New York City Opera's Road Back -- An Interview with General Director Michael Capasso

January 3, 2017, 6:02 am

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Mark McLaren, ZEALnyc Editor in Chief, January 3, 2017

This week, New York City Opera continues its season with a Hal Prince mounting of Candide. From 1943 to 2013, NYCO had sat beside the Met as New York's other full-time repertory opera company. This production is the third in the first post-bankruptcy season, a season designed by General Director Michael Capasso on a production strategy meant to bring the company back to relevancy. ZEALnyc discusses with Mr. Capasso this production, his vision for a sustainable NYCO, and his strategies for success.

MM: Let's start with 'Candide.' Hal Prince is back for this production. What will we see that is original?

MC: This production is very much inspired by the previous productions that Hal Prince has done over the years including the environmental Brooklyn version that transferred to Broadway and the 1982 opera house version for City Opera. I think this is going to be another look at the piece for him, inspired by the original opera house version. It includes most of the music and lyrics, though we've made some changes.

Lauren Worsham, Judith Blazer and Daniel Reichard in New York City Opera's 2008 production of 'Candide' directed by Hal Prince; photo: New York City Opera.

It's going to be comfortable in that it's familiar enough, but if it's also different enough not to be same old same old.

The scenery is actually slightly different - a little darker. We have built it to the standards of 2016 versus 1982. We've added some things and we've taken away some things. It's going to be refreshed with choreography by Pat Birch and Hal has very specific ideas about how he wants to mix things up a bit.

MM: How about video?

MC: Well yeah. I mean the production of Florencia en el Amazonas last spring was entirely video driven - just platforms and amazing video.

We used video for a backdrop in Aleko / Pagliacci this fall. But Candide is all painted scenery, no video elements.

Video is very in right now for opera productions, particularly because it can be a cost savings. But that isn't always the case. The equipment can be very expensive and the designers still get paid the same amount whether they're designing a set or video.

So it's interesting. Video has to be done for a reason, it's got to match the piece. It worked with Florencia where there is a boat going down the Amazon. But a piece like Candide is not video driven in my opinion.

New York City Opera's production of 'Florencia en el Amazonas;'
photo: Sarah Shatz/New York City Opera.

MM: New York City Opera has a rich history and you're a component of that history right now. Talk to me about where you see New York City Opera sitting in the New York scene and how that has influenced your programming.

MC: City Opera is the 'people's opera.' By comparison, the Met I think of as the United Nations, it belongs to the world but it just happens to be in New York. The Met is a large, international, fantastic opera company. But it's not uniquely a New York institution, it's a world institution.

When I look at programming for City Opera, I think of our success in the past and in particular the way that Maestro Rudel would program. He would sell out performances of Carmen and Bohème on the weekends and put obscure repertoire like The Boy Who Grew Too Fast or Street Scene mid-week. He used warhorses to pay for his obscure opera habit.

So our City Opera can be much more of a New York institution and our programming, in keeping with the City Opera tradition, will be some standard repertoire and more contemporary and American opera.

In my opinion, City Opera is never going to be what it was, in that it's 120 performances in multiple productions in rep in that large theater. The world has changed.

So I think we're going to grow. But I think it's definitely a stagione system, it's not rep. I think the Rose Theater is an ideal size for opera. We'll program warhorses, if you will, but in interesting pairings like Pagliacci and Rachmaninoff's Aleko, which have never been paired before and did well at the box office.

Inna Dukach and Stefan Szkafarowsky in 'Aleko' at New York City Opera;
photo: Sarah Shatz/New York City Opera.

We program Candide which has a great track record for the company and we follow it with a Respighi opera that hasn't been performed in New York in eighty years. A very City Opera type piece of programming.

Angels in America comes in June and it's no mistake that we're doing it during Pride Month, a commitment to doing a gay themed opera in Pride Month going forward.

Now when City Opera left Lincoln Center, they were nomadic. They would do two productions in rapid succession. And months would go by before they did anything again. If you were busy you could have missed half the season just by having a vacation schedule at the wrong time.

So we have the chamber works at alternate facilities, and which are designed to keep us in the public eye. Every six weeks or so City Opera has some activity. So far that model has worked and has been successful.

The cast at the first rehearsal of New York City Opera's new production of 'Candide;' photo: Leslie Granger/New York City Opera.

MM: Do you consider the Rose Theater your permanent home?

MC: Yes definitely. I think it's very clear that the Rose Theater is where we're going to remain. It's 1,100 seats and has a large orchestra pit in a gracious acoustic. It's ideal for us, perfectly suited for what it is we do.

It's also the only opera house that I've been to that's in the middle everything. One can see opera, have dinner, after dinner drinks. All of these things are available and we can create a different opera going-experience which I believe will help us bring in a newer, perhaps younger audience.

MM: Is that something that City Opera is capitalizing on?

MC: Yes. We're about to announce a collaboration with the fine dining restaurants for a concert we're going to do on Valentine's Day and we're looking toward pre-theater and post-theater dinners.

We currently offer packages to our donors for a pre-theater experience with me or a member of the staff and then an after-performance cocktail with a cast member. We give them an unusual experience without ever having to leave the building.

I think if we do that we'll create an impression on a newer opera goer that will engage them and likely compel them to come back.

New York City Opera General Director Michael Capasso;
photo: Christian Steiner/New York City Opera.

MM: Something like the direction that museums have adopted to drive attendance.

MC: Yes. Sunday matinees for instance are our most successful selling performance. I wish every performance was on Sunday at four o'clock! People can have brunch, go to the opera and go home. Or they can go to the opera and still have time for dinner. It really lands in the sweet spot of what people are doing on a day off. And our location makes this simple.

A meaningful artist experience is also important. People meet one of our singers and the next time they go to the opera they say, "I can't believe I got to be that close to that person." And this will help City Opera go back to our star building system. City Opera was always known for discovering and nurturing new talent and bringing them up.

Remarkably in the past few years, the performers were never announced in any of the publicity for City Opera and we've changed that. We're celebrating our performers and see to it that people recognize them. Because when they come back the next year, as some people will, I want people to be able to remember them. Or when they go to the Met, which other people have and will, they can say "ah, I remember when I saw them at City Opera."

Candide runs at New York City Opera from January 6 - 15. Click here for more information.

Click here for information on New York City Opera's season.

Cover Photo: New York City Opera's production of 'Fallujah'; photo: Sarah Shatz/New York City Opera
___________________________

Mark McLaren, ZEALnyc's Editor in Chief, writes frequently on classical music and theater.

Read more from ZEALnyc:

60th Anniversary of original Broadway production of 'Candide'

Holiday Wishes and New Year's Resolutions (and what we're looking forward to next year!)

Top 5 Sizzling Hot Winter Music Festivals in Frigid New York City

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

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New York City Opera's Road Back -- An Interview with General Director Michael Capasso

January 4, 2017, 1:19 am

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Mark McLaren, ZEALnyc Editor in Chief, January 3, 2017

This week, New York City Opera continues its season with a Hal Prince mounting of Candide. From 1943 to 2013, NYCO had sat beside the Met as New York's other full-time repertory opera company. This production is the third in the first post-bankruptcy season, a season designed by General Director Michael Capasso on a production strategy meant to bring the company back to relevancy. ZEALnyc discusses with Mr. Capasso this production, his vision for a sustainable NYCO, and his strategies for success.

MM: Let's start with 'Candide.' Hal Prince is back for this production. What will we see that is original?

MC: This production is very much inspired by the previous productions that Hal Prince has done over the years including the environmental Brooklyn version that transferred to Broadway and the 1982 opera house version for City Opera. I think this is going to be another look at the piece for him, inspired by the original opera house version. It includes most of the music and lyrics, though we've made some changes.

-- 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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Rome Journal: Mi Ricordo Mamma Roma

January 4, 2017, 2:52 am

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Memory cards and gigabytes are the lingua franca of our culture. A computer may have beat Gary Kasparov at chess, but Rome is a city where memories are made and no electronic instrument can compete with the remembrances it weaves. Many Americans may never have heard of it but Pasolini's Mamma Roma is a mythic film about the eternal city that Italians generally revere; it's a filmic national anthem. The movie tells the story of an aging prostitute (Anna Magnani) who returns to post war Rome to make a new life for herself and her son (Ettore Garofolo). Since l962, when the film was released, many of the locations have taken on an iconic significance. Today lovers of the film make pilgrimages to locations like the Piazza Tommaso de Cristoforis on the outskirts of Rome to see the arched entrance to a housing complex, the very threshold through which Pasolini's character journeys as she attempts to fulfill her aspirations for a better life. The original scene frozen in time by the camera, competes with the first time the shot is emblazoned on the viewer's consciousness. Aqueduct Park is another location which plays an important role in the film in that case linking the ancient Roman aqueducts to the sterile modernity of Mussolini era housing. As one returns to the Mecca of sights and sounds which originally inspired the creation of the film and which themselves continue to evolve in real time, the past is literally competing with the present. Rome, bathed as it is in antiquities, is obviously a director's paradise, but it's also like a haunting dream with memories of memories weaving a fabric, a hall of mirrors in which the walker in the city revisits his or her own past.

painting of Piazza Tommaso de Cristoforis by Hallie Cohen

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

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New York City Opera's Road Back -- An Interview with General Director Michael Capasso

January 3, 2017, 6:02 am

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Is That an Insult?

January 4, 2017, 5:51 am

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It sometimes seems as though being an artist gives the rest of the world a license to be insulting, if unintentionally. Can you really make a living from this? Is that a cat? Could you do that in yellow? Wouldn't it look better flipped on its side? Artists who sell directly to the public regularly face those and other questions and comments that seemingly denigrate their professionalism and their art. What's more, the same questions get asked repeatedly by different people at exhibitions and fairs, which could turn sensitive souls sarcastic and mocking, hardly a good way to engender sales.

Perhaps, the most often heard question is, How long did it take you to make that? On its face, the question is matter-of-fact, but many artists take it as a challenge, as though the person asking "wants to know how many dollars per hour you earn, so they can calculate it into wages," said Dorothy Fagan, an artist in Cobbs Creek, Virginia, or the person "wants to make sure he's getting his money's worth." A snide riposte some artists are tempted to make is, "Well, how much do you make an hour?" but artists are more apt to soften the blow or reframe the question. Taking the latter approach, one might describe one's method of working, discussing the various steps involved and how ideas form and change during the process. This type of discussion, Fagan said, makes a precise determination of how long the painting took impractical.

An often-used response to the how-long question is "my whole life," suggesting that a given artwork is the product of years of training, experimentation and intellectual growth, while a more of a straight-on answer might indicate that some works take days, others months. Some buyers may associate a longer process with higher value, which may or may not be true. If you must, chuckle inwardly.

At other times, the laugh can be enjoyed by all. "I was at this one show, and an old farmer walked by," said Hamden, Connecticut painter William McCarthy. "He took a look in my booth, then said about one painting, 'How long did it take you to do that, 10 minutes?' He was a large man, not to be reckoned with, and I said, 'Oh, maybe about 25 seconds.' He then let out a big belly laugh, and we started talking. He actually said he liked my paintings." The farmer was not a buyer ("he may have bought a hot dog there"), but a testy situation was defused. In rare instances, McCarthy has found that what starts as a confrontation turns into a sale. Visitors enter his booth display and begin voicing criticism of one thing or another ("People think that artists are invisible, that they leave their feelings at the door," he said), such as that they hate the painting, they hate the colors, they hate the frame. Although he was not part of the conversation, McCarthy may interject himself, saying, "'Well, the intention of that painting was...' or 'I wanted to use those colors, because...' or 'I thought that frame was appropriate, because...,' which catches people off-guard. They take a second look." In fact, some sales have resulted, which "surprised me: They started out saying that hated a painting that they end up buying."

It is rare that visitors to a booth or exhibition are looking to quarrel - after all, they often have paid admissions to enter the fair and have some idea of what to expect - but simply want to strike up a conversation (itself a compliment of sorts) and don't know what to say. Artists are sometimes told that they dress like artists, which may seem like a backhanded compliment (are their clothes oddly matched or funky or ill-fitting or in disrepair?), or that their work reminds the visitor of some other artist's (is their art derivative, unoriginal, plagiarized?). It is likely that both comments are meant in a positive light, indicating in the first instance that the artist is a unique individual and in the second that the artist's work is as good or as pleasing as someone else's. Knowing how to find the positive side of a potentially negative remark may turn an awkward situation into a more relaxed moment. Shows can go for days, and artists may become tired and irritable by the end, apt to find a question insulting simply because they have heard it repeated so many times. Possibly, there is no ulterior motive to the question of how long it took to paint that picture. Artists might simply need to refresh themselves periodically in order to maintain a positive attitude.

