A bronze life-sized sculpture of a horse’s head that weighs about 200 pounds was stolen “in a flash” from a gallery on West Hastings Street in Vancouver.
Mysterious theft of valuable art stuns Vancouver gallery owner
About
Posts by :
Gold Award-winning artist returns for solo exhibition
Published on 17 November 2023
Rockhampton region will get a chance to see the works of one of Australia’s most significant Indigenous artists, in an exclusive exhibition at Rockhampton Museum of Art, from mid November.
Richard Bell’s exhibition Bell’s Theorem will be the largest solo exhibition in the artist’s home state to date.
It will also be his first in Australia after his critically acclaimed participation in the 58th Venice Biennale (Bell gatecrashed the world’s most famous biennale with a scene-stealing and provocative installation, roaming the canals on a barge) and major solo exhibitions at Tate Modern in London and Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Bell has also been the subject of a highly awarded documentary, You Can Go Now, available on SBS.
Bell’s Theorem covers around four decades of the artist’s career and shows how his artwork has been informed by a lifetime of activism for Aboriginal land rights. The artist often employs humour and catchy phrases in his paintings and videos to express the conflicts between ‘Western, colonial and Indigenous art production and its reception.’
In addition to his paintings, the exhibition will also include a travelling artwork Embassy, inspired by the Aboriginal Tent Embassy which was pitched on the grounds of Parliament House in Canberra in 1972 by four young activists. Bell’s Embassy, which is jointly owned by the Tate Modern in London and Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, will be the venue for public dialogue at various times during the exhibition.
Bell was born in Charleville and lived in several locations around Queensland in his formative years, including Rockhampton.
He won Rockhampton Art Gallery’s Gold Award in 2018 for his painting Untitled that mimicked the style of Roy Lichtenstein and Jackson Pollock to provoke ideas about ‘place’. Along with prizemoney, the Gold Award came with an invitation to undertake a solo exhibition at Rockhampton Museum of Art.
Rockhampton Regional Council Communities and Heritage spokesperson Cr Drew Wickerson said that Rockhampton Museum of Art is delivering on a promise to provide access to some of Australia’s most significant contemporary artists, right here in Rockhampton.
“This is a major exclusive for the Rockhampton Museum of Art, demonstrating that RMOA is now a leading regional art gallery for Queensland and Australia. This world-class artist’s works will be on show, for free, for all our residents and visitors to the region this summer,” he said.
Bell’s Theorem will be on display from 18 November 2023 to 18 February 2024 at Rockhampton Museum of Art, 220 Quay Street, Rockhampton. Admission is free.
Rockhampton Museum of Art is owned and operated by Rockhampton Regional Council.
Watchmakers hit a marketing note with musical tie-ups
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Synaesthesia — experiencing once sense through another — helped Tokio Myers choose the key for music he composed for watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre, inspired by the golden ratio. “G minor gives me a yellow, golden colour,” explains Myers, who is known for fusing classical music with other genres — and is a former winner of UK reality TV show Britain’s Got Talent.
His Timeless symphony is the soundtrack to the 10-minute Golden Ratio Musical Show, which celebrates the design of the Reverso watch (itself inspired by the golden ratio) by exploring the ratio’s presence in nature, science and art.
Myers visited the Swiss brand’s manufacture and studied Art Deco designs (the Reverso launched in 1931) before writing music to match visual content that is projected on to a screen of falling water during the music show. He incorporated the golden ratio (1.618) into the tempo by moving the decimal point so it plays at 161.8 beats per minute. “There’s detail in everything that we’ve done,” he says.
The collaboration is the first time the watchmaker has worked with a musician in this way, says Catherine Rénier, chief executive of Jaeger-LeCoultre. The brand has taken the show — first staged in its 1931 Cinema — on tour to Shanghai, Los Angeles and London this year, and plans to take it to Dubai next year.
