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Inferno

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Ron Howard's Inferno mixes Philippa Foot's famed Trolley Problem with the eponymous Dante's poem. For the billionaire geneticist Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster), It's either the tortures of Dante's infamous eighth circle Malbolge, or the prospect of a sixth extinction that will destroy the human race. "Dante's hell isn't fiction anymore. It's a prophecy" is the idea that the film espouses. It's doubtful Dante would have been amused. Tom Hanks plays Robert Langdon a Dante scholar who finds himself the captive of a hallucinogenic nightmare which is one way to describe the film's convoluted plot (based on a Dan Brown novel). It's actually Botticelli's "Map of Hell" (itself based on The Inferno) that provides the film's guiding image. But let's get back to the deal. Would you sacrifice half of mankind and condemn them to great suffering to spare future generations? In the film The World Health Organization is out to do anything they can to stop Zobrist's Inferno virus, under the theory that the evil Zobrist is also mad and that there's no Sixth Extinction awaiting mankind. But the paradigm the film presents is not so far flung. What if mankind really had to make a sacrifice which entailed some degree of suffering to insure the perpetuation of the race? What if scientists made it clear that if there wasn't a cessation in the use of fossil fuels, the earth would become overheated, the seas would overflow and human life would come to an end? What would the choice be? Continuing life as it is, or doing something drastic? By the way, don't bother to see the film. It won't help you to answer these questions.














{This was originally posted to The Screaming Pope, Francis Levy's blog of rants and reactions to contemporary politics, art and culture}

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Millennial Madness -- Deals for Thrifty 'Thirty-somethings' (and under)

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By Mercedes Vizcaino, ZEALnyc Contributing Writer, November 16, 2016

Living in New York and exploring all the wondrous cultural opportunities the city offers can satisfy even the most voracious appetite for entertainment; yet, it can also deplete your bank account in the process. As millennials' spending power continues to rise, purveyors of the performing arts are becoming in-tune to their increasing consumer cravings for meaningful outings and experiences. The most renowned theaters--on and off Broadway, museums and concert venues are complying to fulfill their cultural and affordable tastes. We've compiled a list of arts institutions in all the various genres that will appeal to this demographic, as well as their collective wallets and pocketbooks.

BROADWAY AND OFF-BROADWAY


Lincoln Center

Forget those rush lines! LincTix gives access to stellar Broadway performances for those aged 21-35. Lincoln Center's youth-oriented program courts patrons in this age group - to purchase $32 tickets to EVERY performance with a limited number of LincTix tickets. Invites to exclusive post-show parties are included and the program encourages members to socialize with fellow theatregoers. It's free to join. Membership stays active until December 31st - following your 36th birthday. Don't miss their current lineup: The Babylon Line, The Harvest, Oslo, and The Glass Menagerie. See their full schedule here.

Manhattan Theatre Club

The Manhattan Theatre Club 30 under 30 program is ready to delight your heart and wallet, with a free membership you can purchase two $30 tickets to any show. Additional perks include post-show parties with food and drink, special reading series and giveaways; plus, an opportunity to meet fellow theatregoers that share your love for plays. Once you've reached the age of 30, The MTC offers a Young Patrons Program (for donors ages 18 - 39) to enjoy their continued love and support of theatre. Check out their current season: Heisenberg, The Little Foxes, Linda and The Cost of Living. View their schedule here.

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Manhattan Theater Club advertising for '30 Under 30' campaign.


2econd Stage Theatre

2econd Stage theatre has their own version of the 30 under 30 program with discounted $30 tickets, unlike some other theaters, 2econd Stage limits one ticket per person and not all productions are available in the program. Membership is free and after-parties are included with food and beverage, a live DJ and the chance to meet cast members! Their current lineup includes: Notes from the Field, Man from Nebraska and Somebody's Daughter. Check out the full details here.

Roundabout Theatre Company

The RTC's Hiptix program offers up to two $25 tickets for theatregoers aged 18-35, per production. The Program is free to join, each production has one after-party to mingle and network with fellow patrons, while sipping on cocktails and eating hors d'oeuvres. Perfect opportunity to forego the expense of a week's worth of lattes to see the RTC's current season which includes: The Cherry Orchard, Holiday Inn - The New Irving Berlin Musical at Studio 54, Kingdom Come, Love, Love, Love, On the Exhale, and newly released: Marvin's Room. Check the website for specific showtimes here.

Another great program at the Roundabout is ACCESS Roundabout®, which offers a multitude of ticketing opportunities to shows (and these offers are not just for the "under 30" crowd), so check it out here.

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Guests at a Roundabout Theatre Hiptix event.


Playwrights Horizons

The free membership to the Playwrights Horizons 30 and under program is geared to cultivate the interests of young theatre patrons. $25 gets you one discount ticket - as well as a $35 guest ticket per show. Perks include: Young Member Night parties and advanced booking notifications with complimentary drinks, food and a photobooth to take pictures with other patrons. Their new schedule features: A Life, Rancho Viejo, The Profane and Bella: An American Tall Tale. For more info click here.

Theatre for a New Audience

The Theatre for a New Audience has New Deal Tickets for theatregoers 30 and under, or full-time students of any age, priced at $20; you can purchase up to two tickets (a valid ID needs to be shown for each New Deal ticket purchased). Theatre for a New Audience offers $20 tickets as part of their New Deal Program. Tickets can be purchased online or by phone with the promo code: NEWDEAL. No after parties with snacks or drinks, but plenty of award-worthy plays to keep you entertained. Check out their current season: Servant of Two Masters, Happy Days, Skin of our Teeth and Measure for Measure. For more info click here.

MCC Theater

The Manhattan Class Company (MCC Theater) provides a limited number of $30 tickets for ticket-buyers 29 years old or younger. Tickets can be purchased online with code ATWU30 for the play: All The Ways and code CYCU30 for Ride the Cyclone. Maximum of two under 30 tickets can be purchased. The Rush Program: includes the "Under 30 Rush" for available tickets beginning 2 hours prior to each performance. "$20 Student Rush" - based on availability, students can purchase one ticket 20 minutes prior to curtain. Check out future performances here.

Irish Repertory Theatre

The Irish Rep Theatre knows the plight of the young, theatre-loving working professional. That's why they offer their Greenseats program--a program designated to provide affordable theatre seats for those under 35. At $25, you can see incredible off-Broadway productions. Membership is free. So sign up and you're in! One ticket per production is permitted and advance performance notifications perks included. Current performances: Finian's Rainbow, Afterplay, The Pigeon in Taj Mahal, among others. To see their full schedule click here.

DANCE


Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

The dance company's Young New York program kicks off their first event on December 1st with the world premiere of Deep, the critically acclaimed Awakening, A Case of You and Revelations performances. At $25 for every seat in the house, you can't miss this! Other exciting December events, pre and post performances, geared towards patrons aged 21 - 30 include: The First Drink's On Us, Get Fit with Ailey, Meet, Greet and Snap and a Pre-New Year's Eve Party. More events are slated for the upcoming New Year! Check out their calendar for exact dates and times here.

The New York City Ballet

Supports the 30 under 30 initiatives - their theatre counterparts encourage. For day-of performances, patrons 21 - 30 can see select fall, winter, spring repertory productions. A maximum of two $30 Rush tickets can be purchased at the box office window. Other restrictions apply. Check details here.

American Ballet Theatre

While not a direct "ticket discount," ABT does offer the opportunity to join their Junior Council, which is a group of young professionals, between the ages of 21-40, dedicated to the celebration and support of ABT's world-class artistry. Membership in the Junior Council helps ABT continue to present the highest caliber of dance and to expand ABT's audience to younger generations - ensuring the future of classical ballet. Membership begins at $600 per year (payable in $50 a month increments), but then offers the ability to buy $30 tickets for the company's Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, along with lots of other perks. For more information click here.

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Young professionals enjoy American Ballet Theatre Junior Council event.


MUSIC AND OPERA


New York Philharmonic

It's a great time to be 35 or younger. The New York Philharmonic promotes the MyPhil subscription to members 35 and younger. Apart from your ears thanking you after listening to amazing performances, benefits include a series of three concerts or more for the year priced at $35 each. Advance notice and special offers for Philharmonic events, special discounts to Lincoln Center-area restaurants are added bonuses in the membership. Additional Programs: Free Fridays - 100 free tickets available to young people aged 13 - 26 every Friday evening during a subscription concert. Student Rush - limited number of $18 tickets up to 10 days before a performance. More information here.

Symphony Space

This eclectic multi-disciplinary international performing arts center has something for everyone - from literature to dance to film and comedy performances. The Symphony Space houses extraordinary talent that does not disappoint. To top it off: 30 and under deals are available! Membership is not necessary. For $15 - $25, you can purchase tickets to their live shows. Check out: "ALMA NYC Presents: HOMAGE: An ode to dance and music," "Selected Shorts: The Best of the Harvard Lampoon: 140 Years of American Humor," "NT Live: Hamlet" (Encore). See their full schedule here.

The Metropolitan Opera

Although not exactly promoted as an Under 30 or 35 program, The Metropolitan Opera offers student discounts to their performances to undergraduate and graduate full-time students at any age. Registration to the program is free. Tickets are $35; limit of four tickets per performance. At the Met now: Aida, L'Amour de Loin, Il Barbiere de Siviglia and Don Giovanni. View schedule for complete season list here.

MUSEUMS


Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheim offers a weeknight event geared towards the 30 and under crowd called: Art After Dark, an after-hours private viewing of current exhibitions to that is free to members with the Individual Membership level ($85) - includes admittance to 1 Art After Dark party or Dual Member level ($140) admittance to 2 Art After Dark parties. Non-members pay full ticket price. Art After Dark begins once the museum is closed to the general public. For info click here.

French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)

FIAF promotes First Tuesdays to membership patrons 35 and under. Every first Tuesday of every month, the museum hosts a night full of wine, conversations in français and screenings of French films. Members are encouraged to bring guests and meet fellow Francophiles. Young Patrons is an exclusive membership for individuals aged 21 - 45 ($200 - $350). The membership includes access to cocktail parties, behind-the-scenes tours, and special talks. View their calendar here.