The old maxim, There are no Stupid Questions, may help artists turn a seemingly thoughtless remark into a learning opportunity, helping someone who might be intimidated by art into a potential collector at some point (maybe, right now) or just letting visitors know that artists are normal people like themselves.

Often, the knowledge to turn a conversation around takes practice. Artists who sell directly to the public need two quite separate sets of skills, the first is the technical ability and a conceptual framework to produce the desired work of art, while the second is the capability to put that technique and concept into words and to be a good salesperson. Salesmanship is not only concerned with negotiating the terms of a purchase, which assumes that prospective buyers know exactly what they want, but trying to answer the questions that are really being asked. It may help, for instance, to show a booth visitor a sketchbook, so that that person may see how things get started: A little idea becomes a work of art. The question of where an artist gets his or her ideas turns out to be concerned with the mechanics of the artistic.

Similarly, the question "Can you really make a living from this?" may not be "'How can anyone make a living selling this crap?' but, 'What's it like to be a professional artist?'" said Gary Stretan, an artist in Spencer, Ohio. Or, the question may be more specific, leading many artists to state that they wouldn't be there if they didn't make money at it and that, otherwise, they are doing well in their careers. Perhaps, it is a vicarious longing to be artists themselves or just nosiness that leads visitors to ask about an artist's livelihood. Money questions - how artworks are priced and why one work is more expensive than another - may also be specific to the objects on display or a glimpse into the artistic process.

On occasion, questions and comments that seem insulting may be just that. Buyers who come into a booth at the last hour of the last day of a show seeking large price reductions irritate Stretan and other artists, because they "seem to be putting down my work and me as a professional." He noted "when someone comes into my display, they're not under any obligation to make my day or to support me," but to visitors who appear "belligerent and want to bust your chops" he gives short answers to their questions and recommends that they "take a look at some of the other displays."

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Cuban Pianist David Virelles Highlights ECM Records at Winter Jazzfest

January 4, 2017, 6:17 am

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By Dan Ouellette, ZEALnyc Senior Editor ZEALnyc, January 4, 2017

Each year as Winter Jazzfest expands, you can expect new twists in the mix. One of the most prominent this season is the one-night record imprint showcase of Germany-based ECM Records (Saturday, January 7), presenting nine vital artists who record for the label that is celebrating its 48th birthday this year--with the grand No. 50 just around the bend. The Jazzfest shows (listed below) will take place at The New School's Tishman Auditorium (63 Fifth Avenue). (Note: Last year's ECM showcase within the fest took place over two days.)

What's remarkable about ECM is that in the midst of major labels crashing and burning their jazz divisions along with the rise of independent record labels taking a DIY approach, it's still standing tall, as recognized in jazz magazine polls and in this year's just announced NPR top jazz releases for 2016, as voted on by 137 international jazz journalists. In the top 10, three ECM recordings were heralded: Jack DeJohnette / Matt Garrison / Ravi Coltrane, In Movement (No. 3); Michael Formanek / Ensemble Kolossus, The Distance (No. 5); Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith, A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (No. 6). Not a shabby showing at all.

During this ongoing sober upheaval in the jazz marketplace with disparaging questions abounding (what is jazz; how can we keep jazz alive; should jazz be watered down for mass consumption), there has been one constant of creative music commitment: ECM. Founded and piloted by producer Manfred Eicher, its credo is summed up quite succinctly in the label's Catalogue 2009-10: "ECM has maintained the most old-fashioned of business practices while staying in tune with what is newest and most alive in music." He added, "You can never go merely for the routine. It never should be routine. Otherwise, it will sound routine."

Espousing that "music is the art that speaks directly to the soul," Eicher said, "Music is my driving force. I'm longing to listen to music that I have not heard yet. Music has no location and no nationality. In the early days of ECM, we recorded mostly American artists...[Today] I go anywhere I have to go to find music that interests me."

Launched in November 1969 with pianist Mal Waldron's Free At Last, ECM boasts more than 1700 titles in its "genre-resistant" catalog, with a steady flow of 30 to 40 new releases each year, featuring border-crossing jazz, improvisational music, transcultural collaborations and classical (specifically in the ECM New Series begun in 1984 to record the music of Arvo Pärt). With a track record of scoring million-selling hits such as Keith Jarrett's Köhn Concert and Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble's Officium, ECM became the home for dozens of improvisers, including Jarrett, Chick Corea, Paul Bley, Paul Motian, Dave Holland, Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden--among many others.

"We just started to grow organically," Eicher said. "I've always looked to America, especially New York. I [like] to listen to music and discover musicians and music that I had never heard before."

With Eicher's aesthetic providing the guiding light of ECM, the label continues to forge ahead as the prime purveyor of the luminous fine art of jazz. In recent years, he's given recording opportunities for the crème de la crème of the new generation of jazz artists, including Vijay Iyer, Chris Potter, Mark Turner, Craig Taborn, David Virelles and Theo Bleckmann. "I'm happy to see" their growth as artists, Eicher said

In a conversation I had with Eicher on the occasion of the label's 40th anniversary, he talked about the bottom line of running a label that releases so many albums a year: "There's a lot still to do to fulfill the plan we have to record improvised music that is art, especially today with bringing together different cultures, which fits with the influences of our time. I continue to make records out of musical instinct and drive even though you can never foresee how many copies a record will sell. So, as far as reaching the bottom line, we have never reached a panic yet. We go on as long as we can. Even though it's more difficult to sell music today because there are fewer outlets (other than Amazon), I feel there's an enormous interest in music. There is a need to record music. I've been inspired this year by how much good music we have recorded. My instinct tells me to continue to do what I've been doing and do more."

Nearly a decade later that has proven to be the creative m.o. of ECM.

Of particular note this year at Winter Jazzfest's spotlight on ECM is the appearance of Cuba-born, Brooklyn-based pianist David Virelles in two settings. He's a remarkable talent who celebrates finesse on the piano married to the drums and percussion of his homeland. He's lyrical, off-kilter, mysterious, earthy, measured and spirited in his playing. Unlike fellow countrymen who bring their voices into the piano tradition, Virelles seems to belong to his own universe of influences dominated by the percussive heartbeat of Afro-Cuban tradition. His 2014 ECM debut, Mboko, was an ear-opener of sacred music that teemed with pockets of slow-pulse quiet and fractured chordal pounces, single-note meanderings and rushing tumbles. It was a critics favorite. Recently Virelles released the vinyl/digital EP, Antenna, a vital electro-acoustic fantasia of keyboard art steeped in Cuban rhythms, street poetry and synthesized textures. He said regarding the new project: "I wanted the music to have the sound and feel of traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms, but generated and deconstructed electronically, so that I could make new, very different music out of those elements."

Virelles appears as a sideman in trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's NY Quartet (playing music from his 2013 album Wislawa as well as new music from an upcoming release) and stars in a duet set with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane that will result in an album recorded later in 2017.

Here's the ECM lineup for Saturday, January 7 of what promises to be an exciting evening of prime improvisational music at Jazzfest:

6:00 -- Tomasz Stanko NY Quartet (w/David Virelles, Thomas Morgan, Gerald Cleaver)

7:20 -- Jakob Bro/Thomas Morgan/Joey Baron (playing from the recent trio recording, Streams)

8:40 -- Ravi Coltrane/David Virelles duo

10:00 -- Bill Frisell/Thomas Morgan duo (playing music from their forthcoming release scheduled for June)

11:20 -- Nik Bärtsch Mobile (playing pieces from its 2016 album Continuum)

Cover: David Virelles; photo: Vincent Oshin
_____________________________

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 ZEALnyc below:

Top 5 Sizzling Hot Winter Music Festivals in Frigid New York City

'Exhibitionism--The Rolling Stones' is a 'rocker's Nirvana'

NYC Offers a Multitude of Movie Theaters for Your Viewing Pleasure

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

-- 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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The Most Anticipated Art Events of 2017

January 4, 2017, 11:45 am

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Mark your calendars and start booking your flights because 2017 is going to be a busy year for the art world. In addition to the art fairs, this year brings a global itinerary of events like Documenta, the Whitney Biennial and Desert X.

From inaugural editions to well established biennials, here are just a few of the most anticipated art exhibitions of the year.

Venice Biennale

Taking place from May 13 to November 26, the 57th Venice Biennale is curated by Christine Macel who has served as the Chief Curator Musée national d'art moderne - Centre Pompidou in Paris since 2000. Biennale President Paolo Baratta stated, "In the wake of the Biennale Arte directed by Okwui Enwezor, centred on the theme of the rifts and divisions that pervade the world, and aware that we are currently living in an age of anxiety, La Biennale has selected Christine Macel as a curator committed to emphasizing the important role artists play in inventing their own universes and injecting generous vitality into the world we live in. Her experience in the Department of "Création contemporaine et prospective" at the Centre Pompidou in Paris has long offered her a vantage point rich in potential from which to observe and identify new energies coming from various parts of the world".

Documenta

The much anticipated Documenta will split itself between two locations, Athens, Greece from April 8 to July 16 and Kassel, Germany from June 10 to September 17. The exhibition is titled "Learning from Athens" and will focus on the changes happening in Europe and its similarities to those in 1965, the founding year of Documenta.

Skulptur Projekte Münster

Held every ten years since 1977, Skulptur Projekte Münster will take place from June 10 to September 17 in Münster, Germany. Skulptur Projekte believes that "art in the urban realm is capable of activating historical, architectural, social, political and aesthetic contexts." They see potential in the creation of spaces, developing site-specific works throughout the city that encourage public participation. The fifth edition will feature artists such as Claes Oldenberg, Bruce Nauman and Rebecca Horn.

Russian Art Triennial

The Garage Museum in Moscow, Russia will launch the first edition of the Russian Art Triennial to coincide with the centennial of the Russian Revolution. The Triennial is lead by Garage's Chief Curator, Kate Fowl, and will take place from March 10 to May 14.

Desert X

This spring, the Coachella Valley will be home to not just the popular music festival, but Deser X, an exhibition that "will focus attention on and create conversation about environmental, social, and cultural conditions of the 21st century as reflected in the greater Palm Springs area." Notable members on the board and advisory team include Ed Ruscha, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Ximena Caminos, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Eric Shiner, and Franklin Sirmans. Desert X is produced by the Desert Biennial and runs from February 25 to April 30.

2017-01-04-1483558212-3663601-07tmagkusama01master768.jpg

Honolulu Biennial

This year marks the inaugural year of the Honolulu Biennial, which will take place between March 8 and May 8. Showcasing "the diversity of ideas, art, and culture from the people who live today throughout the places connected by the Pacific Ocean," the biennial is directed by Fumio Nanjo of Tokyo's Mori Art Museum and curated by Ngahiraka Mason, a former curator at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. The biennial will also feature an installation by Yayoi Kusama, whose much anticipated retrospective opens at The Hirshhorn in February.

Whitney Biennial

New Yorkers are getting excited about the Whitney Biennial, which will be held for the first time in the downtown space from March 17to June 11. The exhibition will feature 63 emerging and established artists working in painting, sculpture, installation, performance, music, photography, film and video, drawing, and video game design. It is co-curated by Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks

Istanbul Biennial

The 15th edition of the Istanbul Biennial will be curated by Elmgreen & Dragset, who most recently presented Van Gogh's Ear, a swimming pool sculpture that was installed in Rockefeller Center in 2016. The duo stated that "In light of the current global geopolitical situation, in which we're experiencing a new rise of nationalism, it will be important for us to curate a biennial based on collaborative efforts and processes. Collaboration is something that feels natural to us, since we have been working together as an artist duo for more than twenty years. A biennial can be a platform for dialogue, and a format in which diverse opinions, perspectives, and communities can coexist." The Istanbul Biennial takes place from September 16 to November 12.

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Rome Journal: Last Tango?

