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Marcus Jansen's second solo exhibition with Almine Rech opens in London
LONDON.- Almine Rech London presents Victims and Victors, its first solo exhibition of American artist Marcus Jansen, on view from January 13 until February 19, 2022. This will be Marcus Jansen's second solo exhibition with the gallery. Each year, at 11am on 11 November, the world falls silent to remember those who lost their lives in the battlefields of World War I. The so-called Great War was meant to be the war to end all wars, but since then, countless other conflicts have unleashed their horror and despair across the globe. Again and again, governments insist that the best way to resolve an argument is to kill. How to disrupt this terrible cycle of violence? Art is one way. Unlike many of the artists whose work protests the cruelties of war, Marcus Jansens searing paintings and sculptures evolved from his direct experience. After spending his formative ... More

San Antonio's latest public art project pays homage to African American culture at Martin Luther King Park
SAN ANTONIO, TX.- The City of San Antonios Department of Arts & Culture recently debuted Spheres of Reflection, a new public art project in the citys east side at Martin Luther King Park. The 13-foot-sculpture, which rests on a 4-foot-tall foundation, was created by local San Antonio Artist Kaldric Dow and celebrates African American culture. Spheres of Reflection depicts an ambiguous face topped by a cylindrical tower of dark, reflective spheres symbolic of hair. The spheres feature words that are common themes found in Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s work including dream, sincerity, bold, desire, brave, unity, gratitude, accountability, devotion and change. "To me, this sculpture represents the essence of what African American culture is, said Dow. It was important to me to use my portrait artistic style to create a piece that people can identify with and see themsel ... More

Exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Howard Smith opens at Jane Lombard Gallery
NEW YORK, NY.- Jane Lombard Gallery is presenting Marks in Time, an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Howard Smith. Since the 1960s, Smith has dedicated his practice to exploring how brushstrokes and marks accrue to make color, space, shape and light. An abstract painter, he was a member of the Radical Painting group meeting in New York in the 1980s. In Smiths paintings the brushstroke is just as important as the paint applied to the surface. The mark, then, is always working with the plane to elicit light. Here, even with the use of only one color, the applied color is always interacting with the ground to make a new color. The artist primarily paints in his studio by natural light, which will vary depending on the time of day and time of year. Time becomes a visible theme within the work. The relationship between what is going ... More

Phillips appoints Jean-Paul Engelen as President, Americas
NEW YORK, NY.- Phillips announced the appointment of Jean-Paul Engelen to President, Americas. In this newly created role, Mr. Engelen will be responsible for the oversight of Phillips client and business activities across the region, ensuring effective implementation of the companys strategic plans in the Americas. In addition to his role as President, Americas, he will continue as Worldwide Co-Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art. Jean-Paul has been instrumental in Phillips growth and success since joining the firm in 2015, said Stephen Brooks, Phillips Chief Executive Officer. From overseeing Phillips first Evening Sale in Hong Kong in 2016 to hosting the most successful auction in Phillips 225-year history this past November, Jean-Paul has helped to build and lead one of the strongest teams across the industry. We look forward to seeing ... More

Everson hires Director of Learning and Engagement
SYRACUSE, NY.- The Everson Museum of Art announced that after a nationwide search, Adam Carlin has been hired as Director of Learning and Engagement. In this newly-created senior leadership position, Carlin will develop a pedagogical strategy that aligns with the Eversons commitment to DEAI values, with a focus on expanding access to meaningful learning opportunities across the museum experienceonsite, in the community, and virtuallyfor all ages and abilities. Carlin will direct a department that encompasses youth and family programs, adult classes and events, community engagement and outreach, and an established docent-led tour program. Carlin will also provide staff leadership to the Equity & Engagement Committee of the Board of Trustees. He will take up his position at the Everson in mid-February. On entering ... More

James Mtume, whose 'Juicy Fruit' became a hip-hop beat, dies at 76
NEW YORK, NY.- James Mtume, a musician, songwriter, producer, bandleader and talk-radio host whose 1983 hit Juicy Fruit has been sampled in more than 100 songs, died Sunday at his home in South Orange, New Jersey. He was 76. The cause was cancer, his family said. Mtume started his career as a jazz percussionist. He was in Miles Davis band for the first half of the 1970s, appearing on Davis landmark 1972 jazz-funk album On the Corner and its successors. But in the late 70s he pivoted to R&B: He co-wrote hits for Roberta Flack and Stephanie Mills, produced albums and formed a group, Mtume, which had major hits with his songs Juicy Fruit and You, Me and He. His sparse, sputtering electronic beat for Juicy Fruit gained an extensive second life in hip-hop when it was sampled on the debut single by the Notorious B.I.G., Juicy, ... More

