I love the Williams College Museum of Art, in  Williamstown, MA.

Yesterday, Sara and I drove over from Albany–and found one wonderful surprise after another.

First–Tristan Lowe’s Mocha-Dick: a life size white whale made of felt–modelled on a levianthan that once harrassed sailing vessels in the Pacific Ocean and inspired Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby Dick. Made out of industrial wool felt, the sculpture  appeared at Philadelphia’s Fabric Workshop and Museum in May 2009.  It’s accompanied by a film composed of film clips, cartoons, and commentary on whaling–but be warned–it has some gory moments.  Both the sculpture and film will be at WCMA through August 8, 2010.
Then: “The Girl Bends,” an exhibit exploring connections between art and feminism through sculpture, video, photography, and prints since the 1960s.

The exhibition features over 20 objects from the museum’s collection, including work by Lynda Benglis, Patty Chang, Ed Kienholz, Glenn Ligon, Ana Mendieta, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Carolee Schneemann, Kiki Smith, and Nancy Spero. This Girl Bends also highlights Kerry Stewart’s sculpture of carved crayons by the same name, just above.  Through Dec. 12, 2010.

Then, onto the fabulous Photography at the Frontier of Physics and Art, featuring the photos of Eadweard Muybridge, Harold Edgerton, Berenice Abbott, and Man Ray. Each of these photographers broke new ground in using photography to better understand physics–and emerged with astonishingly beautiful works of art.

 
Muybridge’s photos, in the 19th century, were forerunners of motion pictures–totally graceful horses; Edgerton used strobe lights to capture instants in motion (the shattering of a light bulb) for example; Abbot captured  light and motion in lab experiments, bubbles, Man Ray experimented with objects on photosensitive paper–all inspirational and a bit daunting to me, as a photographer myself. Through Dec. 12, 2010.

Check the Museum Website at http://www.wcma.org/exhibitions/additional_current_exhibitions.shtml for information about additional exhibits, directions, curators and closing dates–and do get there if you can! Admission is free but I’m sure that donations and gift shop purchases would be appreciated.

—Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish Harriscom blog and Ithaca Diaries blog.

Chakaia Booker 5-21-10

  Another must see:  Chakaia Booker’s  big black sculptures made from rubber tires, at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA.

Outdoor sculptures include a  huge “picture frame” made of tire scraps assembled on some sort of armature– through which you can see a corner of the museum . Also,  inverted tee-pee-like structure, composed of V-shaped scraps, on a scaffolding.

"No More Milk and Cookies"

 Indoors: complex forms,  freestanding and on the walls–which embody shapes, textures, and visually complex abstract scenes “referencing African textiles and body decoration to evoke issues of black culture, identity, gender, and environmentalism,” as the DeCordova Web site explains.

The sculptures also bring up important questions about relationships of man-made waste materials, landscape, and culture.

Some  of the sculptures look like whimsical worms or insects; despite the overall “heavy” message of the show, these  are simply fun….and so highly textural that  you want to touch them. (I have to admit…my friend E and I each copped a feel—tho appearing soft, most of the rubber pieces are hard–before discovering a demonstration area near the exhibit where you can actually play with tire materials).

As the Decordova points out on its Web site:

Formally, Booker’s work is engaged in dialogue with the history of Western sculpture, from the ancient and classical tradition of the human figure through the Modernist non-objective sculpture of the twentieth century.

What sets her work apart, and significantly expands upon the history of sculpture, is her ability–with rubber tires–to create surfaces on objects that resemble skins, feathers, scales, spikes, armor, or attire.

Metal, materials  and process bond the largely abstract  landscapes  of  Timothy Kadish (New Paintings) and Jessie Morgan (Night Tides)  in this month’s intriguing show at the Clark Gallery, 145 Lincoln Rd,  in Lincoln, MA.

Both sets of works provoke the viewer to ask–“What is this made of? And how  did the artist do that?”

Morgan’s  elegant abstract, monochromatic work appears, at first, to be photographic or  film-based  but the explanatory materials attest that it is acryllic painted on  aluminum or plexiglass–with wide brushstrokes seeming to form landscapes-sky, ice, water, snow, trees exhibiting  a  shiny, reflecting (and reflective?)  quality.  A few of the works use vibrant blues and greens.

Kadish’s colorful paintings– primitivistic, childlike and seemingly whimsical,  are full of suprises–geometric shapes, animal figures, thick goopy coils of oil paint, metallic  oraments  painted, glued, stapled, pressed or otherwise  attached to the canvas…which isn’t  necessarily canvas.

Neophotosynth – 2009, for example, is an 80 x 60 oil including all of the above, as well as  gouache, silver and gold leaf on silver-colored lead on copper that completely covers a frame .

