefe exhibit we wandered upstairs.

Needing a break, we stumbled upon the Portico Cafe on the second floor. The Portico Cafe is a second-floor oasis overlooking F street and the International Spy Museum. Sunny, warm and surrounded those ever-so-cliche DC columns, it’s the perfect place to take a breather and watch the city go by.

iron at the national portrait gallery porch

Visit the National Portrait Gallery (free) at 8th & F Sts NW, close to the Chinatown Metro Station and Metro Center Metro station. The Gallery is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Photos taken by Flickr user needlessspaces.