“As a watchmaker, this is, you could think, far from our field,” says Rénier. “However, it’s totally in sync with the way we create, the way we bring emotion into what we do, and it’s challenging us to be very expressive in different art forms and reach out in a totally different way to the public.”
Jaeger-LeCoultre is among several Swiss brands taking a new approach to exploring the relationship between watchmaking and music. While watchmakers have often worked with musicians as ambassadors (in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s case, Lenny Kravitz) or on the design of new timepieces, they are increasingly commissioning artists to compose new music.
Raymond Weil, the music-inspired brand that has celebrated musicians through collections and partnered with concert venues, looked at music “in a slightly different way” for the launch of its Freelancer Pop bi-compax chronograph limited edition in July, says its chief marketing officer, Jeremie Bernheim. The family-owned watchmaker commissioned new music for the first time by bringing together French pianist Victor Le Douarec and saxophonist Sandy Sax to compose the song used in the campaign video for the watch — itself designed as an homage to live music. In the wake of the pandemic, the brand wanted to “leverage music in a very social manner”, says Bernheim.
Brands are presenting music to customers in other ways, too. British DJ and producer Carl Cox curated a special playlist to coincide with the launch of Zenith’s Defy Extreme Carl Cox limited edition in September. The playlist, available on Spotify and the watchmaker’s website, is the first released by the brand.
It came ahead of last month’s release of the debut track from a project made for Zenith by another “friend of the brand”: Italian multimedia creator, Klaus. His electronic music incorporates sounds recorded during a visit to the Swiss watchmaker’s manufacture in Le Locle.
French musician Woodkid’s original composition for Vacheron Constantin, which has 11 public playlists on Spotify, features the mechanical beating of its Fiftysix self-winding watch. Launched in June, the contemporary track “Euclidean Pulses 1” was inspired by the brand’s “Less’ential” theme for this year’s Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva.
“‘Euclidean Pulses’ is interesting because, a bit like Vacheron, it is actually marrying science and beauty — because it is essentially based on mathematical expression of music,” says Charlotte Teissier, UK brand director for Vacheron Constantin. The music, available on YouTube, is the result of an ongoing collaboration between Vacheron Constantin and Woodkid through the watchmaker’s One of Not Many mentorship programme. The Grammy-nominated musician, who has directed music videos for artists such as Katy Perry, has mentored two up-and-coming singer-songwriters at London’s Abbey Road Studios under the scheme.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s collaboration with Myers is part of its Made of Makers programme of collaborations with artists from disciplines outside watchmaking. However, Rénier says sound and music have always been part of the watchmaker’s world, if “more from a technical and mechanical standpoint”. “Chiming watches have historically been one of the key inspirations in watchmaking for innovation and complications,” she says.
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard, is hoping to work again with French musician brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon — this time, on a grande sonnerie watch planned for release in early 2025. The brand previously enlisted the help of the violinist and cellist, respectively, to calibrate the sapphire gongs in three chiming watch models that it released last year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the LUC collection.
Scheufele, who listens to every chiming watch before it leaves Chopard, says that, “although we have specialists in the field and our engineers certainly know what they are doing, we don’t pretend to have trained hearing for sound and music as a professional musician would have”.
When it comes to the new musical compositions, watchmakers say they give artists creative freedom. “We’re not music producers,” says Raymond Weil’s Bernheim, adding that his company made sure the musicians kept the rights to their music. “What we want to be is really the igniting force behind bringing music to life.”
A Bright Night for the Arts event gathers arts community, recognizes Mayor’s Awards for the Arts
A Bright Night for the Arts event gathers arts community, recognizes Mayor’s Awards for the Arts Evanston Bright Night for the Arts recognizes awardees
Center City Holiday Roundup (2023)
Downtown parks come alive with lights, music, vendors, art installations, and more in November and December. Experience the magic of the holidays all month long in the very heart of Seattle.