The American Folk Art Museum

The museum's Young Folk program is designed for members in their twenties and thirties. Young Folk is comprised of a community of that explores folk and self-taught art through dynamic programs, private collections, blowout parties, artist studio visits and engaging in social media with other like-minded patrons. According to the museum's Communications and Marketing Director, Kate Merlino: "Young Folk are inspired by the diversity, craftsmanship, and originality of these art forms, Young Folk is much more than a "fresh take on folk art." It is redefining the way in which twenty-and-thirty-somethings engage with art and museums through its low membership fee ($150) and out-of-the-box programming." Check out their program here.

Japan Society

Creativity and relaxation. This is the motto behind Japan Society's Happy Hour/ Free Gallery Admission program on select "Free Fridays" through January 2017. The organization is committed to attract the under 35 crowd to unwind at the end of a long work week - for stimulating conversations with music and liquid Zen from the bar while viewing specific artworks featured in Japan Society's fall line-up (Simon Starling: At Twilight) and future exhibitions. Premium Japanese Sake is served compliments of SOTO. RSVP is recommended but not required. View details here.

The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection Museum promotes the Young Fellows program to patrons aged 21 - 45. It is comprised of dynamic individuals who enjoy insider access to invitation-only gallery talks, curator-led tours, special evening viewings, and the highly anticipated Spring Garden Party and Young Fellows Ball - the ball is an event that benefits the Frick's Education Department serving students in all the five boroughs. Membership to join is ($500). Upcoming exhibitions: "Pierre Gouthière: Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court" and Cagnacci's "Repentant Magdalene": An Italian Baroque Masterpiece from the Norton Simon Museum." View program here.

The New York Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden's Bar Car Nights program caters to the 35 under crowd with a current after-dark viewing of the Holiday Train Show as the centerpiece. While sipping on libations and mingling with fellow garden patrons, the show features a journey through station stops and pop-up acts featuring popular street performers. Holiday Train Show fees: Members ($25), Non-Members ($35) Membership for individuals ($85), Dual Membership ($110). For the current calendar, check here.

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Box Car Nights at New York Botanical Garden

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Mercedes Vizcaino, a Contributing Writer with ZEALnyc, writes about lifestyle and cultural events in and around New York City.

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For all the news on New York City arts and culture, visit ZEALnyc Front Page.

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Jennifer Ashley Tepper Dazzles Again With 'The Untold Stories Of Broadway'

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If the walls of Broadway's fabled theatres could talk, they'd tell amazing stories. And historian Jennifer Ashley Tepper shares them with flair. As she never tires of pointing out, the physical setting of a theatre--everything from modern sounds and lights to a creaking infrastructure dating back decades--can play as much of a role in shaping productions as the actors onstage.

There may be no better example than the surreal opening night of "Once in a Lifetime," a comedy written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, which debuted at the Music Box Theatre in 1930. As the show began the cast realized that something was gravely wrong. Surefire laugh lines were falling flat and the audience was silent. It hadn't heard one word. In his memoir, "Act One," Hart remembered looking wildly toward Kaufman to see what was amiss, and the panic ended only when a voice in the balcony rang out: "It's the fans--turn off the fans!" In the excitement of opening night, an electrician forgot to shut them down. The fans were silenced, the actors began again...and a hit show was born.

It sounds like a freakish event, but as Tepper made clear in the second volume of her masterfully assembled "The Untold Stories of Broadway," it's not the only time that air conditioning, or lack of it, determined a show's fate. Forty-five years later the "Chorus Line" creative team, parked in the back of the Shubert Theatre during performances, couldn't hear Paul's searing monologue over the roaring air conditioners. They finally solved the problem by shutting them off after "The Music and the Mirror." But this didn't simply quiet things down. The hotter temperatures increased tension in the audience, boosting the drama of the scene.

Classic stories like these and more pack the pages of Tepper's third and newest installment, released this week by Dress Circle Publishing. And with a growing audience ("I'm enjoying every chapter," said the New York Post's Michael Riedel") her multi-volume project is taking its place as one of the most important and original works of oral history about the Broadway stage.

Tepper, who is Director of Programming at Feinstein's at 54 Below, leaves no stone unturned and the intensity of focus comes across loud and clear in her latest book. Like its predecessors, "The Untold Stories of Broadway Vol. 3" focuses on the history of eight theaters, and the author has by now interviewed a prodigious number of people--more than 250 actors, writers, directors, producers, stagehands, office managers, musicians, designers, ushers and others--whose memories are lovingly recounted.

To be sure, there is no shortage of books detailing the history of Broadway houses. It's been a fertile subject for scholarship and memoirs. But Tepper's approach is unique and rewarding: She tells her stories in chronological order, going back to the early 20th century and ending in the present day, reconstructing the birth of legendary hits, the stories of appalling flops, memorable encounters and the people who made them all come alive.

The latest edition takes readers inside the walls of the Broadhurst, the Belasco, the Edison, the Lyric, the Majestic, the Schoenfeld, the Walter Kerr and the St. James. Each chapter is brimming with history and personal testimonials, featuring contributions from the likes of Barbara Cook, Patti Lupone, Harold Prince, Richard Frankel, Jordan Roth, Susan Stroman, Tom Viertel, Marsha Mason, Fritz Weaver, John McMartin, Julie Halston, Charles Busch, and Elizabeth Ashley. The new volume also focuses on the sagas of women and people of color, whose stories have not received the attention they deserve.

Take the St. James. You may have seen many shows there over the years, but you might not have known that:

• In 1941, the theatre was rocked by the opening of "Native Son," a play based on Richard Wright's novel. The show offered a brutally honest view of American racism, years ahead of its time, and was fiercely controversial. It featured a scene in which a black man was in bed with a white woman, sparking ripples of discomfort in the audience. The play closed prematurely after three months at a financial loss, even though New York critics showered it with praise.

• The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS campaign was kicked off at the St. James, with Marvin Hamlisch opening the drive by playing the overture from "A Chorus Line."

• President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, loved Broadway and wanted to fit in one last night in Manhattan before his 1961 inauguration. They attended "Do Re Mi" at the St. James, and Tepper writes: "At intermission, when he went to smoke a cigar in the St. James' gentlemen's lounge, JFK was gawked at by crowds of female theatregoers."

• Producer Tom Viertel recalled an unforgettable moment in "The Producers" when, two-thirds of the way through "Springtime for Hitler," an 80-something-year-old man who was offended by the portrayal of Hitler angrily confronted Mel Brooks in his seat and began to attack him. Audience members managed to push the man out the exit door into the lobby, and when Viertel asked General Manager Laura Green why the man remained in the lobby, she said: "Because his wife's in the front row and she's having a ball!"

• Mel Marvin, a Broadway writer and arranger, said the St. James is popular "because of how shows sound in that space...None of the big musical theater houses on Broadway were built for the technology we have today. They were built to have really good acoustics so that you could hear singers live, without microphones or speakers, (but) the St. James sounded great back in the day, and it sounds great now. There's just a way that sounds fit together well in that space."

• The St. James has been home to hits like "Oklahoma!" "The King and I," "Hello Dolly!" and "The Pajama Game," but it's also has had its share of disasters. "Broadway Opry '79" hoped to package country songs for New York audiences. But the show closed after only two performances in 1979, the house's shortest running production.

The St. James chapter, which opens the book, paints a vivid portrait of a theatre beloved for its intimate connection with audiences--and cursed for its shallow stage depth (only 23 feet). You could get lost in all of the stories, but the best part is that it's just one of eight love letters to the Temples of Broadway in Tepper's latest edition. And there are more volumes to come.

Like the passionate artists on whom she shines a light, the author was bitten by the drama bug early. She moved to New York City at 18, and fell in love with the Great White Way. In the introduction, Tepper pens a moving tribute to that lifelong attraction:

"In a world where historic places are destroyed every day to make room for the new, New York City has the privilege of having dozens of 100-year-old Broadway theaters where show folk and audiences today do the exact same things they did a century ago," she writes. "A kid hands their ticket to a Shubert usher and walks inside to have their life changed forever. This happened in 1913, and it happens today."

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Auction Market Holds Strong in Light of Last Week's Market Fluctuations

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After steep fluctuations in the U.S. market last week, many eyes have shifted to the major auction houses to see if there would be repercussions in the art market during one of the biggest auction weeks of the year. Fortunately, the sales, so far, have supported the strength of the market and encouraged bidding frenzy for major works.

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Jean-Michel Basquiat, Air Power, 1984


Sotheby's white-glove, 3-day auction of David Bowie's private collection broke records earlier this week in London, creating an exciting and encouraging start to fall auction week in New York. The collection totaled $51.7 million with premium, with the first day bringing in $38.1 million. The star lot, Jean-Michel Basquiat's Air Power (1984) sold for $8.8 Million, well over its pre-sale estimate of $3.1 to 4.3 million.

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Edvard Munch, Girls on the Bridge, 1902


Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art sale ended with a total $157.7 million with premium, right in the middle of the $145 million to $186.5 million pre-sale estimate, and resulted with 92% sold by value and 81% of works sold. The star lot for this particular sale was Edvard Munch's Girls on the Bridge (1902) which was sold for $54.2 million with premium, $4 million over its original estimate of approx. $50 million. This hammer price secured Girls on the Bridge as the second highest auction price paid for a work by Edvard Munch, with the highest records being $119.9 million, the price paid for The Scream (1895) at Sotheby's in 2012. Another highlight of the sale was Pablo Picasso's Tete de femme (1961), sold for $8.45 million and surpassed the work's pre-sale estimate of $6 million to $8 million.

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Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, EM1 (Telephone Picture), 1923


Museums also took advantage of the great work offered this sale season to add to their permanent collections. MoMA acquired Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's EM1 (Telephone Picture) (1923) for $6 million at the Sotheby's evening sale. This work will join the other 2 works in the series, EM2 and EM3, that were gifted to the museum in 1971 by Philip Johnson in honor of Moholy-Nagy's widow, Sibyl Moholy-Nagy.

