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LORRAINE O’GRADY stars in a new music video from Anohni’s recent album, Hopelessness.

Conceptual artist, Lorraine O’Grady stars in the new music video by Anohni,from the album, HOPELESSNESS. The video features the song Marrow as lip-synched by Lorraine O’Grady.

My thanks to Anohni for her dangerous and desperately needed work. It’s been a privilege to be a small part of her project — which at first seems so simple, but then layer by layer reveals how the many mutually reinforcing “isms” are buffeting and driving us to perhaps an unavoidable end. Stay strong.

– Lorraine O’Grady

See more of Anohni‘s videos from the album Here

A wonderful review of the video by Jillain Steinhauer has just been published
in Hyperallergic

Indeed, what makes the video so powerful is that O’Grady does more than just lip-synch along; she seems to be absorbing the music in the moment — both the lyrics and the breaks — and then transmitting it to the viewer, acting as a kind of mediator between the contents of the song and us.

Read More Here.

Anohni is a transgender woman. In 2016, Anohni became the second openly transgender person nominated for an Academy Award; she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, along with J. Ralph, for the song “Manta Ray” in the film Racing Extinction. Her debut solo album, Hopelessness, was released in May 2016 to wide critical acclaim, including another nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. (Wikipedia)

What is Abstract Painting?
Discussion

ABSTRACT PAINTING APIRL 22

Join Westbeth Abstract Painters Group for a presentation on abstract painting from four historical cultural periods: Chinese, Romanticism, Russian Supermatism, and Twentieth Century to present.

It is claimed that abstract painting has exhausted all its formal possibilities and has reached its end. The common standard and misunderstood view of modern abstract painting is about haunted view of the empty canvas: what is not figurative, not narrative, not pictorial illusion, and not literary.

The discussion will center on how the pictorial spaces of abstract paintings are the potentials of the not quite real.

This is a shift or turning away from pure and empty space to un-centered, unlimited, informal and multiple layers in paintings. To understand abstract pictorial space and its potentiality, one needs to start with abstractions in order to end up with abstractions.

Participants:

Alison Armstrong has taught literature and art critical writing in colleges for over 40 years including The Cooper Union, Marist, the New School, and, since 2002, at the School of Visual Art and in 2016 art history at CUNY’s Borough of Manhattan Community College. She is an active member of Japanese Artists Association of New York (JAA); of the James Joyce Society of New York; of Artists Without Walls; of Glucksman Ireland House, and is on the Board of the W.B. Yeats Society of New York.

Alison Armstrong received an M.A. in English from The Ohio State University in 1972, the M.Litt. from Oxford University (UK) in 1980, and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from New York University in 1989.

Her paintings and small sculptures, exhibited since 1980 at Westbeth Gallery and Tenri Gallery (with Japanese Artists Association), are held in private collections in several countries.

Parviz Mohassel , architect, painter, and philosopher has shown in numerous groups and solo shows in NYC, Maine, Connecticut. He has a Ph.D degree in philosophy from New School for Social Research. His dissertation related phenomenology to visual art and architecture.

He studied painting at NYC Art Students League and later with Dan Rice in Madison, CT. He has a Masters in Urban Design, and another Masters in Architecture and is a licensed architect. He has been guest lecturer at Stony Brook University and Parson School of Art.

His most recent painting show, 2013, FREE VARIATION a group show at Westbeth Gallery featured paintings bearing upon ambiguity and place. He also was part of the Westbeth Printmakers Show in 2016 with work dealing with time.

Robert Ludwig received a B.S. in physics at The George Washington University and did graduate work at Princeton University. Then he received a B.A. in Painting and Sculpture with a minor in mathematics at the University of Minnesota. He studied drawing at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

He shows at the Carter Burden Gallery in Chelsea. He has two shows coming up at Carter Burden, one in July and the other in September. He has exhibited at the Westbeth Gallery since 1990 and had a one-man show there in 2013. He will be in a group show this summer in the Westbeth Project Room.

He is a member of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors.

He has taught physics at City College, CUNY. He now teaches art at the College of Staten Island, CUNY.