January 5, 2017, 12:55 am

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Cultural mythologies are created by movies and books. For instance there was the Rome of Fellini's La dolce vita (1960) filled with itinerant intellectuals, who chased after women with large cleavages. A whole generation of Italian actors amongst them Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni came to prominence typecast for these roles. These were a little more than kin and less than kind, fallen aristocrats, high class hookers or both. And there was the more down at your heels world which Fellini immortalized in Le notti di Cabiria (1957) in which his wife Giulietta Masina played a lady of the night, who had fallen on hard times. Pier Paolo Pasolini, the director the infamous masterpiece of degradation, Salo (1975), and who knew the Roman underworld, was commissioned to write the dialogue. Paolo Sorrentino's La grande bellezza (2013) paid homage to Fellini's Rome, particularly with respect to the parody of outsized artistic personalities. But does the old Rome with its glamorous white telephones and squalid desperation still exist? Corrupt politicians like Berlusconi might have fit the bill, but he ultimately lacked the profound glamour of a 60's Italian film star. In some senses Rome has become a bit like New York. The world's oldest profession still plies its trade out in the E.U.R. the area on the outskirts which was the site of the aborted l942 World's Fair and the futuristic Palazzo della Civilta Italiana. However Rome itself has lost a certain color, as well as danger and despair. Though you are still warned to watch out for pickpockets, Rome is not the wide open city it once was. Of course you pay a price for the fleshpot. It was an Italian who directed Last Tango in Paris (1972), but he might easily have called it Last Tango in Rome.

{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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The Best Technology For The New Year

January 4, 2017, 8:24 am

≫ Next: Christine Ebersole Says Tony-Winning Role in 'Grey Gardens' Spoke to the Queer Community

≪ Previous: Rome Journal: Last Tango?

The greatest technology for a creative person is neither an app nor a device, it is paper.

As we begin the new year, I wanted to share this analog system with you which I created called The Creativity Notebook, so that it can transform your world the way it has mine.

As a working artist and mother, I am constantly searching for different methods to increase my productivity and to enhance my life.

I love technology. I’m a longtime subscriber to Lifehacker, use Trello and I couldn’t function without Google Docs. But when it comes to capturing ideas, lists and making appointments on a device, I risk falling into the black hole of news, email or social updates that we all do. I tried and found every form of note-taking, list-tracking app a productivity killer and a time waster. An artist’s greatest asset is uninterrupted time. I had to invent a system that would give me more and enhance the creative process, not detract from it.

There is no creativity without productivity.

The connection between paper and creativity is well-documented. I tried other “analog” systems but found them overwrought. I needed something simple, inspiring and action-oriented all in one. As a painter, entrepreneur and founding arts editor of this online newspaper, it is essential that I stay organized. I started with a sketchbook and this is how The Creativity Notebook was born.

The Creativity Notebook: The Front Half

The first half of the Creativity Notebook is a simple Segregated Notes and Action Items section with thoughts/notes/sketches on the left and the action items on the right.

When either side is full, migrate only the uncompleted tasks only to the righthand side of the next spread. The tactile experience of re-writing incomplete tasks reinforces their need to get done.

This working method catapulted my productivity to a whole new level. People always ask me “When do you find the time?” This is how. The Creativity Notebook also becomes an incredible chronological file because, if somebody asks, “What was it that we discussed in that meeting months ago?” I only need to flip backwards to find the notes in my handy notebook.

Incorporating a Datebook

The back half of the Creativity Notebook is a 52 week calendar section. It involves a simple binder brass clip as a toggle and art by either me or you. The binder clip is essential component. By putting the datebook on the back, only past dates and future blank note pages are under the clip. All relevant notes and future dates are always accessible outside the clip. All I have to do is move the clip to the right and exactly on the current date. It is the perfect combination — a datebook, a notebook, a sketchbook and an idea book all in one.

I experimented with every kind of paper notebook and found that certain subtleties make huge differences.

Unlined/Uncoated Paper

I want no borders to hem my ideas in so it had to be unlined. Furthermore, the texture of uncoated paper reunites me with a more primitive self and connects me to everyone who has ever held a writing instrument on parchment throughout time. It feels organic and real.

Binding that can Lie Flat and Fold Completely to one side

The binding must not just lie flat but block out one side altogether. Creative Notebooks need to have the functionality that enables pure focus.

Different Art for Every Week

Because of our sensitivity to visual input, I created suggestive art that still has usable margins as a key feature. Just seeing a color, line, poem, quote or a shape of any kind differentiates each week. Associating different art with every week creates visual scaffolding and anchors the pleasure of planning. In the past, when I bought art-centric datebook from museum shops, I was limited to one artist’s work which I couldn’t write on, no margins to participate in with paper too smooth and too thick. Such books are also too heavy to carry around in order for it to function in lieu of a device.

Vertical Week Structure

Unlike the Week-at-a-Glance system, where the week is spread across two pages, I needed a vertical structure stacked day structure with the morning activities under the sun and evening activities under the moon to make it easier to avoid over planning too many evenings in a row. Downtime is essential for creative minds. This subtle difference made a huge impact on how I created uninterrupted time and a rhythms in my week. One year I tried no art and two vertically structured weeks side by side and instead of making me more productive, the lack of art stressed me out and space for each week. It only reinforced the need for art.

I developed The Creativity Notebook over several years to heighten my productivity, inspire me creatively and as a tool to avoid reaching for my device all throughout the day. It has truly changed my life. I’m excited about presenting it to the public for the first time. Yes, it means that everywhere you go, you will carry around a notebook that has all your thoughts, drawings, tasks and calendar in one place. You already carry keys, a wallet and a piece of metal and glass that is known and scientifically-proven to yank you away from your thoughts. Based on the people who I have already given it to, I know you will treasure as it is your own work of art.

I am currently offering two editions which are handcrafted in my studio in Venice, California:

Signed Limited Artist Edition of 100.

Creativity Notebook: Design Your Own Edition

The Design Your Own Creativity Notebook Edition features a blank space next to each week for you to enter your quotes, doodles, poems stickers by yourself. Also hand crafted in my studio.

Each book has a 52 week spread, Calendars for 2017–19 and approximately 50 spreads for the segregated note systems. All notebooks measure 5.5 x 8 inches, 120 plus pages.

I have been beta-testing it with numerous artists, writers and entrepreneurs in California and they all tell me how it has streamlined so much of what they do and they treasure it. I would love to share this revolutionary new application with you.

TheCreativityNotebook.com

— -

Kimberly Brooks is a painter. She also founded the Arts, Science Screen Sense sections of the Huffington Post which she launched with an article about 10 commandments for Kids and Screens which she still stands by, but her kids are too old to listen anymore.

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↧

Christine Ebersole Says Tony-Winning Role in 'Grey Gardens' Spoke to the Queer Community

January 4, 2017, 9:57 pm

≫ Next: Commentary: The Best and Worst Musicals of 2016

≪ Previous: The Best Technology For The New Year

Though she boasts two of her own, Christine Ebersole admits she’s not attended the Tony Awards in nearly a decade. “Don’t you have to be invited or something?” the two-time “Best Actress” winner shockingly quipped when asked about her lengthy absence from Broadway’s biggest night. “I don’t get invited.”

Though the Tony-winner for both 42nd Street and Grey Gardens not being on the guest-list is shocking enough, Ebersole’s explanation for the snub proves an even greater head-scratcher. “It’s because I’m not a ‘celebrity,’” the actress stated flatly. “That’s just a fact.”

It’s a seemingly unbelievable assertion from an entertainer whose career spans four decades. In addition to sweeping the theatre community’s top honors in 2006 with her dual roles of reclusive Kennedy cousins Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (“Big Edie”) and Edith Bouvier Beale (“Little Edie”) in Grey Gardens, Ebersole has countless film and television credits.

Her big screen appearances include Oscar-winning films such as Tootsie, Amadeus and, most recently, The Wolf of Wall Street. Her television career kicked into high gear as a 1980 regular on Saturday Night Live and includes a Daytime Emmy nomination for One Life to Live. She’s had guest spots in everything from past TV favorites like Ally McBeal and Murphy Brown to more modern fare like Will & Grace and American Horror Story: Coven.

The actress contends “there’s a difference,” however, between her considerable accomplishments and “celebrity.”

“Meryl Streep or Jennifer Lopez or Kristin Chenoweth…They’re ‘celebrities,’” Ebersole told Party Foul Radio with Pollo & Pearl. “I’m not in that world. I would say gratefully not in that world -- gratefully. I think that’s quite a burden.”

“I certainly don’t deny my ability or my talent,” she tried to explain, “But there’s a difference between that and ‘celebrity.’ It’s just a different realm. That doesn’t mean people who are celebrities aren’t amazingly talented, but it’s a different artform.”

While she might not be a “celebrity,” Ebersole’s “God-given” talent has staying power. In addition to two Tony Awards, her Broadway career extends back to 1979, when she first graced the stage in a revival of Oklahoma! She followed with roles in Camelot, Blithe Spirit, Steele Magnolias and Dinner at Eight (for which she received her second Tony nomination in 2002, the year after winning for 42nd Street).

Perhaps the closest Ebersole has come to the realm of “celebrity” was 2006 -– the height of the Grey Gardens craze. After winning every award possible off-Broadway, the show moved to New York amid massive buzz. Ebersole says it was also the one-and-only time she was ever invited to present a Tony award.

“I call that the ‘Year of the Prize Pig.’ I was the blue ribbon pig at the 4H Club,” she joked. “I won everything! I got every prize!”

Not only did Grey Gardens earn her a Tony. It’s the role Ebersole most credits for endearing her to the LGBTQ community. The show’s themes of isolation and other-ness struck a cord with queer audiences, she said.

“It’s an internal measurement, an internal perception, that things you want to be a part of, groups you want to be a part of, friends you want to be a part of – you want to be a part of some group,” she said, “And you’re not accepted in that group… and you know that you won’t be accepted in that group.”

“When I did Gray Gardens, it really spoke to that,” Ebersole shared. “Edie Beale is the marginalized, and I think there was an identification with that [among LGBTQ fans].”

Ebersole’s body of work has definitively struck a cord with one LGBTQ viewer: Seth Rudetsky. She performs with the thrice-Emmy-nominated comic and out afternoon radio host of SiriusXM’s On Broadway and Seth Speaks in a one-night-only event January 7, 2017, in San Francisco.

Now in its third season, the traveling Broadway at the Nourse program pairs top names in the theatre industry with Rudetsky on piano to raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Project Open Hand and the SF Gay Men’s Chorus. The acclaimed comedian uses his encyclopedic knowledge of all-things Broadway to coax personal stories and more from guests in-between performances of their most iconic songs.

“It’s fun and entertaining!” she enthused, encouraging fans to attend. “That’s what Seth Rudetsky’s all about – entertainment. I’m part of that posse of entertainment!”

Meanwhile, Ebersole returns to Broadway in the highly-anticipated War Paint later this spring. Opposite legendary Patti LuPone, herself a two-time Tony Award winner, they play women who revolutionized the cosmetics industry in the ‘30s and ‘40s.

“They created this empire which surpassed many expectations, even if they had been men,” said Ebersole of the show’s premise.

Inspired by the Lindy Woodhead biography War Paint and the documentary The Powder & The Glory, LuPone portrays Helena Rubinstein while Ebersole is her rival Elizabeth Arden. Brought to stage by the team behind Grey Gardens, the production seemingly begs queer audience adulation with ample, bitchy zingers, a gay supporting character (Rubinstein’s manager) and dueling diva vocals The New York Times suggests were custom-made for its leads. Ebersole says all will relate to the production’s universal message of overcoming obstacles.

“These women changed the perception of how makeup was seen in the world,” she says, “They changed all of that and were pioneers for those who came after, in what would ultimately become a multi-billion dollar industry.”

With War Paint opening on Broadway in April, smart money says the drought in Ebersole’s Tony attendance ends soon. Celebrity or not, true talent can’t be denied.

For Tickets to Christine Ebersole with Seth Rudetsky at Broadway at the Nourse, Sat., Jan. 7, in San Francisco.

LISTEN: Christine Ebersole’s Party Foul Radio with Pollo & Pearl interview. Also featured: Reality TV star Glenn Douglas Packard (Brooke Knows Best) talks his new gay slasher film Pitchfork.

-- 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.

↧

Commentary: The Best and Worst Musicals of 2016

January 5, 2017, 5:47 am

≫ Next: One Artist's Mission to Save Endangered Species: Louis Masai Completes "The Art Of Beeing" Tour

≪ Previous: Christine Ebersole Says Tony-Winning Role in 'Grey Gardens' Spoke to the Queer Community

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By Christopher Caggiano, ZEALnyc Contributing Writer, January 5, 2017

We're now into the new year, so like many other critics, I like to use this as an opportunity to look back on all the theater that I've seen over the previous 12 months.

