Aaron Cockle here today with Eva Hesse; Alberto Savinio + Roberto Calasso; Edward Gorey; Frederick Luis Aldama; How to Tell a (Good) Story; The Revengerers
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Eva Hesse: Arrows and Boxes, Repeated
April 6-May 25, 2018, Craig F. Starr Gallery, 5 East 73rd Street, NYC
Hesse is best known for the pioneering sculptural works in nontraditional materials like latex and fiberglass that she made between 1966 and her untimely death in 1970. Prior to identifying herself as a sculptor, Hesse worked in more traditional media like painting, and she made hundreds of drawings over the course of her short but prolific career. Her paintings, drawings, and sculptures are often considered separately, but this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view early and late works side by side, illuminating the underlying structural similarities as well as their transformations.
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ALBERTO SAVINIO
Annual installation, 06 October 2017 – 23 June 2018, The Center for Italian Modern Art, 421 Broome Street, 4th Floor, NYC
Alberto Savinio will feature 25 rarely seen works by the artist, focusing on paintings produced after his move to Paris in 1926, when he put his other creative pursuits on hold in order to devote himself fully to visual arts. The exhibited works are characterized by Savinio’s vivid color palette, his fantastical interpretation of mythology and voyage, and his eccentric vision of landscape.
Continuing CIMA’s practice of introducing work by contemporary artists into its exhibitions, the installation will also feature select sculptures and prints by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010). This juxtaposition will bring to the fore the two artists’ commonalities, including their flirtation with Surrealism, a shared interest in the subconscious, and, most significantly, the profound influence that familial relations had on their respective artistic imagery.
ALSO:
Join CIMA for a rare opportunity to hear Roberto Calasso discuss the work of Alberto Savinio in conversation with JonathanGalassi, president of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Calasso is the publisher of Adelphi Edizioni, the Milan editorial house that has over the last forty years embarked on a rigorous project to re-issue Alberto Savinio’s literary oeuvre. Adelphi has to date published some 23 books by the author including, in 1977, the Nuova Enciclopedia—a remarkable and highly original personal encyclopedia with entries ranging from the god Apollo to Josephine Baker, which Savinio worked on throughout the 1940s until his premature death in 1952.
Note: This program is the first of two evenings featuring Roberto Calasso at CIMA, co-presented with Farrar Straus and Giroux and with the support of the Maurice English Poetry Award. On May 10, Calasso will discuss FSG’s newly issued edition of The Ruin of Kasch, translated by Richard Dixon, with author Lila Azam Zanganeh. The book will be available for purchase and signing both evenings.
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[Edward] Gorey’s Worlds
February 10–May 6, 2018, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street Hartford CT
This pioneering exhibition explores Gorey, his work, and the artists Gorey admired and collected. Works range in style, era, and media—from 19th-century prints and drawings to contemporary art from the 1970s and 1980s. Through 73 works on paper by Édouard Manet, Charles Meryon, Eugène Atget and Albert York and others, as well as anonymous folk art, visitors will step into Gorey’s imagination by viewing the art he collected alongside his own sketches, drawings, prints, and art books. Rarely seen portraits and personal effects, such as his distinctive fur coats and metal jewelry, further bring Gorey himself to life.
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Frederick Luis Aldama on Latinx Comics: Geometric Storytelling, Production, and Consumption .
Aldama will unzip his brain, offering a multimedia extravaganza of US Latinx comics as explored in and through pop culture. He explores how Latinx created comics vitally complicate and enrich our understanding of Latinx identity and experience and powerfully add to and actively shape the history of comics. Along the way Aldama presents a dynamic model for understanding Latinx subjects as active transformers of the world we live in today.Frederick Luis Aldama is Arts & Humanities Distinguished Professor of English and University Distinguished Scholar at The Ohio State University. He teaches courses on Latino comics, film, and other cultural phenomena. He is the author, co-author, and editor of over thirty books. He is founder and director of the White House Hispanic Bright Spot awarded LASER (Latinx Space for Enrichment Research) as well as recipient of the Ohio Education Summit Award and American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education’s Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Education Award. In 2017, Aldama was awarded the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching and inducted into the Academy of Teaching. He was recently inducted into the Society of Cartoon Arts.
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How to Tell a Story
Eleanor Davis provides the illustrations for this NY Times piece by Daniel McDermon.
Common Pitfalls
As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.” But here are some things to look out for while you practice:
- Don’t sound like you’re reading from a book. Keep your language informal, like the way you would talk to a friend. “Your story isn’t meant to be read,” Mr. Beverly said.
- Wear your influences lightly and speak in your own voice. Don’t mimic someone else’s style or verbal patterns.
- Keep your goal in mind: this experience is for the audience, not for you.
- If you get lost or mess up, don’t call attention to a mistake. “Pause, gather yourself, and continue,” Mr. Beverly recommended. “Even if you have to repeat yourself.”
- Don’t overshare. There’s a difference between a relatable personal story, which helps connect you to the audience, and TMI.
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Obvious Plant’s Jeff Wysaski made some knockoff Avengers action figures and they’re perfectly hilarious in their bootleggedness. See them all here.
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Joanie and Jordie – 5-1-18 – by Caleb Orecchio