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Willem de Kooning, Untitled XXV, 1977


Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale totalled $276.9 million, with 89% of lots sold and 94% sold by value. Highlights of the sale were attributed to record-breaking prices for individual artist markets, including the markets of WIllem de Kooning and John Currin. Willem de Kooning's Untitled XXV (1977) sold for $66.3 million with premium, crushing de Kooning's previous record of $32.1 million for Untitled VIII (1977) in 2013 at Christie's. John Currin's Nice 'n Easy (1999) reached $12 million, a record-breaking price for the artist's market.

There are more exciting sales to come and we are excited to see the results of those sales later this week.


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'Magic City' in Dresden: Exhibition Of Street Artists And City As Muse

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An unusual amalgam of the interactivity of the street combined with the formality of a gallery environment, Magic City opened this fall in a converted factory in Dresden, Germany with an eclectic selection of 40+ artists spanning the current and past practices of art in the street.

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Skewville. Children enjoying Skewville's "tete-a-tete" shopping cart. Ernest Zacharevic's mobile in the background. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


With revered culture critic and curator Carlo McCormick at the helm alongside curator Ethel Seno, the richly marbled show runs a gamut from 70's subway train writers and photographers like Americans Daze, Henry Chalfant, and Martha Cooper to the Egyptian activist Ganzeer, Italian interventionist Biancoshock, popagandist Ron English, and the eye-tricking anamorphic artist from the Netherlands, Leon Keer.

Veering from the hedonistic to the satiric to head-scratching illusions, the collection allows you to go as deep into your education about this multifaceted practice of intervening public space as you like, including just staying on the surface.

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Ernest Zacahrevic mobile with a "listening station" on the left. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


It's not an easy balance to strike - some of these artists have heavy hearts and withering critiques of human behaviors and institutional hypocrisies ranging from 1st World treatment of refugees to celebrity culture to encroaching surveillance on individual rights, government oppression, and urban blight.

Magic City doesn't try to shield you from the difficult topics, but the exhibition also contains enough mystery, fanboy cheer, eye candy and child-like delight that the kids still have plenty of fun discoveries to take selfies with. We also saw a few kissing couples, so apparently there is room for some romance as well.

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A visitor to Magic City enjoys a "listening station". (photo © Jaime Rojo)


"We believe that even the typical city is uncommon, and that the idiosyncrasies that make each city unique are collectively something they all have in common," says McCormick in his text describing the exhibition. "This is then a celebration of the universal character of cities as well as a love letter to their infinite diversity. The special magic that comes from our cities is germinated in the mad sum of their improbable juxtapositions and impossible contradictions."

Of particular note is the sound design throughout the exhibition by Sebastian Purfürst and Hendrick Neumerkel of LEM Studios that frequently evokes an experiential atmosphere of incidental city sounds like sirens, rumbling trains, snatches of conversations and musical interludes. Played at varying volumes, locations, and textures throughout the exhibition, the evocative city soundscape all adds to a feeling of unexpected possibilities and an increased probability for new discovery.

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Olek's carousel from above. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


Obviously this Magic City cannot be all things to all people, and some will criticize the crisp presentation of a notably gritty series of subcultures, or perhaps the omission of one genre or technique or important artist. It's not meant to be encyclopedic, rather a series of insights into a grassroots art and activism practice that continues to evolve in cities before our eyes.

For full disclosure, we curated the accompanying BSA Film Program for Magic City by 12 artists and collectives which runs at one end of the vast hall - and Mr. Rojo is on the artist roster with 15 photographs of his throughout the exhibition, so our view of this show is somewhat skewed.

Here we share photographs from the exhibition taken recently inside the exhibition for you to have a look for yourself.

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Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Ron English (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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A MadC installation made with thousands of spray can caps. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Belgian urban naturalist ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Skewville. ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Skewville (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Daze (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Martha Cooper at the gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Henry Chalfant at the gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Bordalo II (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Andy K. detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Dan Witz (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Dan Witz (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Isaac Cordal. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Isaac Cordal (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Anders Gjennestad AKA Strok (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Icy & Sot with Asbestos on the left. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Replete (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Truly (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Leon Keer (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Jaime Rojo. A young visitor enjoying the Kids Trail through a peephole with Jaime's photos inside an "electrical box". (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Jaime Rojo. The Kids Trail wasn't only for kids it seems. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Tristan Eaton on the right. Olek on the left. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Aiko at the Red Light District. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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The Yok & Sheryo (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Herakut. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Herakut (photo © Jaime Rojo)


Full list of participating artists:

Aiko, AKRylonumérik, Andy K, Asbestos, Benus, Jens Besser, Biancoshock, Mark Bode, Bordalo II, Ori Carino & Benjamin Armas, Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, Isaac Cordal, Daze, Brad Downey, Tristan Eaton, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Fino'91, Ganzeer, Anders Gjennestad, Ben Heine, Herakut, Icy & Sot, Leon Keer, Loomit, MadC, OakOak, Odeith, Olek, Qi Xinghua, Replete, Roa, Jaime Rojo, Skewville, SpY, Truly, Juandres Vera, WENU, Dan Witz, Yok & Sheryo, Ernest Zacharevic.

Visit MAGIC CITY DRESDEN for more details, news, videos and the blog.

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A version of this article is also posted on Brooklyn Street Art here.
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Photos From A D.C. Anti-Trump Protest, 11-12-16

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Post-Truth Heroine: Miss Sloane

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Oxford Dictionaries just declared "post-truth" as its 2016 international word of the year. The heart of the definition is how public opinion is shaped less by objective facts and more by emotional appeals.

Which brings me to the movie, Miss Sloane, directed by John Madden and starring Jessica Chastain. Billed as a political thriller, I prefer to call it a drama filled with plenty of edgy twists and turns, and, yes politics are involved. On its surface, the game is about the gun lobby and its opposition. The real story is about Power--its pursuit, the avid hunger for it, and who can play the game best. The movie is also a character study.

Enter Elizabeth Sloane, the Machiavellian heroine/villain of the movie. She's a successful special-interest lobbyist on Capitol Hill, who is driven to win and appears to give little thought to the various causes she represents, or to the people she uses to achieve her goals. She manipulates not only the truth, but the emotions of the people involved.

People in business cultivate a placid demeanor that reveals nothing of what they might be plotting, I mean, thinking. Women generally have to work harder at this since we're encouraged from childhood to be open, amenable, and cooperative. Miss Sloane didn't get that memo. Jessica Chastain not only plays a brilliant, unscrupulous character, but she manages to conceal all emotion while she's scheming. Her private time is another matter.

I like my heroes and heroines to be a mixed bag of angel and devil: Miss Sloane epitomizes this, but it takes a while for the cracks to show. She's an insomniac who pops prescription uppers to keep going. So she's got a bit of ADHD. Who doesn't?

She hires a male escort to meet her in bed, sex and no emotional exchanges, please. This humanized her for me. Don't count on erotic scenes here, Miss Sloane is on a schedule and while she's squeezed this interlude into her calendar, her orgasm only requires his cooperation.

She's successful, but what will her next challenge be? For some inconceivable reason, she resigns from the most powerful lobbying organization in Washington. Her employer accepts the gun lobby's appeal to get the female vote against a bill requiring background checks for firearm purchases. She leaves to go work for the other side fighting to pass the bill, taking her crew with her, all except for Jane Molloy (Allison Pill). She remains behind and asks for a raise.

Is there some personal history that would explain Miss Sloane's decision? The story turns on our lack of backstory. No flashbacks, folks. No gun violence revealed in her childhood. But that doesn't mean her crew might not have experienced such barbarity. Miss Sloane is not only willing to use such a personal history but she's ready. She leaves no stone unturned, no file unread, no internet device unhacked. The most remarkable aspect of the film is how viewers don't question this pristine--no doubt Ivy League educated--female's access to back alley nerds, the techno-henchman of the 21st century. The back alley scenes are dark, wet and dirty. No secret knocks, but Chastain does look over her shoulder before entering.

She appears to be winning public opinion in the gun control battle and her former firm calls for an "inquisition" into her tactics. Miss Sloane anticipated this. The pressure mounts. A few more cracks appear in her façade: she throws some stuff around in the privacy of her office. Still, Chastain makes it a momentous desk-clearing. A few exhausted tears, and more pills slide down her throat while she plans her next move. Make sure you surprise them is her motto.

Miss Sloane is in control of her future. She's all about choices. Prepare for the post-truth ride. You'll be surprised.

Opens: Nov. 25 (EuropaCorp. USA)

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alisson Pill, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Lacy, Sam Waterston, John Lithgow, David Wilson Barnes, Dylan Baker, Raoul Bhaneja, Chuck Shamata, Christine Baranski

Director: John MaddenScreenwriter: Jonathan Perera

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Pussi Artist Here. Let's Unite

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Donald Trump is now President-Elect of the United States, the most powerful and only superpower in the world. Let's keep it real. Read on.:

The United States is the world's only superpower, dominating the world's economic and political systems. With the strongest military and economy, the United States is capable of global power projection, giving it significant influence worldwide. Few countries dare to oppose America's political agenda.


(Oh, btw, I was "with her." For reasons in the aforementioned definition.)
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The peaceful transition of power has been established. Now we can get down to brass tacks.




This dribble about "uniting the country" looks like a stray dandelion growing in a garbage heap that Trump made with all his hate speech, pussy-grabbing, no content, fact-denying demagoguery.


We would love to unite. Unite around what? Build a bridge to what?


He incited people, exploited their genuine anger about the status quo and counted on them being "stupid" so they wouldn't use critical thinking. And boy was he ever right. He peddled snake oil and you bought it. And now you want us to drink the stuff?


People will die because of Trump's ineptitude, starting with access to healthcare by repealing Obamacare. Starting a trade war with China will greatly damage American businesses. (Do your homework, people.) Open season on Muslims and Mexicans.The KKK is jubilant. Thumbs up! for demeaning women.


You had other Republicans. But this guy -- critically thinking Republicans ran away from him like botulism.