News about WRITE NOW:
A Participatory Installation

write-now-metro-news

NEW YORK 1
New Yorkers are getting another chance to “post” about their emotions — but in the real world instead of social media.
They’re writing post-it notes at a new installation at a West Village art gallery.

Visitors first choose to make a charitable donation, and then answer one of four questions looking back on the past year, or forward to the new one.

Those responses take the form of words or drawings on post-it notes, which then hang in the gallery.

Organizers say this event is also a reaction to the political landscape.

“A lot of people are very angry and also very concerned about what’s happening here and that we are in New York,” said Karin Batten, Director of the Westbeth Gallery. “We are very multi-cultural and diverse and we want to keep it that way.”

“Events like this are so important,” said Manhattan State Senator Brad Hoylman. “It’s cathartic, it’s participatory but it also points us, I think, in a very positive direction as we start the New Year.”

A similar display popped up at the Union Square subway station last month for people to vent about the Presidential election’s outcome.

The exhibit opened Saturday and runs until New Year’s Eve.

http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/arts/2016/12/11/west-village-art-gallery-lets-patrons–post–about-their-status-as-part-of-a-new-exhibit–write-now-.html

METRO NEWS December 1, 2016

Write Now exhibit at Westbeth makes the post-it note fad high-brow

By: Amanda Mikelberg

A new interactive art installation looks like a rip-off on the subway post-it note phenomenon, but it’s actually honoring it.

A West Village exhibit is taking a page from the fluttering layers of post-it notes scrawled with messages of hope and frustration that have cropped up in underground passageways around the city since the election.

The “Write Now” exhibit is adopting the zeitgeist — this apparent need among New Yorkers to both purposefully express their feelings and strengthen a sense of community — and is taking it a step further. It’s recognizing the post-it note trend as a very organic form of public art.

“The one we have here is different because we ask for very poignant questions that help lead people through this feeling of what are we going to do? What now?” George Cominskie, president of the Westbeth Artists Residents Council, told Metro.

READ MORE HERE: METRO NEWS

The Magic Forest
Penny Jones Co. Puppets

PENNY MAGIC FOREST APRIL 2017

Make Spring Happen in
THE MAGIC FOREST
Sunday March 26
Sunday April 2
Saturday April 15

11:00 AM and 2:30 PM
at Westbeth 155 Bank St NYC

Fun and funny things happen in the Magic Forest. With games, songs and lots of participation.
The Children help with the magic and raise flowers in the finale. The magical result is the creation of Spring -with a lot of help from the audience. This is many people’s favorite show because the audience gets to do so much.

PENNY JONES & Co. PUPPETS
Early Childhood Puppet Theatre
www.pennypuppets.org

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS! ALL IN THE VILLAGE.

“Very simple, and perfect as an introduction to theatre.” -New York Magazine
“Charming.” -The New York Times
The Magic Forest

“A knack for finding lesser known stories and distilling them to suit the tastes of the very young fans and keep them fascinated with low-key make-believe..The puppets are charming, the 45 min. program never overexcites the audience, although there’s lots of time for participation.”
-The New York Times

“An unpretentious puppet play with real warmth and gentleness. Its success with young audiences is due to the charm and honesty of the presentation they feel from first to last.” -New York Magazine

WATCH THE PREVIEW of THE MAGIC FOREST on YouTube

2016-17 REPERTORY SEASON
WESTBETH Home to the Arts
155 BANK STREET
between West and Washington Street in the West Village

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT www.pennypuppets.org
or CASH ONLY at the door 20 minutes before the show

Tickets are $10 for all ages
Show Times: 11 AM & 2:30 PM
All Ages – Great for 3 to 8
Stroller Parking
Shows Run about 45 Minutes
Information: (212) 924-0525
www.pennypuppets.org

BUS AND SUBWAY: M14A, M11, M20, (2 blocks)
A, C, E, L, 1, 2, 3 (5 or 6 blocks)
“A Child’s first experience with theater is important and forming. Quality counts.” – Penny Jones

PENNY JONES & CO. PUPPETS has been a mainstay of children’s theater in New York since the 1970’s. The company specializes in informal puppet shows for children aged three to eight, and puppet ballets with live music for audiences of adults, children or both. The company performs in collaboration with chamber ensembles and orchestras. The repertory includes adaptations of classical works as well as original stories and scores. In schools, the company has performed hundreds of times, and Penny has a wide variety of programs from puppet pageants with a cast and crew of 30 to 90 school children, to workshops for small classes, and Penny’s “One on One” – interweaving puppetry, storytelling, movement and arts.