The longer I stood in front of each painting, the more I found in it and the more I enjoyed it.

Both artists involved me in a process of  discovery that allowed me to absorb,  one step or  stroke at a time, how their concepts and motions brought their work  into being.

The exhibit is worth seeing.  It will be up through January 30.

—Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish HarrisComBlog and Ithaca Diaries Blog.

Les Femmes du Moroque-Reclining Odalisque

Lalla Essaydi’s Les Femmes du Maroc  is a must-see. Today is its last day at the DeCordova Museum, in Lincoln, MA, but it will be soon travelling to the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in Rutgers, New Jersey.

In her large-format photos of women in chadors, and, sometimes veils,  Moroccan- born Lalla Essaydi presents a beautiful and provocative challenge to  perceptions about Muslim women going back centuries.

The limited palette photographs in henna, black, and gray on white, depict individual or groups of women in chadors and, sometimes, veils, in poses or situations modeled after  paintings by great European masters, reproductions of which accompany most of the photos.

But instead of  emulating the rich color and sexual innuendo of the paintings, Essaydi changes  gestures, replaces men with women, and covers much of the surface area with arabic writing–illegible even to those who know the language.

As described on the DeCordova Web site, These women inhabit a place that is literally and entirely circumscribed by text, written directly on their bodies, apparel, and their surroundings by the artist herself.

In commentary provided through cell-phone dial in (difficult to hear because Lincoln has limited cell service)  Essadi explains that she wants to make clear that the work of male artists of centuries past has done a disservice to Muslim women by objectifying them as sexual objects, often in harems.

She points out that writing was a form reserved for men, and that one of the original  painting is so extraordinarily beautiful that one can easily overlook the subject matter: a naked woman being sold as a slave.

She brings up the difference between private and public space–that painters would never have been allowed into women’s homes, which were considered private space–but thought nothing of bringing women into their studios and showing paintings of them in public spaces–which were ordinarily reserved for men.

Essadyi also provides a complex interpretation of  “the veil”. On the one hand,  its use is sometimes considered a way of subjugating women, of keeping them out of public life, of denying them equality,  full citizenship. On the other hand, she says, she herself sometimes appreciates the veil and finds it freeing–because it protects her and her privacy from a potentially dangerous outside world.

Organized by Senior Curator Nick Capasso, Les Femmes du Maroc will travel to the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, January 30, 2010 – June 6, 2010.

——-Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish Harriscomblog and Ithaca Diaries blog.

Url for  LaDanse Trailer on U-Tub: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iU2l0XFrek&feature=player_embedded

My friend E. and I made it a point to sit in on the aisle in the last row when we went to see Frederick Wiseman’s latest film, La Danse, last night at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge–in case we needed to leave in a hurry.  We’d heard it was very long (120 minutes) and that it needed some editing.

But we ended up staying through to the end–partly because we wanted to take part in the question and answer session with Wiseman,  but mainly because, despite the film’s  length and some imperfections, we found it quite beautiful.

It’s cinema verite, shot by Wiseman with a handheld 16MM camera, of  practice, dress rehearsals, and behind the scenes discussions  at the Paris Opera Ballet, over 13 weeks in Paris in 2007.

I was fascinated by the sessions in which choreographers and coaches viewed and critiqued dancers  such as  Nicolas Le Riche, Marie-Agnès Gillot, and Agnès Letestu, among others.  In those scenes,  Weisman provides the rare opportunity to understand what emotions the dancers are asked to convey and how they do it; the  detailed movements that go into that; and  the occasional difficulty some dancers have in translating direction into specific action.

A photographer myself, I enjoyed the interspersing of arty still views of stairwells, window casings but,  because some outside shots of Paris and the Opera House seemed to repeat, I wondered if Wiseman had come away with too little covering footage.

It was also great to see some of what happens behind the scenes: the painstaking sewing of sequins into costumes, one by one; the serving of  apparently overcooked broccoli and fish with sauce in the cafeteria; the cleaning of the performance hall, and,  especially, meetings of administrators discussing their fundraising efforts–which, combined,  give some sense of what’s involved in producing some 250 performances a year.

Wiseman did a wonderful job of filming rehearsals for seven ballets: Genus by Wayne McGregor, Le Songe de Mede by Angelin Preljocaj, La Maison de Bernarda by Mats Ek, Paquita by Pierre Lacotte, Casse Noisette by Rudolph Noureev, Orphe and Eurydice by Pina Bausch, and Romeo and Juliette by Sasha Waltz.  Some of the more modern pieces seemed to go on  and on but most  were mesmerizing–and unlike any I’ve seen in the US.

Wiseman could, perhaps, have left out a few–and, because it’s hard to stare at a screen for three hours straight,  I’d have appreciated an intermission. (And,  no doubt, so would those who got up to go to the rest room in the middle, blocking our view of the screen).