Having a view that the establishment is a problem is legitimate. Choosing a "stupid" solution in the person of Trump-- what do you want from us -- unite behind stupid? That's like getting in a car when you know the driver is drunk.


Ain't ever going to happen.


People will die. And no more pretending we don't think Trump voters are stupid not because they are not intelligent but because they acted recklessly voting for Trump. There is no hate. We just love our country too much not to deal intelligently with problems.


Electing Trump was the dumbest and most dangerous thing Americans have done in my lifetime. (Clinton won the popular vote by about a million votes.) You want to unite? You gotta deal with "stupid" first.


Garrison Keillor said it best. "To all the patronizing b.s. we've read about Trump expressing the white working class's displacement and loss of the American Dream, I say, "Feh!" -- go put your head under cold water. Resentment is no excuse for bald-faced stupidity."


Trump is in now. You got your guy. We just don't have to patronize and pretend anymore just how stupid we think half the country is for handing over our beloved country to a snake oil salesman.  


Hey, you don't have to waste time with silly little name-calling vacuous rants on Facebook anymore either. You have four years to prove us wrong. Good luck with that. Your guy has been involved in 3500 lawsuits. Many were aimed at screwing the little guy out of money owed. Mr. President-Elect goes on trial at the end of the month for scamming students at his "Trump University."

You voted for him.

You may have abandoned your critical thinking but we will not. "Stupid is as stupid does."


We refuse to support stupid. That's why we'll never "unite." Unite with what?


Much love,
Pussi Artist

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Before Honoring Jude Law, Stars at Only Make Believe Talk "Sesame Street" and "Fraggle Rock"

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Only Make Believe, a non-profit organization that creates and performs interactive theatre for children in hospitals and care facilities, honored Academy Award nominee Jude Law and Gregory Lee, President & CEO of Samsung Electronics N.A. at its annual gala, "Make Believe On Broadway," November 14th at the St. James Theatre in New York.

Hosted by by Emmy winner John Oliver, the evening featured performances by stars of the stage and screen, including Josh Lucas, Julie Halston, Lesli Margherita, Adam Kantor and Montego Glover.

On the red carpet, I asked the performers what their go-to feel-good entertainment was when they would stay home from school, sick. After each revisited their own childhood, they also shared the most meaningful thing a child has said after seeing them perform.


Adam Kantor (Fiddler on the Roof, The Last Five Years)
I remember reruns of "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Genie." Nick at Night. "All That." Talk about characters that inspire hope.

Just a meaningful thank you. Or that, "You've inspired me to do something different."
"You've inspired me" means a lot to me. I was a kid who was inspired. The first thing that comes to mind is Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren in Dance of Death. I think I was about 16 or so. I said to Ian, "I'm an actor." He talked to me like a person, [asking]"What are you working on?"


David Bryan (Bon Jovi, Memphis)
When I was a kid, it was "Gilligan's Island." "The Gong Show." "Laugh In." When I was teenager, it was always comedies.

I get such great compliments back from kids. We do a lot of work with Make a Wish kids. I think it's just the greatest when you can take a kid who's sick and may not make it and give them an inch of hope and a couple of minutes not thinking about their health. It's a great organization.

Gregory Jbara ("Blue Bloods," Billy Elliot)
There wasn't TV when I was young. We would sit by the radio! In reality, we had Sunday morning cartoons. Those were big. "Gilligan's Island," original run. It was black and white.

I got to speak at my high school as a distinguished alumnus. The thrust of the speech was the most important thing you can do in life is figure out what makes you happy and pursue that. All the people who came into your life, gave birth to you, nurtured you, educated you - all they really want is for you to be happy. I got an email from a young man who wasn't even graduating that day. He was a sibling. It changed his attitude on his life... He felt, "Oh, OK. I don't have to be depressed all the time. Let me figure out what I want and pursue that." I felt very proud and grateful.

John Oliver ("The Daily Show," "Last Week Tonight")
I would watch cartoons. I really like cartoons. You won't know them. "Spot the Dog." You don't know "Spot the Dog," right? I could just make up some noises and they would sound like plausible British cartoons. You know "The Wombles"? They lived amongst rubbish, what you call garbage.

We actually had Make a Wish kids last night [at "Last Week Tonight"]. They liked the show about Edward Snowden. This kid has been in the hospital for the past eight months and he's been learning a lot about the Internet. And I talked to him for a while. He understood far more about it.

Jude Law ("The Young Pope," "Sherlock Holmes")
I used to like Buster Keaton. I used to like Harold Lloyd. I used to like Charlie Chaplin. I was a big fan of the silent movie stars.

Usually just that they enjoyed it. As an actor, you're always excited when someone sees something and they've connected with it.

Julie Halston (On the Town, You Can't Take It With You)
The movie of "Gypsy" with Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood. And the movie "Song of Bernadette." I either wanted to be a stripper or a saint. But I became an actress which was a split the difference. Being an actress was a good in the middle. I was obsessed with all the musicals. "My Fair Lady." "Hello, Dolly." "Funny Girl." "West Side Story." We had all the albums from all of them. We were pretty obsessed. I also watched "Million Dollar Movie," which allowed me to watch the movies over and over and over again. It was like TCM exploding. Vintage binging.

"You make me laugh." That is the best ever.


Josh Lucas ("The Mysteries of Laura," "Dear Eleanor")
I grew up with out a television. We were usually allowed to watch "Star Trek." My mother would take the TV out of the garage, if I was sick - truly, like a 16-inch television out of the garage - and plug it in. The TV show that she respected was "Star Trek." That world and the brilliance of it. We had a 16mm projector. And we'd go to the library and rent Charlie Chaplin movies on film. You'd hear the click.

Without a doubt, walking out of one of the screeners of "Glory Road," a 10-year-old boy in Dallas, TX, turned to his mom and said, "Mommy, I didn't know that white people didn't like black people." She said, "What?" He said, "I had no idea. Why would white people not like black people?" He was a white kid. He said, "Black people are way cooler than white kids!"

Kelli Barrett (Wicked, Doctor Zhivago)
"Fraggle Rock." "The Elephant Show." And I watched a lot of "Dirty Dancing." That was my favorite. I played it on a loop. I had to do [a lift] in college and I finally nailed it. It was an amazing moment. Just like Baby!

"I want to do this, too." It always means a lot when it's a child's first show. I was in Wicked, and it happened a lot. Little kids just in awe of it, saying, "I want to do that, too!" and being able to tell them, "You can, and you should and I encourage that."

Lesli Margherita (Matilda the Musical, Dames at Sea)
"Sesame Street." Completely. "The Muppets." I still watch "Sesame Street" to make myself feel better. [Being on it] would be a life goal. Still to this day I watch it. Grover [is my favorite character.] "Fraggle Rock." I'm excited it's coming back.

"Honestly, I'm so happy you're not mean in real life!" All the time I come out the stage door and try to talk to them. They're so excited. For me, for the kids to look at me as a peer and grow up and get to do what you do and be like you - that's huge.


Montego Glover (Memphis, It Shoulda Been You)
"Annie" the musical. Anything "Sesame Street." Anything with music and humor. And drunk Carol Burnett. People that transported me to another place. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." "Meet Me in St. Louis."

"I've never seen anybody onstage that looks like me." [I said], "There are so many of us just like me."

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The Joyce Announces an Exciting 2017 with Scottish Ballet, Hamburg, Whelan and More

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ZEALnyc, November 17, 2016

The Joyce Theater, the world's only theater built by dancers for dance, has announced an exciting Spring 2017 that features world premiers and New York debuts in its intimate, elegant Chelsea home.

The Joyce opens its season with a collaboration between New York City Ballet star Wendy Whelan and choreographer/dancer Brian Brooks, continuing a relationship that began at The Joyce in 2013. Some of a Thousand Words is their second collaboration and the two are joined by the very hip string quartet, Brooklyn Rider, in a score that features Glass, Adams, Braxton, Cooper and original work by Brooklyn Rider member Colin Jacobsen. The Whelan/Brooks collaboration garnered lots of praise three years ago, and this go round promises to be equally exciting.

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Wendy Whelan and Brian Brooks in 'Some of a Thousand words;'
photo by Nir Arieli


Scottish Ballet has won The Joyce Theater's 2017 Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance, and they celebrate with an early April residency and three New York premiers. Christopher Bruce's Ten Poems speaks of nostalgia to a reading of Dylan Thomas poems. Artistic Director Christopher Hampson's Sinfonietta Giocosa and Bryan Arias' Motion of Displacement also are on the bill for this anticipated Joyce-debut residency.

In March, The Hamburg Ballet also makes a Joyce debut with John Neumeier's Old Friends. Neumeier has created over 150 ballets since assuming his position with Hamburg in 1973, focusing on the preservation of ballet tradition in a modern, dramatic framework. Old Friends looks at changing relationships, set to the music of both Simon and Garfunkel and Chopin.

Other international companies play The Joyce including return visits by Sydney Dance Company (March), Compagnie CNDC Angers - Robert Swinston with works of Merce Cunningham (April), and Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart with the New York premiere of its full-length ballet, NIJINSKI.

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Ivan Urban and Alexander Riabko of Hamburg Ballet in 'Opus 100;'
photo by Kiran West


A number of Joyce favorites return this season including Ballet Hispánico (April), Stephen Petronio Company (March), Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (April) and Limón Dance in May.

In June, Joyce Unleased returns. Inaugurated in 2014, Unleashed highlights emerging and experimental artists in interesting New York City locations.

Since its opening in 1982, The Joyce Theater has provided New York with fascinating programming in a delightfully personal setting. With 2017, this tradition clearly continues.

Visit The Joyce Theater for more information on the Spring 2017 season.

Cover photo: Sophie Martin and Victor Zarallo of Scottish Ballet in Bryan Arias' 'Motion of Displacement;' photo by Andy Ross.