Tree Lighting Celebration @Westlake Park
Fri, November 24, 3:30-7:00 PM
3:30-5:00 pm enjoy a pre-show with local live music. At 5 PM the tree is raised and lit, then follow with a fireworks show! More live music culminates with the African American Cultural Ensemble and the Motown trio The Jewel Tones.
Tree Lighting Celebration at Westlake Park (downtownseattle.org)
Dickens Carolers
Wed, December 6, 12:30-1:30 pm @Denny Park
Thur, December 7, 12-1 pm @City Hall Park
Two free lunchtime performances by The Dickens Carolers, Seattle’s premiere Victorian caroling group!
The Dickens Carolers – Seattle’s Premier Victorian Christmas Carolers
Pioneer Square Holiday Market
& Wintry Weekend Ice Skating Rink
Fri, December 8: Skating 1-7 pm / Market 3-7 pm
Sat, December 9: Skating 12-6 pm / Market 11 am-3 pm
Sun, December 10: Skating 12-6 pm / no market
Occidental Park is a double hit on December 8 and 9, with a holiday market of over 40 vendors including craftmakers, sustainable gifts, local artists, and much more. While the grown-ups go shopping, the kids get to play! Free ice skating, including free skate rentals, on December 8, 9, and 10.
Occidental Park, 117 S Washington St, Seattle, WA 98104
Experience the Holidays in Pioneer Square – Seattle, Washington | Pioneer Square
Wintry Weekend Ice Skating Rink in Occidental Square (downtownseattle.org)
Pet-Friendly Holiday Photos & Cookie Crawl @Bell Street Park
Sat, December 16, 12-3 pm @Bell Street Park
Celebrate the season at Bell Street Park with free holiday photos and cookies! Enjoy free treats from local businesses and take your holiday card photo with Mrs. Claus. Pets welcome!
Pet-Friendly Holiday Photos and Cookie Crawl at Bell Street Park (downtownseattle.org)
Tuesdays: Merry Movie Matinees at City Hall Park. Movies begin at 12 noon. 11/28, 12/5, 12/12, 12/19.
Wednesdays: Holiday Buskers in Westlake Park. 11 am-1 pm. 11/22-12/27
Thursdays: Fire Pit at Pier 62. 3-6 pm. 11/1-12/31.
Fridays: Festive Friday Concerts. 4-5:30 pm. 12/1: Dancer & Prancer · 12/8: Payge Turner · 12/15 The High Seagrass.
Saturdays: Sweet & Snowy Saturdays at Occidental Square. 12-2 pm. 11/25-12/16.
Luminous Light Sculptures @Westlake Park. November 24 to January 9.
Downtown Holiday Lights & Delights @Occidental Park. November 24 to January 9.
McAllen native wins 3 Latin Grammys, including songwriter of the year
|
Only have a minute? Listen instead |
McAllen native Édgar Barrera won three Grammys Thursday evening, including the new songwriter of the year category during the 2023 Latin Grammys ceremony in Spain.
The 32-year-old is the first winner in the newly created songwriter of the year category, which aims to recognize the written excellence, profession and art of songwriting, the Latin Recording Academy said on its March 21, 2023 announcement.
Barrera also won Grammys for the producer of the year and best regional song categories, with the latter featuring three of his nominations (“Alaska” by Camilo and Grupo Firme, “La Siguiente” by Kany García featuring Christian Nodal and “un x100to” by Grupo Frontera featuring Bad Bunny).
[embedded content]The best regional song win also includes fellow Rio Grande Valley stars Grupo Frontera, known in their hometown as the Sons of Edinburg, for their song with Bad Bunny “un x100to.”
The Mexican-American composer, who was born in McAllen and grew up in Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, led this year’s Latin Grammys nominations with 13. Barrera also had nominations in the record, song, album of the year — as well as the best pop song and best tropical song categories.
Thursday’s wins adds to Barrera’s acclaim, totaling one Grammy and 21 Latin Grammys.