The company has appeared on television, in the Henson International Puppet Festival at the Public Theatre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, at BAM with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, at City Center, Avery Fisher Hall, and in museums including The Museum of the City of New York, The Children’s Museum of New York, the American Museum of Natural History, at Emelin, Wave Hill, the Washington Square Music Festival, at venues from Macy’s to Barnes & Noble, and with orchestras at Bargemusic, Casa de España, Greenwich House Music School, with the New Jersey Symphony, out on the Piers, up on the Highline and many, many, more…

Film Screening TO KEEP THE LIGHT, created, directed and starring Erica Fae

erica-fae-screening

Inspired by true stories, a lighthouse keeper’s wife struggles with her work and her sanity as she cares for her sick husband in 19th century Maine. When a mysterious stranger washes up on shore, secrets buried in deep waters come to light, and she confronts both her past and her future.

Erica Fae graduated from New York University/Tisch School. Erica creates and produces original work, often from historical research. Her recent play “Take What Is Yours” (in which she stars, and co-wrote) received a Critics’ Pick in The New York Times and Backstage (2012). She appears in Lisa Robinson’s ground breaking short “Hollow”, premiering at Tribeca Film Festival (2013). She has won awards for Best Actress and Best Short for her short films, and has performed at New York Theatre Workshop, The Kennedy Center, Walker Arts Center, American Repertory Theatre, The New Victory, A.C.T., and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, and Dance Theater Workshop. Erica teaches physical acting at Yale School of Drama and The New School’s MFA programs. She lives at Westbeth.

More info at: To Keep The Light.com

REVIEW from SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN: “… a gripping portrait… wonderfully mysterious… Fae’s Abbie is an entrancing blend of delicacy and strength, and the cinematography is just stunning.”

REVIEW from NASHVILLE SCENE: “women dominate this year’s NEW DIRECTORS category… TO KEEP THE LIGHT, erica fae’s slow-burning period drama, follows salt-of-the-earth abbie, who is tasked with tending to a lighthouse on a remote maine island during her husband’s illness. fae, who also stars in the film, has garnered praise for her work in theater, and it shows: she reveals her character through exacting body language that makes her situation visceral. inspired by true stories of women lighthouse keepers in the 1800s, TO KEEP THE LIGHT is beautifully shot, building tension against the harsh landscape, and fae proves to be a true new talent.”

TO KEEP THE LIGHT wins BEST OF SHOW: “… a unique film with a fascinating heroine who is as sturdy and distinctive as the maine coastline where the story takes place…”

REVIEW from the ORLANDO WEEKLY:

“first-time writer-director erica fae’s TO KEEP THE LIGHT is a quietly mesmerizing look at the lonely life of a lighthouse keeper’s wife who is struggling with her daily duties – and her sanity – while caring for her sick husband in 19th-century maine. when a mysterious stranger washes up on shore, she is forced to confront both her past and her future. shot much like a haunted-house thriller, the film takes on an ingmar bergman feel in the second half… its beauty and confidently methodical pacing – not to mention a solid performance by fae herself – make it one of the better offerings in the narrative features competition… captures the feel of the period and… features an interesting feminist theme.”

REVIEW from cinema365:

“every shot here is literally a work of art; this movie is like strolling through a museum where one great painting after another hangs on the wall… while this is her first feature film- with work like this, I sincerely hope ms. fae continues her work in the cinematic arts… fae gives the character an inner core that is stronger than steel and grabs the viewer’s attention and admiration. she may be one of the most memorable female characters you’ll see in any movie this year and you certainly won’t be forgetting any time soon after the credits roll…. an early candidate for my top films of 2016.”

