Epigrams and snippets of sentences replace the Whitney Museum of American Art's usual contemporary and postmodern visuals this winter. The words, which are painted and printed directly on the walls of the museum, are part of a career-spanning exhibit of the work of US conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner. Though well known and respected in Europe, this is the first retrospective for 65-year-old Weiner held in his home country.
While staring at phrases on white-washed walls might seem like an odd museum experience, Weiner's works exude the type of optimism inherent to the conceptual artists working in the '60s. The exhibit's title, "As Far As the Eye Can See," takes its name from the opening phrase of Weiner's exhibit, and sets the tone for the rest of the work, which also includes the occasional poster and small object.
If you're still hesitant about paying the museum's $15 general admission to stare at semi-haikus, take a cue from Time Out New York art critic Howard Halle, who wrote this in the magazine's most recent issue:
'The occasion of receivership'--i.e., how and why we look at art, what we get out of it by looking at it, and what it may ultimately mean or not mean--has been the focal point of Weiner's ouevre for more than 40 years
Our Fall Culture Map will give you things to ponder over that second piece of pie.
There's no faster way to our heart than putting together a rollicking art show by an artist who "effortlessly navigates between the worlds of fine art and popular culture." So we're gagging to get to The Geffen Contemporary branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA.
Running until February 11, the oddly-titled exhibition features a retrospective of works by Japanese shining star Takashi Murakami, with painting, sculpture, film and installation all represented. (We're hoping to see some of his cherry-bedecked Louis Vuitton bags.)
Visit our Fall Culture Travel map to take advantage of what's left of fall--just because you're traveling for Thanksgiving doesn't mean you have to check your brain.
Photographer, painter and sculptor Richard Prince obviously lives in a different America than we do. How else could his massive multi-stage retrospective "Spiritual America," currently at New York City's much-scaffolded Guggenheim Museum, include threatening nurses, disembodied cars and Borscht Belt-style jokes written over canceled checks?
You'll probably love some of the series on display (like our favorites, the white-on-white collages incorporating "New Yorker" style cartoons) and hate others, but at least you'll walk out thinking. (And if you're jonesing for some classic modernism, there's a nifty selection of Kandinsky paintings from the permanent collection on display as well.)
And here we thought Goya just made delicious black beans and pastel colored sodas that taste like cartoons. Apparently Goya also makes masterworks of 19th century Neo-classicist portraiture, hung not in the aisles of your local bodega but in the newly renovated halls of Madrid'sPrado Museum.
This Fall the Prado is pulling the classics out of storage to fill their new wing with little-seen examples of 19th Century Spanish art. Hidden from the public eye, these paintings and sculptures have been the subject of many years of research and restoration and will also be featured in an exhaustive catalog of the Prado's collection. Titled A Collection Rediscovered, this exhibition takes the viewer through the years that separate Francisco de Goya from Pablo Picasso.
The exhibition runs until April 24 with a concert on November 16 and a screening on the 17 that both explore themes of 19th Century Spanish art. Admission is relatively cheap (about $9) but bring whatever special ID (student, teacher, AARP?) you have lying around to drop the price through the Prado's liberal discount admissions policy.
Forget Halloween Horror Nights and "Saw IV." The scariest thing you can see this fall is a giant rabbit prophesying the end of the world. Boston'sAmerican Repertory Theatre is bringing the cult film "Donnie Darko," in which a troubled teenager in the '80s experiences peculiar hallucinations, to the stage now through November 18.
Donnie Darko's just a regular guy discussing the '88 presidential election over dinner with his parents and wooing his first girlfriend when a giant rabbit begins appearing to him at night and telling him the world will end within a month. After the bunny saves him from being smashed by a jet engine which falls into his house, Donnie decides to listen. Here's what adapter-director Marcus Stern told Bostonist.com about his adaptation to the cult film:
What we're doing is a very faithful rendition of the film; it's a really great film and we're trying to bring that to the stage. We're not trying ot do some interpretation or take on the film, we're trying to honor this killer story, killer event.
You don't have to stay at home just because the leaves are changing. Follow along on our Fall Culture Map to discover what's happening this autumn.
November in the Northern Hemisphere tends to signal the beginning of the season for "inside sports", foremost among these being things that involve drinking and wordplay. How appropriate, then, that this week finds us smack dab in the middle of a tribute to poet/drunk Dylan Thomas in his native city of Swansea, Wales.
The Dylan Thomas Festival runs from October 27th to November 9th, the days of the poet's birth and death, respectively. The festivities include film screenings, readings, concerts and a general excuse for celebrities of a literary bent to gather in a really Welsh city. Exercise your liver and pack a sweater as that November in Wales tends to be rather wet, damp and gray. Inside sports, folks.
And before you remind us it's a little late for a trip to Wales, fear not. Thomas' memory can still be appropriately toasted at the site of his death, Manhattan's White Horse Tavern in the West Village. Legend has it that Thomas lost a drinking contest to the jealous husband of his lover at the White Horse and later died from the experience. Be sure to enjoy your poetic nostalgia in moderation.
You don't have to stay at home just because the leaves are changing. Follow along on our Fall Culture Map to discover what's happening this autumn.
Since a chill officially filled the air and the leaves dropped, it's time to toss the apple picking and hikes aside and barricade yourself indoors. Visit a museum, or the Library of Congress, for example. Sound boring? Wrong. The LoC's Prints & Photographs Division in Washington, D.C. houses an enormous cartoon collection.
The Art Wood Collection of Caricature and Cartoon, assembled by J. Arthur Wood, Jr., contains an estimated 36,000 works by more than 2,800 artists and includes political cartoons, caricatures, comic strips, humor cartoons, illustrations and animation slides. Collections range from hard-hitting commentary on corruption, war and public figures to family strips such as "Gasoline Alley" and "For Better or For Worse."
The collection is sometimes trotted out for public exhibitions, but you can always stop by to see it with a little advanced planning. Just figure out what you'd like to see--comics, political cartoons, whatever--then get in touch with the librarians via email. They're happy to help you dig up to old strips you want to see.
You don't have to stay at home just because the leaves are changing. Follow along on our Fall Culture Map to discover what's happening this autumn.
Visitors to Santa Fe, New Mexico, may not realize movies like "3:10 to Yuma" and television shows like "Kid Nation" have been filmed in and around the city. But this fall's Santa Fe Film Festival, from November 28th to December 2nd, ought to remedy that, or at least draw in cineastes to see Rutger Hauer accept a lifetime achievement award, as well as sneak previews of prestige films to be announced.
Last year's showcase films included the highly acclaimed "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Venus." If you missed Toronto and don't have the dough (or the boots) for Sundance, get to this fest before it gets big. As Christian Bale sings in the most important musical of our time, "Dreams come true, yes they do in Santa Fe."
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by laurenuta