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ZEALnyc is an arts, entertainment and lifestyle media resource serving the NYC metropolitan area and beyond. Read more features below:

Storytelling Made Memorable by the Bill T. Jones / Artie Zane Company at the Joyce

Vail Dance Festival Presents a 'ReMix' with Great Results

'Natalia Osipova and Artists' Present a Mixed-Bill with Mixed Results

For all the news on New York City arts and culture, visit ZEALnyc Front Page.

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In the Wake of Trump Victory, New York's Auction Week Perseveres With Solid Results

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Edvard Munch, Pikene på broen (Girls on the Bridge), 1902, oil on canvas, 39 3/4 x 40 3/8 in. (101 x 102.5 cm). Estimate: on request, in excess of $50 million. Price Realized: $54,487,500 million.



While there was much speculation about the effect that the United States' upset presidential contest might have on the art market, this week's New York sales proved that the auction market remains as impervious to politics as it does to criticism. The Picassos, the Warhols, and the Richters were bought and sold, like any other day, regardless of who is advancing to the White House and who is marching in the street. And while the market is certainly experiencing a contraction from the spectacle of just a few years prior, overall the sales were solid and steady, though a touch subdued.





László Moholy-Nagy, EM 1 Telephonbild, conceived in 1922, executed in 1923, porcelain enamel on steel, 37 1/2 x 23 3/4 in. (95.2 x 60.3 cm). Estimate: $3,000,000 - 4,000,000. Price Realized: $6,087,500. Courtesy of Sotheby's.



At least one glass ceiling was ruptured: Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale started off the week on Monday, November 14, with auctioneer Helena Newman -the first female auctioneer to lead a major evening sale in New York - commanding the room. The star lot of the sale, Edvard Munch's Girls on a Bridge (1902), started at $43 million and quickly rose until stalling at $50 million for what felt like an excruciating length of time. Imploring looks and queries were cast across the room, until Newman finally gave in, settling for the hammer price of $50 million ($54.5 million all told). It's the third time the painting has been sold at Sotheby's, and it set records each time it was auctioned previously. This week's result would have made it a three-for-three record-setter, were it not for The Scream, which set the all time record for the artist at $119.9 million in 2012. Recently on view at the Guggenheim retrospective of László Moholy-Nagy, EM 1 Telephonbild (1922-23), billed as an early conceptual work of art, was another highlight of the evening, selling for a record-setting $6 million. Not all were winners, however; a highly anticipated Tamara de Lempicka portrait of a male subject, from the collection of fashion illustrator Kenneth Paul Block and textile designer Morton Ribyat, failed to sell. Overall, the auction was a success, however, with the evening sale total coming in at $157.7 million, with $38.8 million resulting from the Tuesday's Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale, bringing Sotheby's total to $196.5 million - a reassuring result given the charged political climate.







Willem de Kooning, Untitled XXV, 1977, oil on canvas, 77 x 88 in. (195.7 x 223.5 cm). Estimate in the region of $40 million. Price Realized: $66,327,500. Courtesy of Christie's.



Jean Dubuffet, Les Grandes Artères, 1961, oil on canvas, 44 3/4 x 57 1/2 in. (113.7 x 146 cm). Estimate: $ 15,000,000 - 20,000,000. Price Realized: $ 23,767,500. Courtesy of Christie's.



Christie's started out auction week with its Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on Tuesday, led by a 1977 Willem de Kooning abstract painting, Untitled XXV. When it first came to Christie's, in 2005, it set a world auction record for both the artist and any post-war work of art sold at auction at $27.1 million; on Tuesday it smashed the record for de Kooning, selling for $66.3 million. (The current record for a post-war work of art is currently held by Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud (in 3 parts) sold at Christie's for $142.4 million.) Other notable lots included a marvelous, grand canvas by Dubuffet, Les Grandes Artères (1961), which achieved $23.7 million, over its high estimate of $20 million; a John Currin painting that sold for $12 million, setting a record for the artist; and the Gerhard Richter abstract from the collection of Eric Clapton, which sold for $22 million. Certain lots sparked bidding wars, ranging from the exhilarating - a frenzied bidding over a 2011 abstract painting by Italian artist Giuseppe Gallo, which sold for $367,500, far exceeding its high estimate of $60,000, and setting a record for the artist at auction - to the exasperating - an Adrian Ghenie painting prompted a spirited bidding contest between two bidders in the room, but the price was inching upward by only $50,000 increments, to the consternation of cajoling auctioneer Jussi Pylkännen, until the spell was broken by a third party who outbid them both. The total for the evening amounted to $276.9 million.







Carmen Herrera, Cerulean, 1965, acrylic on canvas, in artist's frame, 69 x 68 1/2 in. (175.3 x 174 cm). Estimate: $600,000 - 800,000. Price Realized: $970,000. Courtesy of Phillips.



Gerhard Richter, Düsenjäger, 1963, oil on canvas, 51 1/8 x 78 3/4 in. (130 x 200 cm). Estimate: $25,000,000 - $35,000,000. Price Realized: $27,130,000. Courtesy of Phillips.



Wednesday's evening sales started with Phillips' 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which opened up with Carmen Herrera's Cerulean (1965), selling for $970,000 - a record for the recently rediscovered, centenarian abstract artist. Another auction record for a female Latin American artist was set with Mira Schendel's Sem titulo (XII) (1985-86), also at $970,000. While the star lot of the sale, Gerhard Richter's Düsenjäger, did not soar to the heights the auction house might have hoped for, instead hovering near its low estimate, it brought in the highest price of the evening, selling for $25.5 million. Other notable lots included Roy Lichtenstein's Nudes in Mirror (1994), which achieved $21.5 million, and a rare, untitled Clyfford Still from 1948-49, which brought in $13.6 million. The sale totaled $111 million, an impressive 66% increase over the same sale last year.







Claude Monet, Meule, 1891, 28 ⅝ x 36 ¼ in. (72.7 x 92.1 cm). Estimate upon request. Price Realized: $ 81,447,500. Courtesy of Christie's.



Wassily Kandinsky, Rigide et courbé, 1935, oil and sand on canvas, 44 7/8 x 63 7/8 in. (114 x 162.4 cm). Estimate: $18-25 million. Price Realized: $ 23,319,500. Courtesy of Christie's.



Christie's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale followed, with its most anticipated lot surpassing all expectations: Claude Monet's Meule (1891), a rapturous rendition of a grainstack at sunset, burnished with golds, purples, and greens, achieved a jaw-dropping $81.4 million, a record for the artist at auction. Demand for the sumptuous Monet grainstack was high - as auctioneer Andreas Rumbler reminded everyone, "There won't be another one for quite some time." Another auction record was set with Wassily Kandinsky's Rigide et courbé (1935), which fetched $23.3 million. A Dora Maar portrait by Picasso, from 1938, sold for $22.6 million, to Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa, but another Dora Maar portrait, from 1943, estimated between $9 and 12 million did not sell. There were a few other notable passes: a rare August Strindberg painting, estimated between $3 and 5 million; a Matisse nude, estimated at $2.5 to 3.5 million; and a Cézanne landscape, expecting between $10 and 15 million, all failed to find buyers. In total, the sale brought in $246.3 million, bringing Christie's running total to $584.4 million for the week (as of Wednesday evening).





Jean-Michel Basquiat, Brother's Sausage, 1983, acrylic, oilstick and paper collage on canvas, 48 x 187 1/2 in. (121.9 x 476.2 cm). Estimate: $15,000,000 - 20,000,000.



Auction week continues tonight, Thursday, November 17, with Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction. Lots to look forward to include Jean-Michel Basquiat's six-panel tour de force Brother's Sausage, of 1983, estimated between $15 and 20 million; one of Andy Warhol's last works, Self-Portrait (Fright Wig) (1986), estimated around $20 to 30 million; a monumental Hockney landscape with an estimate of $9 to 12 million; and works from the collection of Steven and Ann Ames, including works by Richter, Philip Guston, Robert Ryman, Sigmar Polke, and Anselm Kiefer. The sale is estimated to reap between $208.5 and $302.3 million.



 



--Natalie Hegert



 

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The Final Solution: The Empire Strikes Back

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A lot of people who didn't want Donald Trump to be elected have been made more uncomfortable about the results than they actually were about 9/11, if feelings about such atrocities are quantifiable. The New York Times Style section even ran a piece about the anodynes selected by sufferers in the wake of the cataclysmic events of November 8 ("Can Yoga Help Chase the Postelection Blues," NYT, 11/16/16). But what exactly is the source of the discomfort and how does it differ from the election of other Republicans that were not to the liking of Democratic or liberal leaning voters? If Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Ben Carson or Carly Fiorina had won would the anecdotal reporting of depression have been so prevalent? Actually, the election of Donald Trump does bear some resemblance to 9/11 since it represents the power of a previously unforeseen juggernaut. Trump was obviously not the darling of either the Republican establishment or the Tea Party and there were virtually no polls or news services that predicted his winning. But the element of surprise was exacerbated by the demographic which showed up to vote for the Republican nominee. Only Trump and some of his closest advisors seem to have realized what was going on and their response was purely based on the huge numbers coming out of the woodwork to attend rallies. A rally is one thing and an election the other, but in this case the almost evangelical enthusiasm for a candidate who as he himself said "could shoot somebody and not lose voters" was practically impossible to parse. Trump falls in the category of super charismatic figures like JFK and Roosevelt and it's possible that even they would flag in comparison to the unconditional love he seems to have elicited from a demographic of primarily non-educated white males. So what is the source of the suffering in the anti-Trump camp? The answer may come from Star Wars where the Force has its dark side that manifests as The Empire. The election of 2016 was not politics as usual and what was unleashed also displays the characteristics of science fiction movies like George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, whose vision of a race of zombies is a thinly veiled allegory for the totalitarian vision that the Trump putsch epitomizes.









{This was originally posted to The Screaming Pope, Francis Levy's blog of rants and reactions to contemporary politics, art and culture}

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Christian McBride Celebrates James Brown, the Godfather of Soul

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By Dan Ouellette, ZEALnyc Senior Editor, November 18, 2016

In the mid '90s when he was a young, frisky jazz guy from Philadelphia who was taking New York by storm, bassist Christian Scott talked to me for an article in Strings magazine about some of his heroes. On the jazz bass tip, he singled out Ray Brown, who embraced the youngster's talent, and Ron Carter, who was, let's say, not as enthusiastic and even mean-spirited.