“Being an artist who is a public figure and things like that doesn’t really catch my attention,” he previously told The Associated Press earlier this year. “I don’t like that prominence or anything like that. Being hidden behind, writing the songs, producing, doing what I like to do, what I know how to do, that is enough, and I don’t need the mark of being the artist, of being named.”
Read more about Barrera here:
Édgar Barrera is the producer behind your favorite hits — and the Latin Grammys’ top nominee
Russian artist jailed for seven years over anti-war price tag protest
Alexandra Skochilenko was convicted of spreading ‘false information’ after she replaced five supermarket price tags with criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russian artist Alexandra Skochilenko has been sentenced to jail for seven years after being found guilty of spreading “false information” about the Russian military by replacing a handful of supermarket price tags with messages criticising the war in Ukraine.
The 33-year-old, known as Sasha, is one of thousands of Russians to be detained, fined or jailed for speaking out against Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour amid an escalating crackdown on free speech and opposition to President Vladimir Putin.
Skochilenko was arrested in her native St Petersburg in April 2022, after an elderly customer at the supermarket found the slogans on the price tags and notified the police.
“The Russian army bombed an arts school in Mariupol. Some 400 people were hiding in it from the shelling,” one read, in reference to Russia’s brutal siege of the southern Ukrainian city. Another said, “Russian conscripts are being sent to Ukraine. Lives of our children are the price of this war.”
Judge Oksana Demiasheva delivered the verdict on Thursday hours after Skochilenko, who has a congenital heart defect and coeliac disease, had made a final statement to the court, asking for compassion and to be set free.
As well as the prison term, the artist was banned from using the internet for three years.
Skochilenko, wearing a colourful T-shirt decorated with a large red heart, reacted with shock to the sentence, covering her face and wiping away tears.
Supporters shouted “shame” and “we’re with you Sasha”, the AFP news agency reported.
Skochilenko’s lawyers left without giving any comment.
Skochilenko’s arrest came about a month after authorities adopted a law effectively criminalising any public expression about the war that deviated from the Kremlin’s official line.
Human rights group Memorial – now banned in Russia – said police spent 10 days interrogating supermarket staff and inspecting security camera footage before arresting the artist.
“They sometimes give less for murder than for five price tags in a supermarket,” Boris Vishnevsky, a politician linked to the opposition Yabloko party, told AFP.
“Hopefully, someday, the pendulum will turn the other way.”
Skochilenko was accused of committing what the state prosecutor described as a serious crime out of “political hatred” towards Russia. He had asked for her to be jailed for eight years.
Skochilenko admitted to swapping the tags but denied that the text written on them was false. She said she was a pacifist who valued human life above all else.
“How weak is our prosecutor’s faith in our state and society if he thinks our statehood and public safety can be ruined by five little pieces of paper?” she said in court.
“Everyone sees and knows that you are not judging a terrorist. You’re not trying an extremist. You’re not even trying a political activist. You’re judging a pacifist,” she said.
Amnesty International condemned the verdict.
“Her persecution has become synonymous with the absurdly cruel oppression faced by Russians openly opposing their country’s criminal war,” it said in a statement.
Memorial has designated Skochilenko a political prisoner and has launched a campaign calling for her release.
She has already been in detention for nearly 19 months, meaning that her overall term will be reduced by more than two years, since every day served in a pre-trial detention centre counts as 1.5 days of time served in a regular penal colony.
But she has struggled in custody due to pre-existing health conditions, and her need for a gluten-free diet, according to her lawyers and her partner.
According to OVD-Info, a prominent rights group that monitors political arrests and provides legal aid, a total of 19,834 Russians have been arrested between February 24 2022, when Russia began its invasion, and late October 2023 for speaking out or demonstrating against the war.
Also on Thursday, opposition politician Vladimir Milov was convicted in absentia of spreading false information about the army and sentenced to eight years. Milov, who was once Russia’s deputy energy minister and is now an ally of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has left the country.