As usual, it's been a sort of mixed bag. Some of it has been exquisite, some of it excruciating. That's par for the course, of course. However, this year I'm happy to report that the good far outweighed the bad, if not in number, then in overall craft and sheer emotional impact.

(Oh, and before you start complaining about the absence of Hamilton, the show bowed on Broadway in 2015, and rest assured it placed prominently on my list for that year.)

The Best Musicals of 2016:

10. The Golden Bride - Probably the most pleasant surprise of the season was The Golden Bride, a charming and energetic revival of a mostly forgotten 1923 Yiddish operetta presented at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. (In the original Yiddish, yet, with English supertitles.) Dated, to be sure, but lovingly presented, and brimming with talented performers.

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's production of 'The Golden Bride;'
photo: Justin Scholar.

9. Hadestown - An edgy, folk rock update on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, this New York Theatre Workshop presentation transformed the NYTW's East Village home into an immersive arena. Anaïs Mitchell's rousing songs and Rachel Chavkin's innovative staging were matched by a terrific ensemble of performers.

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Cast of 'Hadestown;' photo: Joan Marcus.

8. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - As part of its summer Off-Center series, Encores! mounted a production of this quirky, moving, yet forgotten musical by the creators of Little Shop of Horrors. Santino Fontana was appealing and authentic as always as the title character, and the production is reportedly yielding the show's first cast recording.

Santino Fontana and cast of 'God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater;' photo: Joan Marcus.

7. The Band's Visit - A quiet, simple delight of a show, presented by the Atlantic Theater Company, with powerful performances (particularly from breakout star Katrina Lenk) and an idiomatic score from David Yazbek. There's talk of a Broadway transfer next season, in which case I would strongly suggest a visit of your own.

Cast of 'The Band's Visit;' photo: Ahron R. Foster.

6. Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed - No, it wasn't perfect, particularly during its scattered second act. But, like the show whose origin it depicts, this Shuffle Along was infectious and tuneful, and Savion Glover's choreography was both rousing and true to the times. Plus, the cast featured not only some of the greatest performers of our time (Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra, Brandon Victor Dixon, Audra, Joshua Henry, Audra...) but also a breakout performance from the dynamic Adrienne Warren.

2017-01-02-1483371727-7025502-shufflealongonbroadway20160428.jpg

Adrienne Warren and the cast of 'Shuffle Along;' photo: Julieta Cervantes.

5. Waitress - Somewhat lost amid the Hamilton juggernaut has been Waitress, an intensely moving show, with yet another sensational performance from the wondrous Jessie Mueller, plus a complex and appealing score from musical theater newbie Sara Bareilles. The piece is strong on its own, but you'd be well advised to catch the show before Mueller leaves at the end of March. Well advised.

Kimbo Glenn, Jessie Mueller, Keala Settle, in 'Waitress;' photo: Joan Marcus.

4. Falsettos - This revival of William Finn's masterwork took a while to find its groove, but once it did, the show became quietly intimate and emotionally shattering. The cast of Broadway regulars -- including Christian Borle, Andrew Rannells, and Stephanie J. Block -- gave their richest and most satisfying performances to date. And the production yielded the show's first complete cast recording, and a terrific recording it is, too.

Christian Borle and Andrew Rannells in 'Falsettos;' photo: Joan Marcus.

3. Dear Evan Hansen - It's gratifying to see Broadway audiences embrace serious shows (Fun Home, Next to Normal), and Dear Evan Hansen is a welcome addition to this trend. The show represents genuine Broadway success for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and features one of the best ensemble casts in many a season, including Ben Platt and Laura Dreyfuss as the young folk at the center of this serious story of unintended deception, desperate loneliness, and ultimate acceptance.

Laura Dreyfuss and Ben Platt in 'Dear Evan Hansen;' photo: Matthew Murphy.

2. She Loves Me - A sparkling, lively revival of one of the best musicals ever written. The cast was near perfection, and Scott Ellis' comic direction was almost without flaw. Plus, the production yielded a TV broadcast that effectively captured the spirit of the production, and will serve as a cherished record of this delightful show for years to come.

Zachary Levi and Laura Benanti in 'She Loves Me;' photo: Joan Marcus.

1. Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 - I've become so obsessed with The Great Comet that I just recently finished reading War and Peace, upon which the show is based. It's not the staging, which is admittedly innovative. It's certainly not the presence of Josh Groban. Groban has a terrific voice (duh), but his acting is stiff and he shuffles nervously and distractingly. No, the great appeal of The Great Comet is Dave Malloy's piece itself, rich in both character and melody, and Malloy's judicious adaptation of Tolstoy. Simply stunning.

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Denée Benton and Brittain Ashford in 'The Great Comet;' photo: Chad Batka.

The Worst Musicals of 2016:

10. Beowulf - Since I'm such a big fan of The Great Comet, I've naturally sought out Dave Malloy's other work. Unfortunately, everything else has been fairly disappointing, particularly Beowulf at Trinity Repertory Theater in Providence. What a mess. Now, Malloy only contributed the music here, but I found nothing of merit anywhere on that stage. This ham-fisted attempt at updating the Beowulf legend was poorly crafted and artistically bereft.

Cast of 'Beowulf;' photo: Ryan Jensen

9. Bright Star - Bright Star was everyone's favorite 2016 flop. Everyone except me. The supposed charms of this southern gothic smarm-fest were totally lost on me. Not even Carmen Cusack's admittedly impressive Broadway bow could lift this snoozer out of the doldrums. And the show featured what may be the single most horrifying act one tag in musical-theater history. Sure, the music sounded great, but the characters were thin, the dialogue was jokey, and the plot strained credulity to the breaking point.

Cast of 'Bright Star:' photo: Joan Marcus.

8. In Transit - In Transit is not so much bad as terminally bland. Once the novelty of the show being Broadway's "first a cappella musical" wears off, we're left with two-dimensional characters, an uninspired score, and a by-the-numbers story that goes nowhere fast.

Cast of 'In Transit;' photo: Joan Marcus.

7. Ride the Cyclone - Ride the Cyclone starts with a painfully grim premise -- a small group of high school students are killed in a theme-park accident, and are each then forced to make their case for being the one person to get a second chance at living. What follows is a dull slog through each character's uninteresting backstory, accompanied by forgettable songs, and self-conscious, would-be comic dialogue that isn't nearly as funny as the creators seem to think.

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Emily Rohm and cast in 'Ride the Cyclone;' photo: Joan Marcus.

6. Southern Comfort - This show certainly meant well, attempting to bring to life the struggles of a small group of transgender people in the south. But noble intensions mean nothing unless the show itself is well-crafted, which Southern Comfort decidedly wasn't. The characters became mouthpieces spouting platitudes rather than real people. I thought it was the least distinguished musical I had ever seen at the Public Theater. That is, until I saw The Total Bent...

Cast of 'Southern Comfort;' photo: Carol Rosegg.

5. The Total Bent - I'm a huge fan of Stew's Passing Strange, a raw and personal exploration of Stew's own coming of age. But Stew's follow-up show, The Total Bent, was a major letdown. The Total Bent is another coming-of-age story, this one about a young gay man and his complicated relationship with his father, a famous blues artist. But the same convention-breaking, fourth wall-shattering techniques Stew used in Passing Strange here become enervating and irritating. The show reeks of self-satisfaction, and eventually becomes buried under the weight of its own pretensions.

Cast of 'The Total Bent;' photo: Joan Marcus.

4. Tuck Everlasting - One of the fastest-closing Broadway flops of the year was Tuck Everlasting, a show that was clearly aimed at capturing the family market, but that represented a major misfire. The songs were bland and unmemorable, the book was plodding and twee, and the production bordered on saccharine. Tuck Everlasting was almost worth seeing for Casey Nicholaw's final ballet, a deft condensation of the entire adult life of the central character, Winnie Foster. Too bad about the bland, unmemorable show leading up to it.

Cast of 'Tuck Everlasting;' photo: Joan Marcus.

3. American Psycho - This one could have been good. In the right hands, an American Psycho musical might have been a darkly funny exploration of the Reagan era and the mindless, empty people therein. Unfortunately, those hands were not songwriter Duncan Sheik and librettist Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Under their ministrations, the story of Patrick Bateman became jaw-droppingly tasteless and unremittingly grim.

Benjamin Walker and cast of 'American Psycho;' photo: Jeremy Daniel.

2. Himself and Nora - Speaking of grim, few musicals this season were as bleak and uninviting as Himself and Nora, a coarse and superficial exploration of the life and career of James Joyce. Composer and librettist Jonathan Brielle seems to have thought it was a good idea to portray one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century as a randy, vulgar schoolboy. It wasn't.

Jessica Burrows and Matt Bogart in "Himself and Nora;" photo: Christina L. Wilson.

1. Paramour - Yeah, sure, the Cirque du Soleil circus acts are cool, but the show surrounding those acts is a disaster. The songs are generic and weak, the libretto is an embarrassment, and nobody seems to have given much thought to how to make all of the circus acts relevant to the story. Paramour may be taking in $1 million-plus a week, but the utter lack of craft in the show's construction is appalling.

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Cast of 'Paramour;' photo: Richard Termine.

Cover: Josh Groban and the cast of 'Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812;' photo: Chad Batka.
_______________________________

Christopher Caggiano writes for ZEALnyc about theater performance and related topics.

Read more from ZEALnyc:

New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Want to Keep

Top 5 Sizzling Hot Winter Music Festivals in Frigid New York City

The Insider's List for the Best Hot Chocolate in NYC

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

-- 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.

↧

One Artist's Mission to Save Endangered Species: Louis Masai Completes "The Art Of Beeing" Tour

January 6, 2017, 6:08 am

≫ Next: 'Dr. Feelgood: Dealer or Healer?' -- a closer look at the prescription drug epidemic

≪ Previous: Commentary: The Best and Worst Musicals of 2016

Nine weeks, 8,000 miles, 20 murals, 13 cities, and dozens of species going extinct every day.

Those are some telling statistics for street artist Louis Masai as he completes criss-crossing the United States during this moment when it looks like the country is on the precipice of a social and political revolution.

At a time when industries and media are consolidating under ever larger private umbrellas that seem unassailable, it is all the more striking to witness the audacity of the single crusader, like this one with a spray can, that may prove to be very inspirational. It’s difficult to imagine the willpower of one person necessary to devise an educational campaign like this and then to raise funds to pay for it and use his artistic talents to raise awareness in this manner.

It may strike you that endangered species are an appropriate constituency to speak for since they have no voice of their own, and Masai says the bee is the queen that lead him on with two friends in October, November and part of December. With his thoughtful, studied and “chill” stance on many topics, it sounds charming when the London-based artist tells you his campaign is called “The Art of Beeing.”

With a metaphorical protective patchwork quilt being stitched by the bee around a different animal in each mural, Masai carefully researched and chose endangered animals that are specific to the region he painted in from New York to Michigan to Nevada to California to Texas to Tennessee to Florida. We had the honor to meet him at the start of the journey and at the termination, and to publish as many of his travels as his schedule would allow.

Today we compile a quote and a couple of images from each one of those on-the-road reports below with links to each posting.

We finish our complete coverage of “The Art of Beeing” with a 15 question interview with Louis, who tells us about his personal attachment to the animal world, the startling and gorgeous geography of the U.S., and which populations seemed most receptive to his message of the Earth’s sixth era of extinction that we are currently engendering.

Thanks for taking this trip with us.