But even though McBride's career path had him zeroed in on jazz, he hastened to add that he was a kid of funk pop music. He loved Larry Graham, the original bassist for Sly & the Family Stone, who launched into his own funkelicious solo career, and he was hip to all that was deep-grooved as he told me this fall when I played him a Thundercat track at the live Monterey Jazz Festival Blindfold Test I curate for DownBeat magazine. After listening to the tune "Oh Sheit It's X" from the electronic bassist's 2013 album Apocalypse, McBride said, "In the first couple of seconds I was thinking, oh, my, this was something from middle school, but I don't remember this tune. I was thinking this is right down to 1984 and an MTV classic. It should be something I know, but I don't. Then after listening to the lyrics, I thought, no, not 1984." He ended up figuring out it was Thundercat and praised him: "I like that stuff. It's so funky. Anything with a strong groove, I like. I don't care what you do on top, as long as the foundation is strong, I'm there."

Dial back to the Strings interview. Funk was one thing but the soul and strut of James Brown was quite another. He was tops on McBride's list of pop heroes. McBride has said that JB made him feel "strong, bold, almost immortal" and labeled him as "that rare type of artist that created an impenetrable force around the listener."

So imagine his pleasant surprise when Brown tuned into his 1995 debut album Gettin' to It and liked what he heard and invited the youngster to meet him. McBride said that in first talking with JB, the soul god said he was surprised that jazz musicians loved his music. McBride's response: "Guess what, Mr. Brown? All jazz musicians enjoy your music--at least the ones who like rhythm!"

The friendly JB soon turned ornery and even abusive over the years, obviously souring their relationship--as it turns out not an anomaly given the testimony of former band members who endured abuse from the leader when they were in his employ. McBride kept his distance, only keeping up his communication with his hero through his manager, Charles Bobbit.

Within ten years, McBride's career soared to the point where he was named the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's Creative Chair for Jazz. Part of his job: creatively curate shows. His immediate impulse was to contact JB through Bobbitt in hopes to get the dynamic singer to revisit his 1970 jazz album Soul on Top at the Hollywood Bowl with a full orchestral cast. After a long period of back-and-force communications, Bobbit finally signaled McBride that Brown had green-lighted the event. Much to his delight, Brown performed the work on September 6, 2006 (just a few months before he passed away on Christmas Day 2006). It was a thrill of McBride's life who not only conducted the band but also played bass.

Now ten years later, McBride has taken another giant step, becoming not only the top go-to bassist in jazz, but also the idiom's foremost statesman. This has included his artistic director roles--at the Newport Jazz Festival, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and Jazz House Kids--and his radio shows: NPR's Jazz Night in America and SiriusXM's The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian. On the music front he's a MACK Avenue recording star and a sideman in just about all the major jazz projects going. At the Monterey Jazz Festival this fall, he served as the musical director for the opening night orchestral tribute to Quincy Jones, "The A&M Years," and was recently announced as the winner of the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award to be presented by the Jazz Connect Conference in January.

As part of his role at NJPAC, he decided to pay tribute to his old hero and sometimes-friend James Brown with the "Get On Up" all-star celebration of JB's music as one of the concerts of the James Moody Jazz Festival in the center's Prudential Hall. Special guests include Sharon Jones--oftentimes called the female JB...but can she do the splits like he did?--Bettye LaVette and the James Brown Alumni Band featuring such former JB sidemen saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis and trombonist Fred Wesley. To top the evening off, Apollo Theater's DJ Jess will spin JB music for a funk dance afterparty.

McBride has said that in the Hollywood Bowl event "I lived my dream. I shared the stage with the Godfather of Soul, Mr. James Brown." At NJPAC he'll no doubt be remembering that experience which will make this show all the more special.
_______________________________________

Dan Ouellette, Senior Editor at ZEALnyc, writes frequently for noted Jazz publications, including DownBeat and Rolling Stone, and is the author of Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes and Bruce Lundvall: Playing by Ear.

Read more from Dan Ouellette below:

Dynamic Duo of Jazz Piano Improvisation: Herbie Hancock Converses Musically With Chick Corea in His Birthday Engagement at the Blue Note

The Young Elder Norah Jones and the New Upstart Kandace Springs Bring Fresh Vocal Life to Blue Note Records

Arturo O'Farrill Leads His Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra With Sizzling Rhythms and Subversive

For all the news on New York City arts and culture, visit ZEALnyc Front Page.

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Writers - When Is Short Too Short?

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"Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words"
― William Zinsser, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction


As writers and creators many questions cross our minds as we work on our ideas. One such pondering is when is short too short? When is enough, enough as a writer?

The Age of Skip Reading
Writing for an online audience presents its own challenges of course. With so much information bombarding us, audience habits have changed. Many of us have become less reader and more skip-reader.

We like online information packaged nicely for us so it's easy to absorb the takeaways. Lists and bullet points abound. Anything to get the message across simply.

Bite Sized Books are Not New
With the birth of the Kindle and ebook readers an abundance of super short reads has ensued. Many readers love these short books -- I know I do. Bite sized reads for the price of a coffee.

We may be forgiven for thinking short books are something new to support the electronic age. While the sheer volume of short form books has increased, short books themselves are certainly not new. In fact, some are very old. Some examples:

Tao Te Ching -- Lao Tzu
Although mystery will forever surround the actual date of composition and whether Lao Tzu was the work of one, or many, some of the texts date back to the 4th century (BC). What is very clear however is this masterpiece has stood the test of time. It's been translated into many languages and enjoyed by millions. It also happens to be a pretty short read although the wisdom in the pages give it unbelievable depth and lasting appeal.

The Art of War -- Sun Tzu
Another short (in word count) but deep and hard hitting book, Sun Tzu's classic on strategy in warfare and battle is still a modern day hit. The insight shared on the power of solid strategy, planning and preparation ensure this book has timeless lessons to teach that are broader than battlefields. It also happens to date back to 5th century (BC).

As Man Thinketh -- James Allen
Our shortest, and by far most recent, example still dates back to 1903.

Any book including the following passage is surely worth your time:
"A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." -- James Allen (As Man Thinketh)

The Brilliance of Haiku
The Japanese poetic form of haiku is another splendid example of what can be achieved with a minimal amount of text. The masters of haiku can set up a whole scene, feeling or emotion all with the most carefully chosen words.

It's easy to overlook the genius at play with this form of poetry when it's done well. Consider this offering from Matsuo Basho:

Poverty's child -
he starts to grind the rice,
and gazes at the moon.


Why We Love a Quote
A great quote can be the ultimate in a short, but heavy hitting message. We all love a good quote for a reason, there is often timeless wisdom to be mined, in short form.

Less Can Be More
Personally, my aim as a writer is to cut fluff and write as simply as possible. My writing still contains bloat that should not be there when I reflect on pieces already written. That's part of my journey as a writer and I am committed to refining and getting better. I also know that trying to write for everyone will dilute my message. I can only do my best and hopefully an audience will find some value in what's written.

Less can be powerful in the right hands. Hemingway and Charles Bukowski at their best could say so much with such economy. Such descriptive writing that paints vivid pictures but is also pretty tightly packed.

It All Has a Place
Longer form writing of course has its place as do many styles of writing. The literary world would be a very bland landscape if we all expressed ourselves in the same way. Fortunately, that is never likely to be a problem.

There's room for short and concise writing, there's room for long and verbose, there's room for romantic, there's even room for aggressive and angst ridden. Essentially there's room for all styles of writing.

As writers we have to be true to who we are and the work. Trying to be something we are not will never come over. We have to be authentic. As a reader, we have the ability to choose what and how we consume.

Long live short form, long live long form, long live the written word.


Note: This is a reworked version of an earlier post I wrote here

Carl is a writer. He writes short books full of big ideas. He is also the proud owner of Frictionless Living which is focused on helping readers find and live their own version of a simpler, good life.

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Pregnancy and "Illness"

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Audra McDonald, the star of Shuffle Along on Broadway, found herself pregnant last May, and, a month later, the show's producers cancelled the remainder of the run, instead of bringing in another performer to take over her role. The producers had purchased an insurance policy from Lloyds, which reportedly covered them in case Ms. McDonald was unable to perform because of "accident or illness". Putting aside whether the pregnancy was an "accident" (this will be litigated), is it an "illness"?

While there are laws and cases on this (one report says, "no"), a look back at perhaps the first case on this issue, involving my grandmother, Margaret Sanger, might be instructive.

One hundred years ago, on October 16, 1916, she opened America's first birth control clinic in Brownsville, Brooklyn. After ten days, the police shuttered the clinic as being in violation of the Comstock Law, which prohibited a person "to sell, or give away, or to advertise or offer for sale, any instrument or article, drug or medicine, for the prevention of conception; or to give information orally, stating when, where or how such an instrument, article or medicine can be purchased or obtained."

My grandmother freely admitted violating the law, as she dispensed birth control information to the women jamming her clinic, was convicted and was sentenced to 30 days in prison.

She appealed her conviction, an unusual step since she had admitted her guilt, and argued that what she had done was within the exception to the law, which stated: "An article or instrument, used or applied by physicians lawfully practicing, or by their direction or prescription, for the cure or prevention of disease, is not an article of indecent or immoral nature or use, within this article."

The issue came down to, what is "disease".

My grandmother argued that pregnancy was a "disease".

The New York Court of Appeals in 1918 in Sanger v. New York first noted that my grandmother was a nurse and not a physician and thus was not covered by the exception.

Nonetheless, obviously in sympathy with what she was doing, the Court unanimously said:

"This exception in behalf of physicians does not permit advertisements regarding such matters, nor promiscuous advice to patients irrespective of their condition, but it is broad enough to protect the physician who in good faith gives such help or advice to a married person to cure or prevent disease. 'Disease,' by Webster's International Dictionary, is defined to be, 'an alteration in the state of the body, or of some of its organs, interrupting or disturbing the performance of the vital functions, and causing or threatening pain and sickness; illness; sickness; disorder'."

