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Exhibition celebrates the fundamental role women have played in the evolution of abstract art
LONDON.- Richard Saltoun Gallery is presenting Outside, looking in, a group exhibition celebrating the fundamental role women have played in the evolution of abstract art. The title is lifted from the writings of British artist Shelagh Wakely, inspired by the notion of questioning set divisions and hierarchies and examining how female abstractionists have historically pushed the boundaries of abstraction, despite being eclipsed by their male counterparts and often left out of dominant discourse. Including photography, painting, textile, and ceramics from 1960 to the present day, Outside, looking in offers a foray into the practice of eleven international female artists some working exclusively with abstraction and the circumstances that too often hindered their recognition. Gallery artist Shelagh Wakely (19322011)is a pioneer of installation art and an integral member of the New British Sculpture movement of the 19 ... More

Jenny Schlenzka steps down from Performance Space New York
NEW YORK, NY.- Jenny Schlenzka, the executive artistic director of Performance Space New York since 2017, will step down from that position this summer, the organization announced Thursday. She will become director of the exhibition hall Gropius Bau in Berlin, the city where she was born and raised. When I took the job I always felt that I shouldnt stay for 10 years, Schlenzka said, because places like Performance Space New York periodically need new ideas. Ive pretty much done everything that I had in me that I wanted to do, she added, and there was a sense that maybe somebody else should be sitting in the chair with more energy and fresh ideas. The opportunity to work at Gropius Bau was a strong attraction, she said its one of the most beautiful exhibition spaces in all of Germany, if not of Europe as was the chance ... More

Review: A New Zealand troupe's oceanic feelings
NEW YORK, NY.- In Maori, te wheke means the octopus, both the cephalopod and a mythological creature. Or so I gather from the program of Te Wheke, the work that Atamira Dance Company performed during its debut at the Joyce Theater on Wednesday. Founded in 2000 in New Zealand, Atamira fuses Maori cultural expression with contemporary dance theater. Theres an admirable integrity to how the group doesnt explain much to the uninitiated. Translating almost nothing but the title, the dancers drop you into their world, graciously, and trust that you can learn how to swim in it. The environment of Te Wheke is oceanic. The first sound is that of surf. The production design is centered on black silk curtains that are raised and lowered throughout, like sails without a mast. When they move quickly, they seem to spurt and spread like octopus ... More

'Life of Pi' review: A boy and a tiger, burning brightly
NEW YORK, NY.- The butterflies enter first, quivering gaily atop their sticks. Then a giraffe pokes her head in. A goat gambols. A hyena cackles. One zebra runs on. Then another. An orangutan swings through while her baby reposes on a branch nearby. Above, monkeys and meerkats chitter. In the first act of Life of Pi, a menagerie menacing, delightful entrenches itself on the stage of Broadways Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. With dazzling imagination and sublime control, the shows cast and crew conjure a delirious, dynamic, highly pettable world. And oh, is it a wonder. Though the play is ostensibly about one boys fraught survival after a disaster, that story is somewhat thin. Life of Pi instead succeeds as a broader tribute to human ingenuity and animal grace. Directed by Max Webster and adapted by playwright Lolita Chakrabarti from ... More

National Portrait Gallery and Getty announce joint acquisition plans
LONDON.- The National Portrait Gallery and Getty today announced plans to jointly acquire and share ownership of Sir Joshua Reynolds masterpiece, Portrait of Mai (Omai), in a new model of international collaboration that will maximize public access to this supremely important work. The announcement follows long-term discussion and planning by the partners, who intend to share the work for public exhibition, research, and conservation care. The London-based National Portrait Gallery and the Los Angeles-based Getty Museum intend to enter a joint ownership agreement, and in both locations, the public will be able to view the work free of charge. Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: We are delighted to announce an innovative and exciting strategic partnership with Getty to hopefully become co-owners of Sir Joshua Reynolds majestic Portrait of Mai an ... More

Suzanne Rheinstein, designer of classic American interiors, dies at 77
NEW YORK, NY.- Suzanne Rheinstein, a New Orleans-born, Los Angeles-based designer of classical American interiors in the tradition of Sister Parish and Mark Hampton but with a Southern flair, died March 20 at her home in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. She was 77. The cause was cancer, said her daughter, Kate Brodsky. Rheinsteins clients were not celebrities, although they were certainly familiar to the cultural institutions and charities they supported. (In the tradition of decorating magazines, when Rheinsteins work was featured, as it often was, in magazines such as Elle Decor, Architectural Digest and Veranda, the clients werent identified.) They were the developers, movie executives, business people and patrons who had a large part in keeping Los Angeles and other cities running. They were, in fact, very much like Rheinstein, whose own philanthropies included the Garden Conservancy, a national organization, and the Los Angeles Conservancy, a local historic preser ... More

Review: A trip from light to dark with the National Ballet of Canada
NEW YORK, NY.- When choreographer Crystal Pite was a child, her father and uncle talked to her about the cosmos. âSometimes I would experience a dizzying thrill in brief moments of embodied comprehension,â she writes in reference to her piece âAngelsâ Atlasâ on the National Ballet of Canadaâs website. âIt felt like I was falling within the vastness of it all.â There were similar sensations at play when the company, led by its new artistic director, Hope Muir, performed the dance at New York City Center. Sadly, though, it wasnât nearly as mystical. Piteâs choreography rides on flow â a willowy stream of energy that sends the body bending and curving through space. Can viewers feel as if theyâre floating in the cosmos? Staring into the void? Vaguely. More often, theyâre earthbound, the stage a landscape of churning sameness. âAngelsâ Atlas,â which had its premiere just before the coronavirus closed theaters in 2020, opens with dancers lying on their backs. Eventually, they arch their chests as one; the ... More

Honolulu Museum of Art celebrates spring with 'Animals in Japanese Art'
HONOLULU.- Zoological imagery has a mysterious appeal. Animals in Japanese Art, on view at the Honolulu Museum of Art March 30July 23, showcases a menagerie of paintings and sculptures from the museums permanent collection that date to the 15th century. The works consider relationships to the environment, parody human behavior and highlight topics in Japanese history. Apparent in sources as diverse as Aesops fables and contemporary cartoons, depictions of various species raise our awareness about the prevalence of nature, said Shawn Eichman, curator of Asian art at HoMA. Japanese art is abundant in such imagery, from paintings made for the highest levels of court to humble toggles intended for daily use. These representations of the wild encourage us to reflect upon how we interact with other life forms and our ... More