I  found Wiseman’s fly-on-the-wall technique a bit disturbing–mainly because it showed almost no verbal interaction among the dancers, who were portrayed as objects to be molded and by teachers and administrators.  But perhaps that’s how it is in the dance world and in the company, described by artistic director, in one segment, as  “hierarchical.”

In the Q&A, Wiseman seemed reluctant to answer questions about content or meaning.  (When someone asked why he’d included a scene involving beehives on the roof of the opera house, he said that’s for the viewer to figure out–perhaps, I thought,  because it’s too obvious a metaphor).

Nor was Wiseman  forthcoming about his thought processes (or lack, thereof)  in structuring or editing  the film.  He spent a day looking around the building, then started shooting, he said. After 13 days, he returned with 130 hours of film; spent a year reviewing, culling, editing, reviewing, adding, cutting–and here we were.

It seemed to me that  the film could use more structure and that some scenes were repetitive–but given the beauty and grace of the dancers, I’m hard-put to say which sequences I’d leave out.

—–Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish HarrisComBlog and Ithaca Diaries Blog.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the debut concert of Aljashu, a group formed by vocalist Julia Madeson to perform songs sung  in the Ladino language, a combination of Hebrew and Spanish spoken (and sung) by Jews in Spain and Portugal before the Spanish Inquisition,which began in 1492.

The group’s name derives from a Turkish-Jewish Passover dessert of matzoh (unleavened bread) piled with dried fruits and nuts, drizzled with honey. With this metaphor of an often afflicted past wherein Jewish populations have been forced out of various places over their history while adopting sweet and savory local gifts, Madeson writes in the program notes, the group hopes to bring Ladino’s modal infused music to a wide audience.

photo credit Adeline Goldminc-Tronzo;

For several centuries before their 1492 expulsion, it is believed,  90  percent of all Jews lived in Portugal and Spain a multicultural environment that after included Catholics and Muslims.  After 1492,  some  Jews remained on the Iberian peninsula, openly converting to Catholicism but secretly practicing Judiasm (Conversos, or Moranos).  Many others traveled  by ship to the welcoming Ottoman Empire,  to live in cities such as Istanbul, Izmir (then Smyrna) and to locations in and beyond the Greek Islands, such as Rhodes, Salonica, and Morocco–carrying their language, music, customs and traditions with them.

Yesterday’s concert, at the Berkelee College of Music, t featured songs and music several centuries old; modern compostitions by the late Judy Frankel;  and instruments played by students and graduates of the Berkelee  Guitar Department, where Ms. Madeson is employed.

The music–which  sounded like yiddish or kletzmer melodies at some points–like Latin or flamenco  at others, and quite frequently, like a mix of both–was played on the Turkish oud (a lute and guitar relative), the lute-like saz, the banjo-like cumbus–manufactured only in Istanbul, and on fretted and fretless guitars. The percussion instruments represented the cajon–widely used in Spain, and the dumbek, riq and zils, played extensively in Turkey.

Julia’s operatic voice blended beautifully with the instrumental sounds of Tev Stevig, on strings, Brian O’Neill, percussion, and  Berkeley students Sabi Saltiel on guitars and saz, Cagri Erdom, Jussi Reijonen, and Jean-pierre D’Alencon, on guitars, and with the voice of guest vocalist Sarah-Jane Pugh, who, with Madeson  performed a lovely duet called Shaba.

The concert was performed in honor of  Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.  A spring concert, entitled “Everlasting Spring,” is in the works.

Photo credit #1David Buckman,
Photo credit #2, 3,4,  Adeline Goldminc-Tronzo

Lowell Open Studios Photo

I was wonderfully suprised and impressed by Lowell Open Studios–held this weekend in the old milltown about 45 minutes north of Cambridge.  Two huge old mill buildings, five floors each, at 122 Western Avenue,  have been transformed to include  beautiful artist’s studios, a museum, sound studios and a cafeteria, with artists’ living quarters in the works.

My friend Mark and I enjoyed seeing friend Adrien Bisson’s nature and portrait photography (unsolicited plug: they’re fabulous; he’s available to shoot  corporate, family, and educational events).      .

We then drove to the center of town, where  mills and artists are showcased in what has become  Market Mills and the Lowell National Historic Park.    Across the courtyard outside the reception center, we found the Brush Art Gallery and Studios, where  a photograph by friend Paul Weiner was displayed  in an all-cat exhibit.

We enjoyed the show which, eclectic in form if not content, included a patchwork quilt, sculpture, photography, and painting, with proceeds donated to homeless kitties. A  highlight was that these cats did not make me itch.

Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish HarrisCom Blog.