My grandmother took this to mean that pregnancy was exactly that - an alteration in the state of the body, and an "illness". She was thereafter free to open her birth control clinics, mostly unhindered by the law, though raids happened from time to time.

While insurance law and contract law are a world of their own, public policy, and dare I say common sense, can intrude, just as the NY Court of Appeals showed in 1918. Pregnancy is no walk in the park, or on stage. If the Lloyds policy didn't specifically exclude pregnancy, shouldn't they be on the hook?

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Hamilton Brouhaha

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As a man of the theater I am not a big fan of anyone booing anyone - but I am a huge fan of the actor who courageously addressed the soon to be VP and asked him to represent everyone. Not a rude question to ask - not in a democracy. That he even had to ask it is a shame that belongs to Trump and Co. It was a question that flowed naturally from the appointment of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions and others of his ilk. Incidentally, I may sound ungenerous toward Trump voters but I don't think you voted for an overhaul in government - you voted for dirty air and dirty men; you voted for cruelty (the mocking of the man with the neurological disorder) you voted for mysogeny - the man on the bus and the pussy grabbers - you voted for greed - the man who swindled those who took his college courses, and saddest of all you voted for voter repression and racism - toss in a handful of homophobia, a smidgeon of anti-semitism, and fact is folks, you voted for evil. Now all of us are obliged to live with it. But some of us - young and old - will keep protesting it and fighting it as long as we live. Thank you, Hamilton cast members. The theater must treat this government as it did the South African government during apartheid. No, sir, we are not here to entertain you.

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On Jan Fabre, part 2: Scenes from the Moral Education of the Human Race

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This second article in my series about the absurdly productive trans-national art star Jan Fabre (the first is here) has very little to do directly with him or his work. Rather, it is about the State Hermitage Museum, one of the wonders of the world. We take a look at it because it is on this field which Fabre agreed to stake a claim. The Hermitage is interesting in itself, but it is also difficult to evaluate Fabre's work in his sprawling solo show "Knight of Despair/Warrior of Beauty" without some sense of the museum in which it is set.

As in real life, there is too much of the Hermitage for it to be adequately covered in any one session. How can I tell you the entire story of the thrones and crimson cloth, the robot peacocks and gold chandeliers, the frescoed arches and dim forgotten halls? I can't, and I saw only the tiniest fraction of it myself.

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Jordan Staircase at dusk, Winter Palace, State Hermitage Museum


Therefore we narrow our view to a few of the masterpieces in this realm of wonders, and let them stand for the rest. A museum with these alone would be enough. But of course there is endlessly more to the real thing.

The first is Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son. I have written about this painting before, but now I've seen it for myself. Here is what I had to say previously:

"Consider for a moment the father and son in Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son. Having returned to his father, the son kneels, clothes tattered, one foot bare where his shoe has fallen apart. He slumps against his father, head shaven and bowed, eyes closed. The father hunches over the son, bowed as well, worn with age and concern, blinded by his emotion. He has returned to the realm of touch: he rests his hands on his son's shoulders, in an all-encompassing gesture of relief, of forgiveness and ingathering. It is impossible to look at this painting without being struck blind, like the father, and awakened to the inner truths it conveys: that we are all going home, that we all need to be forgiven and don't deserve it - and that we are all waiting for those who have left, and that we have already forgiven them for their part in whatever it was that drove us apart."

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Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1668


Having seen it for myself, I have only one thing to add: the prodigal son really does look just like my friend Max Ritvo, an accomplished poet who passed away in August at the age of 25. Max's chemotherapy stole his hair, as the prodigal son's hair is lost. Max's face was tall and thin, with a strong jaw, prominent cheekbones, and a sharp nose, like Rembrandt's prodigal son. Like Rembrandt's prodigal son, Max tended to tuck his head into a hug. Like the prodigal son in the Gospel of Luke, Max was wealthy - in talents and gifts: knowledge, humor, wit, eloquence. And like Luke's prodigal son, Max had to abandon all his riches and return, though he would object to the phrasing, to his Father. Max isn't here to object, so I can phrase it as I please. The hands that embrace the prodigal son need not be that Father's in particular. They could be anyone's. They could be mine. These things I thought when I looked at this painting, which is enormous, and also mighty, in person at the Hermitage.

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detail, Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son


Let us turn to another Rembrandt at the Hermitage, Sacrifice of Isaac. Rembrandt evokes the drama of the scene with a painfully vertical composition - Isaac below Abraham below angel. Each figure is connected to the others by the hands - Abraham's left hand covers Isaac's face, and the angel's hand pulls Abraham's right hand, his killing hand, away. The angel's other hand rises up toward heaven, whence his order came. As for Isaac, with his oddly womanish chest, his hands are bound beneath him and invisible. The hands rise from powerlessness toward power in this arcing vertical composition. At the mid-level, from Abraham's killing hand, the knife is falling. The painting catches it mid-air. An instant of time passes in Sacrifice of Isaac, short enough for that knife to appear suspended in empty space.

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Rembrandt, Sacrifice of Isaac, 1635


Consider first the psychology of this painting, especially of that hand covering Isaac's face. It has several meanings. First, it is a utilitarian gesture: pushing back the head, as if Isaac were a farm animal, exposes his neck and chest to the blade. Second, it is a gesture of mercy: though Abraham operates under the necessity of God's cruel order, he retains the freedom to spare his son the sight of the descending knife, to impotently attempt to spare him some measure of terror, of hopelessness. And finally, it is a gesture of self-preservation: Abraham cannot bear to look Isaac in the face as he murders him. In hiding his face, he already makes his son into a thing. It is just about possible to apply the blade to a thing, but not to his son, surely not his son. We did the same in gross anatomy: a linen shroud over the face of the cadaver, and these were the bodies of strangers already dead, on whom we worked with our scalpels, but the linen helped, even so.

Above psychology, however, is philosophy. This is a painting of a turning point in the history of civilization and religion: the emergence of a god who rejects human sacrifice. Before the god of Abraham is the savage age of Moloch and Taranis and Huitzilopochtli - not "before" chronologically, but morally before, eons before. Before the god of Abraham, human beings are treated as objects, as instruments of utility. Everything miraculous about them may be demanded as a burnt offering to the god. The god creates, and devours his creation. I believe the Elohim who sends Abraham up that awful Mount Moriah is the same kind of monster as those forgotten older gods. But the Yahweh who sends the angel to stop him is a god horrified at his own command, a god who can learn and has learned. After Moriah, there is a better way. Men begin to worship an asymmetric god, a god who creates but is constrained from destroying. After Isaac, the life of man is an end in itself. It is no longer available as the meal of the divine.

We take this for granted, and have taken it for granted for thousands of years. But all good ideas have a beginning. We do well not to forget. Rembrandt has not forgotten. His mastery of light and dark, of composition and anatomy, allows him to express his deep understanding of psychology. His psychology, in turn, serves to illustrate his insight into the philosophy of god and man. A sufficiently good artwork is not an artwork. It is a truth, and not just any truth, but a truth of the most utter and necessary kind.

Behold da Vinci's Benois Madonna, the Madonna and child with flowers, that dear, dear painting:

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Leonard Da Vinci, Benois Madonna, 1478


Like so much of da Vinci's work, the superficial beauty of the thing is virtually an obstacle to comprehending its greatness (attribution of the painting is disputed; I don't care; it's great even without the Name). Its parts are harmoniously orchestrated into a pleasing whole, its lights and darks swirl around one another, the faces have the exactly-so grace of da Vinci's sense of features. Zoom for a moment into the flowers the infant Jesus is playing with:

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detail, Leonard Da Vinci, Benois Madonna


They are cruciform flowers. The scene appears lilting and innocent, but da Vinci prefigures the end at the beginning. This is not particularly what makes the painting so special. It is a common trope in Madonna and child paintings. No, what makes the painting special starts, as with Rembrandt, in psychology, and uses psychology as a springboard to moral philosophy. Zoom back a little bit and consider the scene.

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detail, Leonard Da Vinci, Benois Madonna, 1478


A very young Madonna is laughing as she holds up the sprig of Cruciferae flowers to Jesus. Her gesture is like her expression: she holds the flowers delicately, with humor. Jesus, on the other hand, is all business. He is before the age at which infants first laugh. He is very serious as he seizes hold of her hand with his left hand, and touches the flowers with his right. He inspects the flowers carefully. This is what play is like at its earliest infant stage - intensely curious, unselfconscious, unsmiling. Jesus's solemn concentration is what has made Mary laugh. She laughs because he's funny, and she loves him, and she's happy.

There is absolutely nothing special about this scene. All decent mothers of healthy children have experienced it. Da Vinci minutely observes and records here a thing that happens every single day under every flag in the world. There are many Madonna and child paintings, but very few in which the humanity of Jesus is so adeptly translated into a gesture so common as to be universal, and yet simultaneously miraculous, one of the constant real miracles of life on Earth.

This has a meaning. The great lesson of Abraham and Isaac is that no human life should serve any longer as a mere tool of the god. This lesson was learned long ago, but it still demands Rembrandt to teach it to us again, to help us understand its profundity. The great lesson of Mary and Jesus is that each individual human being is precious. No life is the same as another life. We are not fungible. The loss of any one life is a specific and unique tragedy beyond comprehension. Because Jesus condescends to be human, his death is able to stand for all deaths, and not only for all deaths, but for each death. Each death becomes monumental, as his death is monumental. In approaching him, we are forced into individual dignity. This is one of the paths by which he redeems us.

Da Vinci teaches this lesson, which also needs to go on being taught, by depicting Mary as just some girl, and Jesus as just a little baby, anybody's baby, hers, mine, yours.

Now look, I'm Jewish, and very proudly so. But I am not parochial in my admirations. What we are talking about here are two of the milestones in the moral history of the human race. The majesty of what we conceive of as human has a long history. It took a lot of building. Isaac and Jesus and their grieving parents helped to get us so far as we have come. And alongside the development of moral philosophy, it was necessary for these discoveries, these innovations, to be taught. Rembrandt and da Vinci are two of the great teachers of humankind, and these paintings we have been talking about are pivotal scenes in the moral education of the human race.