REVIEW from THE MANEATER: “…a work of art and surreal beauty, this film is a must-watch because it throws light on obscured aspects of our history and imparts a valuable lesson of taking a stand for what is ours.”

FROM THE COLUMBIA TRIBUNE: ”… weds stunning visuals to the compelling story of a lighthouse keeper’s wife trying to care for her husband, their hime and herself…”

FIPRECI PRIZE ANNOUNCEMENT IN GERMAN PRESS

REVIEW from WILLAMETTE WEEK:

seven new movies to see this week: what to watch in portland (oregon) cinemas

“abbie is the wife of an ailing lighthouse keeper on an isolated island off the coast of 1867 maine. when a stranger washes up on her shore, she’s forced to confront her life and desires. based on the approximately 300 women who served as lighthouse attendants in the 1800s, this film offers a glimpse into the lives of often forgotten heroines…”

from WOMEN IN FILM & TV VANCOUVER:

“fae’s film displays a gift for both masterful composition and mesmerizing drama as she imparts this involving story of an embattled woman relegated to the fringes of society but determined to be respected.”

GRISELDA STEINER’s playlet spoof
“MacTrump” in which the Thane
confronts the three witches appears in the December issue of SCENE4 arts magazine online

griselda-steiner-mac-trump

Three WITCHES, IVANKA (Trump’s daughter with Ivana), TIFFANY (Trump’s daughter with Marla Maples) and Melania (Trump’s current wife) are dressed as glamorous witches in black gowns and witch hats. They are making a witches brew in a large cauldron over a fire in a dark wood…….

Read more HERE

ARLENE GOTTFRIED’s MOMMIE
selected by TIME Magazine as one of the best photograpy books of 2016

arlene-gottfried-mommie

MOMMIE is a remarkable photographic portrait of three generations of women in the family of photographer Arlene Gottfried and an intimate story of the inevitable passage of time and aging. Pictured within, we are introduced to Gottfried’s 100 year old immigrant grandmother, fragile mother, and reluctant sister over the breathtaking course of 35 years.

An artist turning their eye on their own immediate family is a well explored theme, but Gottfried has achieved the sublime with a multi-decade long commitment to document the intimate lives of her nearest kin. Gottfried succeeds in creating a complete twentieth century portrait of four lives inextricably interwoven through relation, sickness, need, love, and the absence of her father—who passed away while Arlene was still young.

Living as many mid-century Jewish New York families did, the Gottfrieds were not wealthy and lacked any trappings of luxury. Close examination of their world on Avenue A in Manhattan’s Lower East Side reveals a dimly lit small apartment, cartons of budget saltines and groceries, chipped paint, damaged floor tiles, guarded loose change, and well worn clothes – details natural to the lives of many families of immigrants in New York.

Mommie is testament to the passage of time, changes in the generations, losing loved ones and a familial experience at once both similar and unique to all.

Source: Amazon

Link: http://time.com/4580692/best-photobooks-2016/

Film Screening:
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
Special Guest, Donna Reed’s daughter, Mary Owen

westbeth-movie-night-dec-7-movie-night

On the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Westbeth Movie Night’s special event features Mary Owen, daughter of Academy Award winner, Donna Reed, to introduce the movie. FREE.

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY is a 1953 drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the novel by James Jones. The picture deals with the tribulations of three U.S. Army soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and Frank Sinatra, stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed portray the women in their lives and the supporting cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Philip Ober, Jack Warden, Mickey Shaughnessy, Claude Akins, and George Reeves.

The film won eight Academy Awards out of 13 nominations, including for Picture, Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra) and Supporting Actress (Donna Reed).[3] The film’s title comes originally from a quote from Rudyard Kipling’s 1892 poem “Gentlemen-Rankers”, about soldiers of the British Empire who had “lost [their] way” and were “damned from here to eternity.”

From Here to Eternity was selected in 2002 for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

source: Wikipedia