NEW YORK: Louis Masai: “The Art Of Beeing” Tour Kicks Off in NYC to Save Endangered Species

“I’m painting toys because if we don’t act now to stop extinction, only toys will remain in place of animals” – LM

DETROIT: The Gray Wolf and “The Art Of Beeing” in Detroit

“The media talks about Detroit as if it is a derelict forgotten city, but we discovered a whole community that has been here for a long time and they definitely wouldn’t agree with their city is a dead or abandoned space,” – LM

RENO: Cutthroat Trout & “The Art Of Beeing” in Reno, Nevada

“After 4 days of driving from Detroit to Reno we felt empowered by the incredible landscapes we had driven through, from salt lakes to deserts and the Rockies, not one part of the trip was unexciting,” says Louis Masai of the journey. “Well perhaps the 7 hours of corn fields.” -LM

SACREMENTO: Jumping Salmon! Louis Masai is in Sacramento. “The Art Of Beeing” Tour

“We drove through snowy mountains from Reno to Lake Tahoe, and then descended a continuous downwards road for 6000 feet – which took about an hour to get into Sacramento,” he says. “What an incredibly diverse landscape! It’s just mind-blowing.” -LM

SAN FRANCISCO: Louis Masai: Onward Ho! To San Francisco with “The Art Of Beeing”

“We met some amazing beekeepers in San Francisco that really opened up this idea that nature and the engagement with nature can definitely start to generate a sense of love for oneself and the environment” – LM

LOS ANGELES: Louis Masai, Leaping Frogs and Crawling Crayfish in LA : “The Art Of Beeing”

“I painted the Shasta crayfish (or as Americans call it; crawfish) in Venice, an endangered species native to northeast California There are only seven remaining populations of the Shasta crayfish left and are found only in Shasta County, California, in the Pit River drainage and two tributary systems, Fall River and Hat Creek drainages,” -LM

PHOENIX: A Jaguar in Phoenix: Louis Masai and “The Art Of Beeing”

“It’s always hard to formulate too much of an understanding of a city when you are only there for a very short time…and I guess a lot of this trip has been that way, but even more so in Phoenix, with only two nights and one day.” -LM

TEXAS & TENNESSEE: Flying Squirrels and Houston Toads : Louis Masai

“I guess the attraction is the abundance of frats and bar culture in the area. I got to know a handful of these homeless folks over the five days this mural took to complete and I can definitely see that the new mural in their neighborhood gave them some new color and appreciation in their lives. Several vowed to protect its longevity, bless them.” -LM

“The wall that I painted shadows a section of the city that I am sure will get pushed out. Men hang out on the street not doing much; we met a cowboy inspired gentleman that was proud to admit to eating gopher tortoise – a federally protected species. He said he had three in his freezer…he grew up eating what they hunted, from squirrels to rabbits and tortoise. Hopefully my line of work can help to steer people away from eating these species.”

ATLANTA: The Box Turtle in Atlanta: Louis Masai and “The Art Of Beeing”

MIAMI: A Manatee, A Crocodile and a Heart of Coral in Miami: Louis Masai and “The Art Of Beeing”

“Well its not my first time to Miami for Basel, so I know what I’m heading into…and actually I think that because I was there doing my own thing and for my own reasons, i.e. the tour, things were a lot easier for me. I also had linked up two good people, the Raw Project and Bushwick Collective so the ride was smooth.” -LM

An interview with Louis Masai about “The Art of Beeing”

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you share with us a memory or a story from your childhood relating to a pet or an animal or animals that made an impact on you and stayed with you for the rest of your life?

Louis Masai: Ever since I can remember I have felt strong emotions towards animals, we had family pets and all of them became very good friends of mine…however my love for the animal kingdom was far deeper than that. For me spirit animals are very real and I have always felt a huge connection towards lions. I admire their strength, charisma, loyalty, stubbornness, and of course leadership. Those that know me well will know that, I myself share a lot of those traits. Now that I grow older I realize that a spirit animal can’t be chosen and in fact it chooses you, some might say that the bee has chosen me.

How did that story inform your growth into adulthood?

Well I guess the idea of spirit animals has stayed with me into adulthood and become something that I understand in a different kind of way than when I was younger. For me the relevant difference in mindset, is that I realize that life finds you. When you look for something too hard or try and orchestrate a result, the journey might not be as fulfilling as if life is allowed to lead the way. I see one chapter lead to the next in a very organic manner. I evolve as an artist in the same way allowing for one idea to develop into the next.

What do you think drives humans to destroy what sustains them? It is as if we are killing ourselves slowly by killing what gives us life and keeps us alive in the first place.

Mmmmmmm…I’m not so sure that I think it’s a drive, perhaps there are agendas that drive humans towards destruction, for example money, but I don’t believe that its actual destruction itself that motivates this unsustainable lifestyle we live. Ultimately its the average person who populates the majority of this planet. I would be inclined to believe that the majority of this demographic have little understanding of what words like finite, extinction, deforestation etc result in. It’s only when I talk to scientists, environmentalists, or activists that I manage to find a true understanding of what we face ahead of us.

Here I am sat at a laptop with my, iPhone in company and a disposable bottle of water on a train, speeding towards Birmingham for Christmas. The minerals in my laptop and phone are finite and the plastic in that bottle is extremely likely to end up in the ocean, or at the very least spending the next 450 – 1000 years biodegrading on a landfill. Ultimately we are uneducated and in denial. If everyone used water filter bottles instead of bought disposable plastic bottles in the developed world alone, the ocean and what survives from its wealth would be hugely affected and in a positive way.

Equally we should be looking at how to extend the lifespan of our smart phones and laptops, its not very smart to run out of the rare earth minerals that makes them work. And even less smart to not know what impact that lack of mineral will have on the planet itself. I have so much to talk about with regard this question…where I will conclude is that I have a personal belief. I believe nature doesn’t make mistakes and that the destruction of the current stage in the earth’s life cycle is what nature has intended for us.

I feel that perhaps given that humans are one of the youngest additions to the planets kingdom and we have become the most destructive, that we are only doing what is required of us. Geographically, we are thousands of years overdue a shift in the planets alignments and I have this idea that nature allowed humans to be so dominant, only to help her speed up this change… so who else is looking forward to the new iPhone then?

Did you have any expectations or anxieties as you started your tour in NYC?

Eeeeeeesh, well, it was a huge expectation from the three of us, and I knew that from the beginning. So with that in mind, based purely on my acceptance for organic flow I definitely had my concerns, but I didn’t have anxieties. I think that any artist who is painting in the public domain, within communities, will always have a slight element of reservation. I know that if I didn’t, then it would be a case of not caring enough about where I was leaving my work. The last thing I want is for my work to be undesired, especially given that it comes with an environmental point of urgency. But as for the nine weeks of intense work within confined spaces, filming and editing 5 films, driving across 8000 miles, to paint 20 murals in 13 cities…piece of cake!

Yours was an art tour but it also was a round road trip, across the USA from the East to the West and in reverse in the company of your team, which included your videographers, Emil Walker and Tee Byford. What was the hardest part of the road trip?

Yeah, it certainly was never intended to be just a painting tour, there is only so far that a painting can direct influence and it’s our belief as a team that film can create a new chapter for the project. 5 mini docs were filmed and edited as we traveled across the states, each discussing new issues with the people and scientists that we met along the way.

I think that purely based on the fact that I’m used to not really knowing where I’m always going to paint and being able to foresee that element, creating the murals wasn’t really the hardest part. I would definitely say that the editing and creating five engaging films proved the most complicated. All the interviews were found whilst we were traveling with exception of only a few, so that in itself was a task.

Did you have a preconceived idea of what you were going to paint in each city and if so did you change your plans/animals as you drove across the country?

So…as we traveled I also was editing the website to keep the public up-to-date with our progress. Within the website is information about each species and what the general public can also do to help the endangered species out, a call to action. Before I left London I had already selected species for each city that we would travel through, within that list I had double what I needed for completion, that was purely so that I could negotiate with building owners and also switch species in accordance to the composition. There are still a good number of species on that list in the website to be created, I’m sure I will be back to the states in the coming years to complete that list.

How was it driving from state to state and city to city in regard to experiencing the variations in culture, attitudes and accents from the people whom you met as you drove across?

It’s mesmerizing. No, in fact, there is no word that I know of, that justly describes the intense, awe-inspiring beauty of the landscape. That alone is a reason to preserve and encourage the masses to realize what they have before it’s too late. Within each of these ever changing landscapes or screen-savers as we called them, are some of the kindest, and humble of spirits I have met in a long time. However there is always shadow to the light and of course there are also some of the most narrow-minded bigots.

We did indeed meet the many faces of the states from native Indians to illegal aliens; freeway fireworks shop owners to Detroit poets. If I was to generalize purely based on our nine week experiences, the east is very unaware of the environment, the west coast is very awake and starting to take action, the south is in total denial and the middle Americas we drove through seem very detached. Given that we spent so much time on the road – inside a car, I would have to say; that the cars you share the roads with in America definably act as indicators as to how that state thinks about its carbon footprints.

In Detroit you discovered a vibrant city with deep rooted and kind citizens but you also witnessed nature taking over the abandoned parts of the city and in fact that’s a good thing for the bees. Can you talk a bit more about that?

Well, the movie world has certainly created many times over, a very good image of what an abandoned city could look like. That city is not Detroit. Of course it has many fallen and crumbled factories, but there aren’t trees growing through the structures or bears and wolves occupying the city. Instead, the people who have remained in the city and the many that have moved to Detroit have returned to backyard horticulture and that alone has changed the dynamics of the people who inhabit this city.

We met many people within Detroit who gave us first-hand accounts of how they are a part of this DIY culture. That was never more evident than when we met Joan from City Bees. She pointed out that the best habitat for bees is one where lots of native wild fauna is left to grow and humans are not interested in disturbing it. Detroit is exactly that to the many bees and their keepers that live there.

In San Francisco, besides painting you also attended the Bioneer Conference. At the end of the conference did you walk out of it feeling more hopeful or less hopeful for the environment? What new radical thing did you learn that people talked about during the conference?

Ah man…where do I start? I’ll be honest with you, it’s not looking so great. Devastation is happening on a worldwide scale, climate change is in effect. The ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, ocean temperatures are increasing, coral reefs are dying, plastic is destroying the ocean, species are disappearing – consistently, climate change refugees still don’t have any rights and way too many leading corporations are running the planet for their own benefits… but, hey… we have known that was the cards on the table since before the 70s.

The difference is that now it’s really actually happening, and faster than anticipated. What I learnt at Bioneers is that humans are resilient and that there are many people out there who do care enough and we can turn things around, but only if we all start today. I urge everyone to pick one environmental issue to tackle a month. Before you know it, being conscious could become a part of your daily routine…three good issues to try and tackle are;

Palm oil – just don’t buy it.

Consumption of all cow products (everything with secret ingredients too) – if you can’t eradicate it, half it.

Plastic – recycling ain’t cutting it, stop buying it, and if you can’t eradicate it from your weekly shopping at least lose some of it – veggies come without plastic cellophane too you know!

To understand more about the current situation, check out these films…Racing Extinction, Cowspiracy, and Before The Floods. Don’t take them for gospel, do some research around the topics but if everyone picks something and activates their life in conjunction with that, we could fix this mess we are in…of course fixing politicians and politricks is another story…

In Phoenix you talked with a Native American named Breeze and the conversation touched on the topic of “the lack of respect” for our planet. Do you think that this “lack of respect” is a result of our public education systems being decimated by budget cuts and capitalism running amok in our societies?

Well, I think that there are strong possibilities that this is one reason, but I’m not one for believing that school is the only place we learn. I have learnt more about respecting the environmental long after my time at school than I ever did whilst in school. I also had pretty cool parents who didn’t do the NORM, so my widened perspective of life and what goes on around me was in part their doing.

I also think that lack of respect is something that has been amidst the American settler way before any kind of budget cuts existed, you have only to look at the culling of the buffalo to see that. It’s the responsibility of my generation to make sure that the youth are learning about respect with or without cuts in the education system.

In my opinion, the system that is being really abused is our eco-system, I’m not sure we need to make any excuses as to why we are showing it a lack of respect; we just need to fix up.

Did you ever experience hostility from some of the residents of the cities or a city where you painted?

Yeah, in New York, it was the second wall, the bog turtle. A disheveled looking guy who I think lived inside a warehouse in Bushwick, took a dislike to us. He shouted some abuse on the eve of the first night to which we ignored but on the second day he picked up from where he left off, so I confronted him.

By the time I had reasoned him, amidst his highly abusive claims and insults he returned an hour later for a hug and cuppa coffee…all is well that ends well. Other than that we were blessed from one city to the next with awesomeness. Oh…except in San Francisco, we fell victim to the everyday car smash and grab…

You were in the middle of the tour when the presidential election took place. Was there a before and after in regards of energy and on enthusiasm from the residents? Did you notice a change of the mood?

I knew when I was planning the tour that the elections would be happening and I knew that there was little if any evidence to show any regard for the environment from either candidate. I also had a strong saddened gut instinct that the result would be as has become. I’m very sorry for what is still to come. And it’s not America alone that is falling victim to this domino effect of politicians.

We definitely were in company of many anti-Trump supporters throughout the tour, but we did spot the supporters; from shops, to car bumper stickers. Did it change the mood, sometimes yes, but for the most part as we were in company of such awe-inspiring people and non-supporters of Trump I can’t say it affected us too much. But of course we discussed it solidly for two months.

In Nashville a resident confided to you that he actually hunts and eats and endangered and federally protected tortoise. Did that make you angry? What were your reaction and your approach?