ArtSEA: Art, film and food to honor Native American Heritage month
And here’s where I start to run out of room. But not before I let you know about several Indigenous-themed documentaries coming up at Northwest Film Forum. While Killers of the Flower Moon may be getting all the box office buzz, these docs reveal powerful Native American histories as well (and with much shorter running times).
Bad Press (Nov. 16-19) is a gripping story about the fight for free press in the Muskogee Nation, where the tribe’s own legislative branch worked to gain full editorial oversight of what was reported in the tribal newspaper. Ever Deadly (Nov. 18-22) profiles mesmerizing Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq via concert footage and animated storytelling.
And as part of the “Moving History” series, NWFF is also screening two video segments about prominent Northwest Native activists: Upper Skagit elder and environmentalist Vi Hilbert; and Bernie Whitebear (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation), who played a major role in the occupation of Fort Lawton and the founding of the Daybreak Star Cultural Center (both screening Nov. 26).
Which brings us to shopping. If you’re planning to partake in “Black Friday” madness, consider channeling some of that consumer energy toward one of our region’s many options for buying Native art.
Daybreak Star Cultural Center houses the original Sacred Circle Gifts and Art shop, featuring all kinds of cool cards, jewelry, prints, calendars and more made by Indigenous artists. (Also currently on view: an exhibit by painter Shana Yellow Calf Lukinich, who blends Coast Salish, Plains and Metis/Chippewa styles.)
And there’s another Sacred Circle shop at Sea-Tac Airport — which I can personally attest is a great way to pass the time when your Thanksgiving travel has been horribly delayed.
The Duwamish Tribe is hosting its hugely popular Native Art Market in the Longhouse and Cultural Center once again (Nov. 24-26), featuring a wide array of arts and gifts made by local artisans.
And while you’ll have to wait for a restock to purchase the gorgeous Eighth Generation blanket recently featured on the cover of British Vogue (wrapped around Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone — who, by the way, grew up partly in Seattle and took drama classes at Stone Soup Theatre), you can shop for other items at the new location of the Snoqualmie Tribe-owned store.
Founded in 2008 by Louis Gong (of Nooksack heritage), Eighth Generation recently moved from inside Pike Place Market to a bigger location across the street — all the better to bring you more wares crafted by Native makers from across the country, including warm, fuzzy piles of fashion-mag-worthy wool and cotton blankets.
Troubled history of Documenta, art show that Ranjit Hoskote has quit
Rockford native Jodi Benson previews ‘Disney 100: The Exhibition’
CHICAGO, Ill. (WIFR) – Celebrating a century of the Walt Disney Company, “Disney 100: The Exhibition” hosts 10 interactive galleries, with more than 250 pieces of art, props and costumes.
Making an appearance at the Chicago exhibition Thursday, was Jodi Benson, who portrayed Ariel in “The Little Mermaid” (1989).
Growing up in the stateline, Benson says she would not change anything about her early acting days.
“Everything was a surprise, like once I did the film, I had no idea that anyone would ever know who I was, because we were supposed to be anonymous,” Benson said. “I really didn’t know if I had the talent to be able to take it to the next level.”
Benson graduated from Boylan Catholic High School. 10 years later, she would be cast in “The Little Mermaid” (1989).
“I love Ariel, I love my character, I love what she stands for, I love that new generations can fall in love with her,” Benson said.
She says she has always loved the arts, but truly discovered her passion performing as a young Rockfordian.
“I started singing when I was probably 5 years old and started to do some community theater, took a few dance classes and then I was able to do a few shows during high school and also did the summer theater program at Rock Valley Starlight. It was a wonderful start in Rockford. I wouldn’t change a thing,” Benson said.
“Disney 100: The Exhibition” opens Saturday, Nov. 18 at the Exhibition Hub Art Center in Chicago. Tickets can be purchased on their website.
Copyright 2023 WIFR. All rights reserved.
