Artdaily.cc - The First Art Newspaper on the Net

Review: In 'Stereophonic,' the rock revolution will be recorded
NEW YORK, NY.- Its an imperfect rule of thumb that musicals lift up and dramas drill down. So what do you call David Adjmis Stereophonic, which does both? You could rightly say its a play with music, emphasis on the play: In a little more than three hours it features just six songs, some of them fragmentary. But that would be to shortchange the ingenious way Adjmi weaves sound and story into something as granular as it is operatic. Granular because the songs (by Will Butler) are not decorations but are elemental to the plot, in which the five members of a rock band spend a year of the mid-1970s writing and laying down tracks for an epochal new album while bickering over each riff and tempo. Operatic because what they wind up recording, however refracted through a commercial pop lens, inevitably expresses their heartache, ... More

Anthony Vidler, architectural historian who reshaped his field, dies at 82
NEW YORK, NY.- Anthony Vidler, an architectural historian who, beginning in the 1960s, reshaped his field by setting aside dry chronologies of styles and movements for an interdisciplinary approach borrowing from psychoanalysis, French literary theory and cultural studies, died Oct. 19 at his home in Manhattan. He was 82. His wife, literary critic Emily Apter, said the cause was B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Vidler, who was born in Britain during World War II, was part of a generation of European and Latin American architectural historians who arrived in the United States in the 1960s and 70s, bringing with them new, theory-driven viewpoints about architecture as a realm of ideas and not just design. Sometimes cast as architectures version of the British Invasion, scholars like Vidler, Kenneth Frampton and Alan Colquhoun settled in New ... More

Robert Brustein, passionate force in nonprofit theater, dies at 96
NEW YORK, NY.- Robert Brustein, an erudite and contentious advocate for profit-indifferent theater, in the service of which he wore many hats critic, teacher, producer, director, playwright and even actor died Sunday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was 96. His death was confirmed by his wife, Doreen Beinart. Brustein was dean of the drama school at Yale University and founded and ran the Yale Repertory Theater and the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, producing well over 100 plays and securing them in the regional theater firmament. He also taught at Yale as well as at Harvard. A prolific writer with the zeal of an environmentalist and the moral certainty of a martyr, he reviewed stage productions for The New Republic for more than 50 years. In many books and in countless newspaper ... More

Where folks believe death doesn't exist
LILY DALE, NY.- Everybody dies. But not in Lily Dale. Founded in 1879, the hamlet of about 250 residents in rural western New York is a haven for spiritualism, a religion formed around the conviction that human souls continue living after physical death. The underlying belief in spiritualism is that we dont really die. We pass on, but we carry on in the spirit world, which is exactly like this world, except with less restrictions, said Mandi Shepp, 38, Lily Dales former library director and an archives coordinator at the State University of New York at Fredonia. But in the physical world, the one were in here and now, tension is brewing among the living about who is authorized to contact the dead. In spiritualist tradition, mediums have the ability to communicate with the otherworldly, and Lily Dale doesnt let just anyone set up shop ... More

'Spooktacular' auction at Clarke Auction Gallery brings in almost a million dollars
LARCHMONT, NY.- Clarke Auction Gallerys Spooktacular estate auction on October 15 had no single high-estimate item to push the auction to a grand total of just over $1 million. Instead, it was frighteningly easy how a solid selection of notable and important works across the board from fine art to jewelry and more drove the auction. The key to the auctions success was good fresh-to-market items that were estimated to sell, resulting in robust bidding, said owner and auctioneer Ronan Clarke. It was steady throughout the day with the rare items as usual far exceeding estimates. While the furniture market remains a bit slow with pieces going best when offered without reserves, most other categories here were overachievers. Phone and online bidders were in stiff competition with each other, splitting their takings fairly evenly. ... More

Le Consortium, Dijon, presents exhibition by Torbjørn Rødland depicting journey from childhood to old age
DIJON.- The two photographs that open and close TorbjÃ¸rn RÃ¸dlands exhibition at the Consortium Museum represent a baby and an old man, respectively. The exhibition is designed as a journey leading from one to the other, namely from childhood to old age. It is therefore a highly narrative project, and for RÃ¸dland, an unusual approach to the concept of exhibition. The exhibition highlights RÃ¸dlands photographs in which two contradictory characters are featured. The artist often employs this type of disruptive casting to emphasize the oddness in the photographed scenes. The "scenario" created by the curator for this exhibition titled "Oh My God You Guys" as agreed with the artist takes the viewers on a journey from the dawn to the dusk of life, exploring sophisticated and troubled human relationships. "Oh My God You Guys" unfolds ... More

Architectural approach of Belgian architect Victor Horta explored in 'Victor Horta and the Grammar of Art Nouveau'
BRUSSELS.- On the occasion of Art Nouveau Brussels 2023, Bozar, in collaboration with the Horta Museum, presents an exhibition exploring the architectural approach of Belgian architect Victor Horta (1861-1947). Through archival documents, photographs, plans, original sketches, and models, the audience will get a picture of the underlying structure of Hortas architectural language through the course of nine chapters. Various buildings are featured from bourgeois houses like the Tassel House to public buildings like the Palais des Beaux-Arts (Centre for Fine Arts) or the Waucquez department store. The exhibition also focuses on the broader social context in which Horta created his projects. The ... More

Modernist master sculptors lead Bonhams' modern British art sale
LONDON.- Leaders in British sculpture, Henry Moore (1898-1986) and Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) have long been celebrated for their exploration of the human form. Impressive examples by both artists lead Bonhams Modern British Art sale on 22 November in New Bond Street, London. Head by Henry Moore has an estimate of Â£2,200,000-2,600,000, and Cloaked Figure IX by Lynn Chadwick has an estimate of Â£350,000-550,000. Also leading the sale, Dancers by Duncan Grant (1885-1978) comes to the auction market for the first time, with an estimate of Â£120,000-180,000. The work was acquired by Lord Kennet from the Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition in 1912. Head is one of a number of small sculptures Moore made in the early 1930s from ironstone. Depicting a female head, the work is unusual within ... More

Auction includes a remarkable assortment of Queen Victoria items
LONDON.- Stanley Gibbons' The Cyriax Collection presents a remarkable assortment of Queen Victoria items. It encompasses Line Engraved essays and proofs, extending to the 1883 High Value issues. Notable highlights comprise an unused OP-PC error of lettering variety, along with lovely high-value items, both unused and used, including a splendid unmounted Â£5 orange. Additionally, the collection includes exceptional illustrated and printed covers. View the full catalogue here. Highlight lots include the 1866 watercolour (pictured above), one of the finest hand illustrated covers the experts at Stanley Gibbons have ever handled. The mid 1800s saw an explosion of correspondence by mail as the cost of postage reduced, but illustrated envelopes remained a luxury afforded primarily to the wealthy. An intricate hand painted watercolour ... More