Furious…and I reached out to my contacts as to what to do about it; there was a mixed response. I’m still to reach my decision as to what to do but I’ll probably send his information directly to the species protection society. He didn’t seem like an evil man, just one that grew up surviving eating what his family could salvage from the woods and that’s what he has grown up to continue doing. I suppose in many ways its no different form eating cows and chickens…

In Miami you bartered your art in exchange for accommodations. The Aztecs didn’t have minted currency, yet they were an empire. They bartered goods and services in an enormous open market in their capital city. Do you think bartering could make a popular come back in our civilizations to the point that it could make social impact in the markets?

Louis Masai: Not a chance unfortunately. And the biggest reason for that is everyone perceives something’s value differently. Even with the painting I did for the Miami accommodation it wasn’t a simple task of, I do a painting you provide a room. I emailed about 50 air BNB establishments before I got lucky and the logistics of what that lucky find perceived the value of what I was painting, was very different to what he valued his own accommodation to be.

Bartering is very complicated and in many ways money is much simpler because we all need the same object, we just swap different items or services for that object. With bartering most of the time the object in question is not desired by one of the bartering members. That being said, I love swapping and would happily welcome anyone to strike a swap with me…

Is there something more personal you might want to share with us about your experience driving and painting across the United States?

Well, I would like to give massive props to Emil and Tee for maintaining a vegan diet for 9 weeks. For me that’s my diet anyway, but for the tour the boys accepted the challenge to be vegan. It wasn’t easy at times, and humus/salsa/salad/avocado wraps definitely don’t need to be on the menu for a bit.

For me it was important to do this as it sets an example of how an environmental idea played out can have impacts. Of course just two extra vegans for two months has a low impact but imagine 200, one week out of every month over a year, that makes impacts and the challenge opened that up as a discussion with the people we met along the way. We actually converted the concept to a handful of people, so it’s worked out.

America as it happens is incredibly good at catering for vegans, I guess that’s mainly because people don’t cook at home in the states. Thumbs up America!

For for more information regarding The Art Of Beeing click HERE.

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'Dr. Feelgood: Dealer or Healer?' -- a closer look at the prescription drug epidemic

January 6, 2017, 9:45 am

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By Annika Andersson, ZEALnyc Contributing Writer, January 6, 2017

Dr. Feelgood: Dealer or Healer? is the thought-provoking documentary about Dr. William Hurwitz, who was convicted of over 50 counts of narcotics distribution for too generously prescribing painkillers to his patients, which ended up landing him a 25-year prison sentence.

Director Eve Marson has approached the ethical dilemma of prescribing versus denying patients painkillers by weighing in the pros and cons of using them, allowing both sides of the story to be told. The documentary is an important addition to the current discussion abut the opioid epidemic, which is claiming more lives than ever in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) has quadrupled between 1999 and 2015. Drug overdoses claimed half a million lives between 2000 and 2015, and the majority of these deaths (more than six out of ten) involved opioids. That's 91 Americans, every day, succumbing to opioid overdoses. The quadrupled overdoses since 1999 correlates with a quadrupled increase of prescription opioids sold in the U.S. during that very same timeframe, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone, and yet there has not been a change in the amount of pain that Americans report.

So why would a highly esteemed professional such as Dr. Hurwitz prescribe such vast amounts of painkillers to his patients? The film offers different explanations by showing contradicting testimonies from the witnesses. Their accounts of him reveal a compassionate, yet flawed, doctor, but there is no easy way to determine what's right and wrong. A patient has a right to pain relief, and there is no way to measure pain, especially chronic pain, other than to take the patient's word for it. On the other hand, generous prescriptions have tempted patients to become drug dealers, and obviously, there is a lawful need for drug control.

For example, the film states there were six or seven suicides immediately following Dr. Hurwitz's arrest by patients unable to live with their pain when he wasn't able to supply relief anymore. But the film also reveals the doctor's stubborn belief in patients where evidence suggested the opposite, such as the story of one patient who entered the office with a limp. When secretly followed from the office to his car, his limp all but disappeared. Why wouldn't this set off any alarm? The film also offers the perspective of the profit generated from having 500 painkiller addicts returning every month renewing their prescriptions as a possible incentive, since each visit generates $250 for the office.

The documentary doesn't necessarily leave us any wiser regarding Dr. Hurwitz's motives, but we do have a better understanding of the complexity of the situation. It's not easy to determine what's the right thing to do, even with the best of intentions. What we do learn though is to be very careful with opioids -- the new 2016 guidelines is not to take them any longer than 3-7 days following an injury. They are highly addictive and the amount needed to sooth the pain quickly escalates. On the streets, the drug has become known as "Hillbilly heroin." It can be snorted or injected and has led to many pharmacy robberies with the sole purpose of getting opioids. But sadly, there is still no consensus for how to treat chronic pain.

Dr. Feelgood: Dealer or Healer? has two special screenings coming up: 1) in San Francisco on January 7 featuring a special Q&A afterwards with the director Eve Marson, producer Sara Goldblatt, and executive producers Dr. Alison Block and Dr. Timothy Poore (for more information click here); and 2) in Los Angeles on January 11 (for more information click here). Beginning on January 31 the film will be available for digital streaming via its distributor Gravitas Ventures, and the film may be pre-ordered through iTunes in the U.S. by clicking here; or in Canada by clicking here.

Cover photo: Jeff Bierman
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Annika Andersson is a Contributing Writer for ZEALnyc and writes about film and related events.

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

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Subversive Cross Stitchers To Trump: "Because F*** You That's Why"

January 6, 2017, 12:04 pm

≫ Next: Social Media Friendships, Artists As A Tribe And An Homage T o Artist David Park (1911-1960)

≪ Previous: 'Dr. Feelgood: Dealer or Healer?' -- a closer look at the prescription drug epidemic

(Content note: Vulgar language!)

Tens of thousands of women across the United States are starting to break out their granny thermals for the Women's March on Washington, slated for the day after the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump. But a few thousand of the most foul-mouthed among them are stoking their resistance beforehand with needlework projects that -- ahem -- "wouldn't necessarily make your grandma proud." On January 21, 2017, the Subversive Cross Stitchers will lay down their needles and take the future of the country in hand.

Founded in 2003 by the "charmingly disgruntled" Julie Jackson to help manage her anger during a stint working under a "cruel bully of a boss," Subversive Cross Stitching has since attracted other alienated needleworkers in their thousands with its collection of hundreds of epithetic patterns and kits.

Its closed Facebook community now boasts more than 3,000 members, who fondly refer to each other as "fuckers" and "bitches" and share patterns with filigreed flowers and hearts flanking cathartic quips like "Because fuck you that's why" and "I would call you a cunt but you lack depth and warmth."

Though political debate is not a priority in the Facebook group -- Jackson's ground rule is that "If you have to argue, you have to stitch your argument" -- its members are unabashed about their feminist bent. Favorite projects among them include embroidery hoops bearing slogans like "Nasty Woman," "Empowered Women Empower Women," and "A Woman's Place Is In The Revolution."

Given their knack for sublimating rage into concrete action, it's hardly surprising that the Subversive Cross Stitchers are sending a contingent of energized marchers to Washington on Inauguration weekend. I spoke with several Stitchers traveling to the March from all over the United States and asked them to share their reasons for marching along with some of their favorite projects.

Heidi from Syracuse, NY:

I am heartbroken by the election. I feel betrayed by my country, like this isn't the place I thought it was. I will not be silent. As a woman, a mother and foster mother, a lesbian, an artist, as a survivor - I must not be silent. I want us to show up in numbers too great to ignore or dismiss. I want to send a message to those in power that we are here, we are strong, we are smart, we are pissed off and we refuse to be afraid.

Sarah from Arlington, VA:

I am marching for hope. I am marching for a better future for the daughter I hope to have one day. I am marching for those who can't march. I am marching for my mother, my sister, and every single woman who has ever touched my life or will in the years to come. I am marching for love and for unity and justice. I am also marching because I'm pissed and frustrated and something has got to change.

Jessica from Massillon, OH

I'm marching for several reasons, but mostly to stand in solidarity with others who value tolerance and decency, acknowledge women's rights as human rights, and reject bigotry in all its forms. My husband (who is marching with me) and I have talked about it, and it's important for us to take a public stand against all the ugliness of the last election with the hope that our future children will inherit a better world and know that we fought to create it for them. We were both history majors, and since we've studied the past, we're hoping that standing up to hatred and bigotry now will prevent history from repeating itself. I'm attaching a picture of something I stitched after the last debate, using a pattern from weelittlestitches. If Hillary Clinton is a "Nasty Woman," then it's an honor to call myself one as well!

Suzie from CA (Honorary Subversive Cross Stitcher who in fact knits. See below for photo of her knit pussy hat.)

I am going to the march because I was invested in the election (donated and volunteered) and horrified at the outcome. I cried on and off for three days afterward. I'm a feminist, environmentalist, scientist (civil engineer) mom who believes that we need to stop cashing in on our environmental capital to leave a sustainable world for the generations to come. As a wife of a diabetic and auntie to two lovely nieces with spina bifida, I am a strong supporter of the ACA. As a bonus, I'm from Maryland, so I'll get in a visit with my liberal and supportive family including my cross-stitching sister, aunt, cousin and father. I hope to see you there, waving some signs in support of inclusion of all communities in the fight against bigotry and greed!

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Social Media Friendships, Artists As A Tribe And An Homage T o Artist David Park (1911-1960)

January 7, 2017, 10:50 am

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A person begins his spiritual accomplishment by learning how to be a friend. - Hazrat Inayht Khan

As someone who spends a ton of time on social media — way too much — I have been thinking a lot about friendship lately. On the one hand, while I have literally thousands of “friends,” there are only a handful that I actually know in person and perhaps one or two that would reach for me if I were sinking in a pit of quicksand. It’s a situation where there is quick, momentary gratification available nearly all the time, but deep, profound connections seem at risk. Real friends and real friendships are difficult to schedule and just so inconvenient, right?

Some days it seems like we are all heading towards a future when we will choose Instagram likes over food, sex or human interaction: lab rats in a dystopian social media aquarium who “unfriend” anyone on doesn’t “like” us or our politics. I’m as guilty as anyone in this regard — so please note the confession of my hypocrisy as you read this on my Facebook — but this blog is actually intended to point out something positive: being connected with artists and others who love and are involved with art has given me (and many others) an unprecedented sense of belonging and camaraderie.

There is a sense of tribalism shared by art world types — as varied as they may be — that is grounded in some very genuine shared concerns. I became interested this sense of community a few years ago and it motivated me to write a blog for Hyperallergic about the painter Mark Dutcher, who had somehow managed to build a very genuine and intimate community through his Facebook posts. I admired that and am sorry to say that Mark is no longer on Facebook... but you can find him on Instagram.

Through social media and blogging I have met innumerable artists and managed to interview over 100 of them. I do my interviews on the phone and via e-mail — not as good as having lunch together, I know — and even across that distance I am often moved by what artists tell me. One great example of something profound and unforgettable that has been said to me is this anecdote from a 2011 interview of painter Kyle Staver:

Kyle Staver, who grew up in northern Minnesota, believes that she was born strongly predisposed to art, but it took her some time, and some help from a few mentors, to find her way. While attending a girl’s boarding high school as a teenager, a history teacher took her aside and told her: “I know what is wrong with you; you are an artist.”

I love that story for so many reasons, not the least of which is that I can also remember feeling like an outsider until I met a teacher — Nathan Oliveira — who helped me recognize that I was an artist who “belonged” to a tribe that I hadn’t previously known existed. To break down the inherent distance of social media friendships, I do what I can to meet my art tribe friends in the real world when I can manage. Case in point, when I noticed that artist Lisa Pressman had come to Los Angeles to visit a relative I messaged her and was able to meet her in person for the first time and view John McLauglin Paintings: Total Abstraction at the LA County Museum of art. Art is about a lot of things, and I think friendship and conversation are two of the most important and seeing art with another another artist is tremendously gratifying and interesting.

Honestly, the more I think about it, there is something profound about the way art forms communities, both online and in the “real” world. Some of the communities that I have noted and admired lately include the artists who support and are in turn supported by Poets and Artists and it’s founder-entrepreneur Didi Menendez. Although I haven’t visited in person — but I will this Spring — I’m in awe of the community that has evolved around Art Division, founded by painter Dan McCleary: it’s an LA based program that trains underserved young adults in the visual arts. Finally, I thought it was extraordinary how the Atlanta arts community rallied around art dealer Alan Avery this past November to raise $50,000 to help Alan cope with a medical emergency.