'Intelligent Life' review: Cecily Strong's 'awerobics' workout
NEW YORK, NY.- Of the many lines that have stuck with me since I saw the original Broadway production of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe in 1985, perhaps the sharpest was the one that seemed aimed directly at my generation of disappointed go-getters. All my life, Ive wanted to be somebody, a character named Chrissy says, but I see now I should have been more specific. Chrissy attends self-awareness seminars and considers suicide. She is angry at a world that offers false hopes but angrier at herself for failing to have it all. I feel I am somewhat creative, she explains to a friend after aerobics class. But somehow I lack the talent to go with it. That was never the problem with Jane Wagners play; it bristles with barbed insights that have kept me nursing the beautiful bruises for 35 years. And the good news ... More

Seattle maestro resigns by email and says he felt 'not safe'
NEW YORK, NY.- On Christmas morning, at his seaside home near Copenhagen, Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard made a difficult decision: He would step down as the music director of the Seattle Symphony, effective immediately, more than a year before the end of his contract. He pressed send on a resignation email Jan. 3 blindsiding an orchestra that was expecting his arrival a few weeks later to lead a world premiere and a Tchaikovsky symphony, and forcing the organization to scramble to find replacements for his remaining dates this season. Dausgaard, 58, had seemed a good fit for his position, which he had held just since fall 2019. But he was separated from the acclaimed orchestra for much of 2020 and 2021 because of pandemic-related travel restrictions. And he had grown increasingly frustrated by what he described in an interview ... More

Poitier and Bogdanovich: The defiant ones
NEW YORK, NY.- Last week, the movies lost two giants Sidney Poitier and Peter Bogdanovich who each made history in his own way. Our chief film critics discussed the men, their careers and their legacies. Manohla Dargis: When Poitier and Bogdanovich died last week, you and I talked about how each had helped shape the periods in which they emerged. Ive been thinking about that ever since. We know their careers briefly overlapped: Bogdanovich directed Poitier in the 1996 TV movie To Sir, With Love 2, a sequel to the 1967 film. For the most part, though, they had separate trajectories partly shaped by race, personal choices and what was happening both in the country and the industry. Its fascinating to trace the arcs of these separate paths. Poitiers begins first, with his big big-studio break, the 1950 drama No Way Out. He was working ... More

Dissident poet, jailed by Iran for his writing, dies of COVID
NEW YORK, NY.- He was a renowned poet. A documentary filmmaker. A prisoner. Baktash Abtin was serving a six-year prison sentence in Iran, on national security and propaganda charges, when he died Saturday of COVID-19 complications. Abtin, who was about 47 years old, had contracted COVID once before in prison and was hospitalized, but then he was returned to the feared Evin prison. He was infected again and fell ill last month, was hospitalized again, and was placed in an induced coma in early January as his health deteriorated. Human rights organizations, which have said that Abtin was imprisoned for nothing more than speaking out, announced his death and blamed Irans government. They accused prison authorities of denying him a medical leave despite his vulnerable condition and of delaying his medical care once he got sick. COVID ... More

Jonny Greenwood: First Radiohead, now orchestras and film
NEW YORK, NY.- Jonny Greenwood had long since achieved global fame, as the lead guitarist of Radiohead, when he ventured into scoring films nearly 20 years ago. To some, this seemed at first like a side hustle, something to keep Greenwood occupied between albums and tours. But over the past decade in particular, its become clear that is not the case. With 11 scores to his name, including two for Jane Campions The Power of the Dog and Pablo LarraÃns Spencer that may figure in this years Academy Awards race, what was once a subsidiary career now vies for preeminence with Greenwoods day job. As he has moved further into film, he has also achieved some prominence as an orchestral composer, with his concert music often fueling his soundtracks. In a recent interview with Alex Ross of The New Yorker, Greenwood described ... More