They are housed some dozens of yards from one another in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. They are among the several reasons it is a wonder of the world.

Next time we talk about scientists and magicians, and finally make our way to Jan Fabre.

To be continued.

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Stage Door: Dead Poets Society

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It's 1959 Eisenhower America, a fancy prep school in New England. The headmaster is smug, the kids range between privileged and awkward -- and authority rules.

Then a small miracle happens.

English teacher Mr. Keating (a wonderful Jason Sudelkis) arrives, proof that words elevate and ideas can change the world. He reminds the boys to "gather ye rose-buds while ye may," captivating them with the power and passion of poetry.

And suddenly, the spark ignites.

Dead Poets Society, now off-Broadway at CSC, is a beautifully rendered production, deftly directed with elegance -- and without sentimentality -- by John Doyle.

The boys come alive -- and despite their adolescent angst -- discover beauty and depth; which sounds ideal -- if their world wasn't run by pompous, authoritarian figures. Culture and sensibility are anathema to them. And a clash is inevitable.

Keating pushes the boys to open their minds and hearts in an era when conformity and anti-intellectualism rule. Oscar winner Tom Schulman adapted his screenplay, and it has added resonance in such an intimate setting.

We feel the boys' longings, much as we absorb the larger ethos. That the humanities can enhance your life is a valuable message; one that seems critically important today.

Doyle keeps his production lean, using books for desks and getting excellent performances from a strong ensemble cast that doesn't miss a beat: Zane Pais, Thomas Mann, Cody Kostro, William Hochman, Yaron Lotan, Bubba Weiler, David Garrison, Stephen Barker Turner and Francesca Carpanini.

But at the climatic moment of the play, a phone went off. It shattered the small theater -- robbing both actors and audience of a truly dramatic finale.

That outage wasn't enough: CSC permits food and drink in the theater, so the people next to me laid out a picnic on their laps. It's not Yankee Stadium.

No wonder Patti Lupone doesn't want to do theater any more.

The theater isn't your living room; it's an artistic enterprise worthy of respect and consideration. Otherwise, stay home. The brilliance of Dead Poets Society deserves nothing less.

Photo: Joan Marcus

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First Nighter: 'Kingdom Come,' 'Ultimate Beauty Bible' Angrily Go After Women's Issues

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If you have any doubt that women are concerned about regularly being ranked from 1 to 10 on a scale of 10, if you have any doubt that women are concerned about regularly being judged from myriad unnecessary angles, you better mosey around to Kingdom Come, at the Roundabout Underground, and Ultimate Beauty Bible, the Page 73 production at The New Ohio. They're two works that tackle these issues head-on.

Jenny Rachel Weiner wrote the former, and Caroline V. McGraw wrote the latter. In Kingdom Come, Samantha Carlin (Carmen M. Herlihy) and Layne Falcone (Crystal Finn) are women in despair over their looks who communicate deceptively in cyberspace. In Ultimate Beauty Bible, Danielle (Eboni Booth), Tiffany (Ariel Woodiwiss) and Autumn (Molly Griggs) are colleagues at a women's magazine whose lives don't exactly mirror the messages their publication sends editorially (see title).

(Curiously, both plays are well directed by men--Kip Fagan for Kingdom Come and Stephen Brackett for Ultimate Beauty Bible.)

I won't hold out for either play being entirely persuasive, but they add substantially to the national discussion of revelations about skewed attitudes towards women as magnified during President-elect Donald J. Trump's campaign.

In Kingdom Come, Samantha, or Sammy, is an obese young Carson City, Nevada woman for whom it's painful even to get out of bed. (Think of a female counterpart to the protagonist in Samuel D. Hunter's The Whale.) To amuse herself between shifts filled by kindly carer Delores Aquendo (Socorro Santiago) she pretends online to be Delores's hunky son Dominick (Alex Hernandez), a former classmate of hers.

She even sends Layne pictures of Dominick she's taken during visits to her bedside the extremely pleasant fellow, now an aspiring Hollywood actor, has made. The beefcake shots help her lure across-town Layne into a cyberspace affair. It's the two women's body-image despair that entangles them and worsens when Layne, thinking to confront the person she assumes is her true inamorata drives to California, confronts the perplexed Dominick and actually wins his love.

Whereupon--this is when Kingdom Come does some mighty heavy credulity stretching--Dominick brings Layne to meet Sammy. Before too long the two women realize who they are to each other, and, as the play ends, the sham leaves them flummoxed.

If you're thinking that Sammy's online love letters, which are supposed to be from one person but are actually written by another, are reminiscent of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, you've got it right. Probably, Weiner also knows on what classic she's spinning. She's done a good job, if not a completely convincing one.
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Playwright McGraw is somewhat less blatant about body image in Ultimate Beauty Bible, although Danielle does announce early that she's been given an ovarian cancer diagnosis, and her checkered progress is followed throughout the caustic, intermissionless piece.

At the same time as she's been told her condition, she begins a romance with the appealing Kit (Alex Breaux), who in due time is exposed to Danielle's cynical roommate Lee (Nadine Malouf). Though Kit and Lee take an instant dislike to one another, it isn't that long before dislike thaws into like and then even more than that, leaving Danielle to look on disparagingly.

Throughout, editor Tiffany behaves dictatorially to everyone, not unlike women bosses are often shown to be these chilly days. (This isn't new, of course. Joan Crawford was the same hard-nosed figure in the 1959 movie adaptation of Rona Jaffe's The Best of Everything, which also poked into the lives of Manhattan working girls in publishing.) Griggs, playing an ambitious intern, arrives intermittently to vouchsafe her philosophical thoughts in a spotlight.

Whether what Autumn has to say adds up to anything meaningful is questionable. She does confront Tiffany about moving up the editorial ladder. Largely due to McGraw's singeing dialogue, the tete-a-tete makes for a juicy scene. Other plot developments might strike patrons as familiar. Surely, a woman stealing a roommate's boyfriend has been spotted before.

Pointedly, though, McGraw has her way with dialogue throughout, which the cast--including Sathya Sridharan as another sympathetic, sympathizing male--delivers forcibly. If there's a first among troupe equals, it's Malouf, who has a memorably biting approach to the maledictions.

It so happened I saw the plays on successive nights. Consequently, it was hard not to be moved by the similar themes so relevant to contemporary women's compromised circumstances. It's no wonder women playwrights nowadays--surely advised as all writers traditionally are to write about what they know--are writing about what they know of being treated as second-class citizens.

Let's hope women playwrights--why not men, too?--continue along those lines in order to keep theater cogent at a time when society needs every ounce and inch of help it can get. It certainly looks as if more and more plays at the moment are of the moment. Noticeably. How great for theatergoers if things remain this way.

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A Trio of Tangents at Walter Wickiser Gallery

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Edmund Ian Grant, The Messenger, 2014, Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 41"


Currently, the Walter Wickiser Gallery features three one-person exhibitions that propose very different and deliberate takes on the human psyche. Each artist elaborates on the essence of being, one's state of mind, conscious or unconscious - it all counts. A second unifying thread in all the art here is the fact that the computer and its many graphic functions plays a significant role in their process of creating art.

Edmund Ian Grant, who is the only one of the three that currently employs color to express his observations, begins his creative process with a series of studies that employ any and all media to construct preliminary compositions. From there, the most inspiring study of the lot is digitally photographed then printed on canvas in non-descript, darks and lights. This leaves the artist any number of opportunities or avenues to either change or enhance the surface with multiple layers of color. The result is quite mysterious and potent as each portrait or scene teeters on the edge of change where a soul might be arriving at a pivotal crossroads or defining moment in their tortured life, to a quiet moment of repose following a never ending daily grind.

Being a jazz musician in addition to a visual artist, we see an improvisational mindset in Grant's style that puts forth a multitude of visual prose and passages that manifests itself most often in nighttime vignettes. Given that darkened mood or atmosphere, Grant sometimes includes a brightly colored end of a lit cigarette and red-eyed pupils of his subject to pierce the shadows, as with Palookaville (2014), The Messenger (2014) and Here's That Rainy Day (2016).

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Edmund Ian Grant, Tossin' Dem Bones, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48"


There are a number of Grant's works that include musicians, including Tossin' Dem Bones (2013), where dice (bones) is being thrown behind a soulful trumpeter. What is most interesting about this particular narrative is the artist's use of visual space, the distortion of the forms and the dynamics of the composition that make the whole thing 'off' in a very cool and compelling way. It reminds me quite a bit of what was coming out of West Germany in the 1980's when artists like the Neo-Expressionists Jörg Immendorff and Helmut Middendorf where making themselves known here in the U.S. as the next wave of bold, figurative, narrative painters. Aside from the modified Cubist style that Grant features, it is impossible to look at his art without thinking of Picasso, especially with the mixed media painting titled The Stain of Humanity (2016), when one notes the brightly shining lamp or candle that is featured as a primary element within the composition, and the shadow of a bull in the rather quiet background.

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Robert Firestone, Schizophrenia, 2016, Lightjet print facemount acrylic, polished edge, acrylic back, 30" x 40"


Robert Firestone, the clinical psychologist, author, and artist offers a series of works that focus on the more fragile aspects of the human condition. Schizophrenia (2016) has a definite intensity, ala Georges Rouault, while works like Confrontation (2016) and Girlfriends (2014) have a sort of 1960's psychedelic feel that is quite stimulating to the eye and mind.

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Sangjun Chon, Jeux Des Image 4, 2015, Pigment prints, 26" x 36"


Sangjun Chon offers a bit of comic relief, albeit dark, with his wonderfully altered photographs. By combining photography that can be looked at as benign, incidental, even peripheral with 'drawings' that expand the narrative geometrically, Chon brings us to a place where Surrealism, the Graphic Novel and the subconscious mind can meet and make magic amounting to very exciting work that is well worth watching.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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