Is it possible that making, being around and caring about art actually enhances one’s empathy, sense of caring and ability to build and maintain meaningful friendships? I honestly think it does. Which brings me to a story I want to tell.

In 1945 a young man named Sam Francis was a patient at Fort Miley Veterans’ Hospital in San Francisco. Sam was suffering greatly from spinal tuberculosis and injuries that he had suffered during a training flight crash a year and a half before. When Francis took up painting in bed to divert his mind, the artist and teacher David Park heard about it and came to visit. Over time, he made numerous visits, talked to Sam about painting, brought works by Klee and Miro and left them overnight and even arranged for a Sam — who was lying flat on a stretcher in a body cast — to visit the De Young Museum when it was closed. Years later, Sam Francis would tell his friend John Hultberg that David Park had saved his life by encouraging him to paint. David Park also juried Sam Francis — who later went on to a stellar career as a leading abstract artist — into his first exhibition.

This story is a testament to the power of friendships between artists and their transformative power. It should be mentioned that as a teenager, Park had been rescued from a boarding school where he was miserable by his artist/aunt Edith Park Truesdell. Some what he did for Sam Francis must have had an aspect of “paying it forward” that came from his aunt’s example of friendship and encouragement.

In his life and in his art, David Park was just an extremely decent and caring person. The representational paintings that made him famous in the last decade of his life are filled with humanity and empathetic observations about what it means to be human. When I saw a David Park retrospective as a student in 1977, I was very moved by this aspect of Park’s work: so much so that I wrote a letter to his widow Lydia, who generously sent me a Park drawing as a gift. That gift, and the affection I continue to feel for Park through the experience of his work has been a continuing source of inspiration.

To honor David Park’s legacy, I am helping organize an exhibition scheduled to run from April 3rd - 28th, 2017 at Santa Clara University. Supported by a grant from the Sam Francis Foundation, the exhibition will showcase the works of two invited artists who have looked hard at Park and learned from his example — Jennifer Pochinski and Kyle Staver — and will also feature a juried exhibition featuring between 20 and 25 additional artists.

This exhibition is not intended to showcase paintings that simply resemble Park’s works, but rather to honor his legacy of artistic honesty, strong work ethic, and commitment to the figure.

If you are an artist who has been inspired by Park’s legacy, or who shares in his vision of humanity, I hope you will consider submitting your work to the jury for this show. This show will hopefully offer recognition and encouragement to all who participate: it is meant as a form of community and an offer of friendship between artists.

Information about “Honoring the Legacy of David Park” and an online entry form can be found at this link.

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Twenty-Five Great Jazz Baritone Saxophone Peformances

January 7, 2017, 1:58 pm

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Ronnie Cuber

The cumbersome and often unwieldy baritone saxophone has long been relegated to the position of a shadowy stepchild to its more grandiloquent brothers, the tenor and alto saxophones, in jazz music. A low register behemoth that requires voluminous breath, careful control and formidable stamina, it has been used primarily in jazz orchestras to produce those low resonant notes that bring the bottom end to life in modern jazz orchestra arrangements. Prominently used in the great jazz orchestras of Duke Ellington and Count Basie, the baritone saxophone was played by the great Harry Carney in the Ellington band and by Jack Washington in the Basie band. Carney, with his incredible use of circular breathing and his pure uncluttered tone, is widely recognized as having been a pioneer on the instrument, bringing the baritone out of the obscurity of the saxophone section and into the limelight of a solo instrument.

Using Carney and to a lesser extent Washington as inspiration, baritone players started to experiment with the versatility of this instrument. In the forties and fifties Serge Chaloff pioneered the bebop sound on the big horn with his solo work and as one of the infamous "Four Brothers" saxophone section in Woody Herman's Second Herd. Saxophonist Leo Parker continued this path finding his niche playing a boppish blues inspired baritone and Cecil Payne was known for the warmth and heartiness of his sound which was partially inspired by his work with Dizzy Gillespie. The diametrically opposed styles of the cool school innovator Gerry Mulligan and the facile, hearty work of Pepper Adams brought the baritone front and center and undoubtedly inspired the next generation of players.

The instrument has gone through a dramatic metamorphosis in the hands of avant-garde players like Hamiett Blueitt, impressionistic players like John Surman and Colin Stenson, and free players like Ken Vandermark and Mats Gustafsson. The tradition has been expanded and enhanced by such great players as the incendiary Ronnie Cuber, Nick Brignola, Dennis DiBlasio, the superlative James Carter, Xavier Richardieu and modern master Gary Smulyan and the future looks bright with young stars like Alain Cuper, Brian Landrus, Claire Daly, Frank Basile, Lauren Sevian and Jason Marshall.

Since the instrument has been such an important part of the saxophone sections of so many great bands over the years, it is important not to forget the players who have made such an important contribution to this music on this instrument, while never seeing the spotlight of the solo. Many of their work is timelessly hidden in the seamless perfection of the band's signature sound, a sound of singular voicing. Some do double duty on baritone and other reed instruments. So let's' not forget the work of the previously mentioned Jack Washington who worked with Basie; Charlie Fowlkes, who played in the bands of Arnett Cobb, Lionel Hampton and Count Basie; Ernie Caceres, who at times played with Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman; Laurdine "Pat" Patrick who played with John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and spent forty years in Sun Ra's Arkestra; Haywood Henry who played with the Esrkine Hawkins band; Glen Wilson, who teaches and has toured with Buddy Rich and the Bob Belden Ensemble; Jack Nimitz, played with Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Oliver Nelson and Herbie Mann; Danny Bank who played in the bands of Artie Shaw, Oliver Nelson and countless other bands and was heard on numerous studio sessions. Carl Maraghi played with "Doc" Severinsen's Band and works in Darcy James Argue's Secret Society band. Ed Xiques who has played in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band and is now with the Westchester Jazz Orchestra and George Barrow, who played with Oliver Nelson's orchestra.

Other great multi-instrumentalists that double regularly on the baritone as part of their multi-reed work include the inimitable Scott Robinson with Maria Schneider's Orchestra, avant-garde multi-instrumentalist Vinnie Golia and the versatile Howard Johnson, whose principal instrument is Tuba.

A big thank you goes out to Andrew Hadro and his JazzBariSax.com which was a invaluable resource for this article and all things baritone saxophone.

Here are my top twenty-five greatest jazz baritone saxophone solos in roughly chronological order:

Where it all started the master:

Harry Carney: Live in Copenhagen Denmark with the Duke Ellington Orchestra (1965-1971):
"Sophisticated Lady"

Serge Chaloff: from Blue Serge 1956 with LeRoy Vinegar (b), Sonny Clark (p), Philly Joe Jones (dr) "All the Things You Are"

Lars Gullin: with Rune Ofwerman (p), Bengt Carlson(b), Nils-Bertil Dahlander (dr) 1957 "Lover Man"

Jerome Richardson: from Roamin' with Richardson 1959 with Richard Wyands(p),George Tucker (b) Charlie Persip (dr) "I Never Knew"

Leo Parker: From the album Rollin' with Leo with Dave Burns (tpt), Bill Swindell (T sax), Johnny Acea (pno), Al Lucas (db), Wilbert Hogan (dr).from 1961 "Bad Girl"

Gerry Mulligan: with Paul Desmond (as), Wendell Marshall (b), Connie Kay (dr) 1962 from Two of a Mind, "Stardust"

Sahib Shihab: from And All Those Cats, from 1965 with Francy Boland (p), Jimmy Woode (b), Kenny Clarke (dr), Fats Sadi (bongos & vibes), Joe Harris (perc) "Bohemia After Dark"

Sahib Shihab & Cecil Payne: with the Dizzy Gillespie Reunion Band in Copenhagen, Denmark 1968 "Ray's Idea"

Pepper Adams: Live in Baltimore September 1969 with Duke Pearson, Richard Davis Mel Lewis and Richard Williams.: "Billie's Bounce"

John Surman: from Extrapolation 1969 with John McLaughlin (g), Brian Odgers (b), Tony Oxley (dr)

Hamiet Bluiett : live with the Charles Mingus Band in Nov 1972 Berlin, Germany with Joe Gardner (tr), John Foster (p), Charles Mingus (b) and Roy Brooks (dr). "Peggy's Blue Skylight"

Cecil Payne: Live in NYC at Jack Klinesingers Jazz Tribute to Charlie Parker 1973 with Ted Dunbar (g), Richard Davis (b) and Roy Haynes (dr) "Koko"

Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker Band live at Carnegie Hall 1974 : w Bob James (p), John Scofield (g), Ron Carter(b), Dave Samuels (vib), Harvey Mason (dr) "Bernie's Tune"

Gerry Mulligan: live with The Charles Mingus Band w Charles Mingus (b), George Adams, (ts), Don Pullen(p), Jack Walrath (tr), Dannie Richmond (dr) Benny Bailey (tr) live at Montreux 1975
"Take the A Train"

Nick Brignola and Pepper Adams : from Baritone Madness 1977 with Dave Holland (b), Derek Smith (p), Roy Haynes (dr) "Donna Lee".

Roger Rosenberg: live with the Bob Mintzer Big Band live in Berlin 1987 and October 2014 in Pittsburgh, PA

Joe Temperley: Live with the Buck Clayton Orchestra 1988 "Angel in Blue"

Nick Brignola: from What it Takes 1990 with Randy Brecker (tr), Kenny Baron (p), Rufus Reid (b), Dick Berk (dr) "Star Eyes"

Ronnie Cuber: on Mingus Big Band 93: Nostalgia in Times Square ; "Moan'in"

James Carter: on the Real Quiet Storm 1995 with Craig Taborn(p): "Round Midnight"

Mats Gustafsson from Catapult 2005 "The Light"

Jason Marshall: Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival June 2010, with All McClean (ts), Dan Thouin (p), Adam Vedady( b), John Fraboni (d) : "Cherokee"

Brian Landrus: from The Deep Below from 2015 : "The Fly"

Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufield : Never Were the Way She Was 2015 "Won't be a Thing to Become"

Gary Smulyan: live at the Le Ducs de Lombards, fall of 2016 "Laura"

https://soundcloud.com/sunnysiderecords/gary-smulyan-laura

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Stage Door: Ute Lemper's Songs From The Broken Heart, Confucius

January 8, 2017, 1:11 pm

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Ute Lemper, the acclaimed German chanteuse, bares her continental soul at the inviting 54 Below nightclub, downstairs from Studio 54, tonight and tomorrow. The great Kurt Weill interpreter is taking a departure from her acclaimed repertoire.

Noted for her charismatic delivery of Weimar-era classics, Lemper navigates a more intimate musical universe in Songs From the Broken Heart.

Her current incarnation features a few Brechtian numbers from the streets of Berlin. But the evening isn't a showcase of her classic Fritz Hollander or Jacques Brel numbers.

It's a more personal journey that traverses her interior landscape, addressing the pain of life. She showcases her musical artistry, using the poetry of Charles Bukowski or Pablo Neruda for inspiration.

Her sensitivity to suffering is pronounced. This is art as introspection, searching for the truth of existence. Themes of death, love and redemption permeate her oeuvre. So does humor. She manages, in the guise of Mac the Knife, to take theatrical swipes at Donald Trump.

Though singing numbers in French, German, English and Yiddish, Broken Heart focuses on a more modern repertoire -- Lemper interprets the songs of Nick Cave, Philip Glass and Tom Waits, backed by an accomplished quartet.

Her range, much like her electric rapport with the audience, is legendary. Lemper doesn't just sing, she embodies her music. And it achieves added resonance by the historic, political and cultural backdrop in which she carefully sets her selections.

Lempers's nightclub performances -- versus the large concert-hall venues she regularly plays in Europe and Canada -- are sexy and intimate. She's been known to entice people on stage and tease audiences with her "boa moment." Such external stagecraft has been replaced by a quieter, more reflective mood.

"Hell is built piece by piece," she sings; in a jazzy rendition of emotional infernos. She has, as Eugene O'Neill wrote, "a touch of the poet." Lemper strips away life's pretense and vanity; our tortured souls are her canvas -- and she executes her portraits with a masterful hand.

A second global import, Confucius, a new dance drama performed by the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater at Lincoln Center, is a hypnotic production headed to Washington, D.C. Jan. 13-15.

The opera tells the tale of the famous scholar's journey through the kingdoms of the Zhua Dynasty and his quest to bring a philosophy of benevolence, harmony and righteousness to its decadent, indifferent ruler.

Boasting traditional Chinese music, stunning costumes (Yang Donglin) and set design (Ren Dongsheng), the show is told in six sections. Set during a chaotic time in Chinese history, the 55-strong ensemble delivers a mesmerizing performance, aided by a compelling Hu Yang as Confucius and Tang Shiyi as Concubine. Shiyi is so graceful; it is like watching the breeze dance.

For Americans, it's a remarkable opportunity to appreciate the splendor and singularity of Chinese dance and music, deftly directed by Kong Dexin, a 77th-generation direct descendant of Confucius.

Confucius Photo: Xinhua/Qin Lang

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Karin Mamma Andersson: Advice to the Young

January 9, 2017, 1:01 am

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"If you think Rubens is crap, then don't bother with him." Karin Mamma Andersson, one of Sweden's most important contemporary painters, advises younger colleagues to learn your art history: "Focus on what you find interesting, but immerse yourself in it."

"There's no reason to reinvent the wheel, art has always been like a game of Chinese whispers in which we give and take," says the acclaimed artist, who also advises not to follow contemporary artistic trends. She underlines that the most important source of inspiration at art school does not come from the teachers, but from the other art students, your friends and peers.

Karin Mamma Andersson (b. 1962) is one of Sweden's most internationally acknowledged artists. She studied at the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm, at which time her nickname 'Mamma' was added to differentiate herself from another student with the same name. Her dreamlike, expressive compositions are often inspired by filmic imagery, theatre sets and private interiors. She is represented by Gallery Magnus Karlsson in Stockholm, gallerimagnuskarlsson.com/ and by David Zwirner Gallery in New York. Karin Mamma Andersson resides in Stockholm. Learn more at: davidzwirner.com/artists/mamma-andersson/biography/

Karin Mamma Andersson was interviewed by Christian Lund in her studio in Stockholm, Sweden, February 2015.

Camera: Kasper Kiertzner
Edited by: Klaus Elmer
Produce by: Christian Lund
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2016

Supported by Nordea-fonden

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New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Want to Keep

January 9, 2017, 6:24 am

≫ Next: 3 Rules For Being A Good Third Wife

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By A. E. Colas, ZEALnyc Contributing Writer, January 9, 2017

New Year's resolutions are a great idea. You say to yourself, "It's going to be different this year -- I'm ready for a change!" We're now a week into the new year and you're finding yourself falling back into old patterns and nothing new is happening. Well ZEALnyc understands your dilemma and we're offering some very simple ideas that can still get your 2017 off to a terrific start.

Resolution 1: In 2017, I'd like to dress better.

Head on over to The Museum at FIT (the downtown fashion institute) and see Black Fashion Designers, an exhibit that will give you just the inspiration you need. This exhibition, which is curated by Ariele Elia and Elizabeth Way, may also keep you from making some mistakes in judgement before hitting the post holiday sales. The exhibition runs through May 16th. For more information click here.

Resolution 2: This year, I should really learn something more about New York City.

Through February 26, you can learn about the city's role in creating a place for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities during the 20th century. The Museum of the City of New York's exhibit Gay Gotham explains how much of the work in the arts of the United States we accept as classic examples today were created by these visionaries who also just happened to be non-heterosexual. For more information click here.

Resolution 3: I want learn how artists make work that is relevant to the world around them.

In the 1970's many artists chose to focus exclusively on social issues of the day. The Studio Museum in Harlem has a powerful exhibit called Circa 1970 displaying these pieces in various media. Consider how this past year has looked in terms of artistic achievement and compare it to that earlier time. The exhibition runs through March 5, and if you haven't been before, it affords a great opportunity to take in this museum, founded in 1968 "...for the dynamic exchange of ideas about art and society." The Studio Museum in Harlem is on 125th Street, just east of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. For more information click here.

Resolution 4: I should waste less and recycle more.

Through April 16, see how designers and business owners handle the issues of waste and reuse at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Scraps: Fashion, Textiles, and Creative Reuse shows that through innovative thinking and practice, waste at all levels of production can be reduced to near zero. It will definitely help you remember to take your own worn out textiles to the recycle locations at farmers' markets around the city. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is on Fifth Avenue at 91st Street. For more information click here.

Resolution 5: I want to appreciate the finer things in life.

Visit the Frick Collection's exhibit of Pierre Gouthière: Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court through February 19 and marvel at the skills used to create objects that decorated the court residences of the kings of France. Then go home and look at your chipped Ikea furniture. For more information click here.

Resolution 6: I need to do more to support conservation issues.

Anybody can go scuba diving and see coral reefs in all their glory. But it takes a creative mind to actually make a coral reef replica (in crochet, no less) and get it displayed in a museum. Visit the Museum of Arts and Design at 2 Columbus Circle to see Crochet Coral Reef: TOXIC SEAS and admire the craftsmanship. This exhibition, a product of sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim and their Institute for Figuring, runs through January 22. For more information click here. Then text a few bucks to a reputable conservation charity.

Resolution 7: I should travel.

Then start your journey at The Rubin Museum of Art and their exhibit Masterworks of Himalayan Art. Among other things, you can go on a virtual pilgrimage to Mount Wutai, a sacred site in Buddhist teaching, located in Northern China. Start a bank account for travel with automatic deposits from your paycheck. The Rubin Museum of Art is off Seventh Avenue at 17th Street. This exhibition runs through February 6. For more information click here.

Resolution 8: I want to learn from the best.

2017-01-06-1483739283-9567649-martinscorsesemomi04720x480.jpg

Take a trip out to Queens to see the exhibit Martin Scorsese at the Museum of the Moving Image. The memorabilia from childhood to his work on such classic films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Gangs of New York, to name just a few, is impressive and gives insight into the creative process of this giant of American cinema. After you're done, go see his new film Silence. The museum is at 36-01 35 Avenue in Astoria, and is easily accessible by the R/M and N/W subway lines. The exhibition runs through April 23. For more information click here.
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A. E. Colas, a Contributing Writer for ZEALnyc, writes about art and museum exhibits, as well as lifestyle features.

For more features from ZEALnyc read:

PROTOTYPE --a 'Visionary' Festival Begins Today

With an Eye for the Icon-Oscar Abolafia is a Cognescenti of the Camera

'Exhibitionism--The Rolling Stones' is a 'rocker's Nirvana'

Catch them before they're gone -- shows that are closing soon

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

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3 Rules For Being A Good Third Wife

January 9, 2017, 1:15 pm

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By Mandy Stadtmiller

“Marriage … You’re in it for life in theory,” my husband ruminated while recording an episode of his podcast recently as he sidelined to talk about our union, which just reached the 14-month mark. “But you can still walk out. I mean this is my third fucking wife.” His female guest interrupted him, rightfully shocked as to what he just revealed.

“Wait — this is your third wife? Oh my God! Why do you keep getting married? What’s the point of getting married?”

“I just love it,” my husband replied sarcastically before getting earnest. “You fall in love, you stay with somebody, and marriage is just the next step. That’s the way it was the first couple of times. It wasn’t like that with Mandy.”

Listening to their banter, I was tickled by all the things he was saying (“her smile is one of those light-up-the-room kind of smiles,” “we’re perfect for each other,” “sometimes I’m afraid of her”), but it was that last six-word sentiment that stood out the most. With that sentence, he broke down his philosophy to a successful third marriage as the Rule of Three (as in writing or comedy): In the first two you establish a pattern, and on the third you deviate from it.

My husband’s first two marriages came out of a deep love, but they also came out of something deeply flawed: A sense of obligation. Our own marriage came from a different place: He really wanted it, and the only obligation he had was to his own desires.

So what did I do to change his mind about marriage? In his words, I was the anti-wife. (I myself called it being “unwifeable.”) I am the opposite of wanting to have kids and move to the suburbs. The sex got better over time as opposed to getting worse. Our emotional intimacy grew to deeper levels of understanding as opposed to that creepy sensation of living with your roommate. There’s more honesty, more communication, more intimacy — and zero game-playing.

You might be wondering what my reasons were for being open to marrying a guy who’s been divorced twice. I suppose the same qualities that made me so right for him made him so right for me. I come from chaos: My dad is a blind combat vet. My mom has severe OCD. I understand very well that how someone appears to be on the surface is often never even close to the real story below.

To me, judging someone for being married twice would be like judging my father for how he looked or my mom for how she behaved. It’s an entirely superficial and socially imposed status designation. Failure, dysfunction, and lessons learned are how people succeed in life. To discount someone based on their past failings would be both petty and short-sighted.

But let’s be real, there are still many questions that you need to ask yourself if you are going to become the third wife. Say, are the past wives still involved in his life? Will he drop you when things get tough? Are some people just not meant to stay married — and will they just keep making the same mistakes over and over?

Here are my top three pieces of advice for marrying that thrice-charmed spouse.

Rule No. 1: Don’t get married because you’re with some guy who “needs to be married.”

“In none of my relationships after my second divorce was marriage ever something I aspired to be a part of ever again. Meeting you changed all that,” my husband told me right before he proposed.

But how did I change it?

He fell in love with me precisely because he says I was so different than past girlfriends — and didn’t care about ever getting married again. He knew that I was married from 25 to 30 to my college sweetheart and wasn’t planning on entering the institution again anytime soon. (Which I believe also made me an ideal partner for him. I know how tough marriage is, and why you shouldn’t enter into it without some brutal soul-searching.)

As for him, he made it clear that he wasn’t some “marriage fetishist guy” from the get-go. I remember attending one of his stand-up shows early on in our relationship and hearing him say he was “never getting married again.” My friend whispered to me, “Oh, too bad.” But I didn’t think so. After all, I was over marriage, too. Ironically, that mindset made us both open to the institution again — our negative Obligatory Marriage Disease baggage was in the past.

Only when something is truly dead (like killing off all that peer pressure from friends, family, society to get married) can something new, such as a natural, powerful desire make a commitment of your own volition be reborn.

Rule No. 2: Understand what worked and what didn’t in your partner’s past marriages.

There can be a sense of dismissiveness (or shock) when people meet someone on their third marriage. But a lot of times this comes from a simple lack of understanding — and if you want to be a good Wife No. 3, empathy is your No. 1 priority. You best strive for compassion and emotional intelligence … unless you want to be reading an article by Wife No. 4 someday called “Four Rules for How to Be a Good Fourth Wife.”

In looking at what didn’t work in my husband’s past marriages, we both started analyzing his perspective, maturity, sobriety, self-awareness and experience. He gained these things as he grew older, which makes each marriage easier to understand. He was 20 the first time he got married, and 31 the second time. When he married me a year ago, he was 45.

Marriage No. 1: What worked: They loved each other. What didn’t: They were far too young, he hadn’t gotten sober yet and they both grew up and out of it.

Marriage No. 2: What worked: They loved each other. What didn’t: They stopped being able to communicate their needs to each other and he had a malleable moral compass at the time. (Translation: He cheated.)

Our marriage: What works: We love each other and are grown-ass adults who have spent thousands of dollars on therapy to gain self-awareness and compassion. What doesn’t: We forget to have gratitude sometimes, which can lead to petty fights and resentments.

What saves us: We have 87 years combined experience between the two of us and a whole lot of perspective. Neither one of us “majors in the minor” and we are able to draw upon various lifehacks in order to hit a kind of metaphorical reset button — often.

Rule No. 3: Resist the urge to throw his past marriages in his face.

I’m ashamed to admit I’ve said things like, “No wonder you’re twice divorced!” But it’s something I learned to stop saying after the first few major fights (hey I needed three tries, too!). It’s low, cheap, irrelevant, ugly, off-topic, and poisonous. Ask yourself how you’d feel if someone brought up your failed relationships whenever you fought. I myself am once divorced, and my husband has never thrown in my face a similar admonition like: “No wonder you got divorced!” He knows it only feeds the blech. Don’t feed the blech.

Instead, feed the “firsts”! You may be the third wife, but think about it: You have a lot of firsts with your husband. For us, our marriage marked the first time either of us had an official wedding (he had previously done courthouses, I did a chapel in Vegas). It’s the first marriage in which we’ve both continuously fueled each other’s creativity. And it’s the first marriage in which we’ve both been sober.

You may be the third wife — but if you make each other your first priority, you’re guaranteed to be the last.

More from The Cut:

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7 Things Football Taught Me About Fighting With My Husband

Here Are All the Celebrity Breakups of 2016

The Fallacy That Keeps People in Unhappy Relationships

Does Splitting the Housework Really Make Couples Have More Sex?

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