Performances of Trisha Brown’s Planes happen on the half-hour between 11 am to 2 pm Saturday and 6 to 9 pm Thursday, in the Walker’s Medtronic Gallery, through the run of the exhibition of Brown’s drawings, So That the Audience Does Not Know Whether I Have Stopped Dancing. Here, three dancers perform at May’s Free First Saturday (about a dozen are on rotation in this trio) and, afterward, discuss the work.
There are a couple notable distinctions to the May/June issue of Walker magazine. The first is the cover -- or, more accurately, two covers. Open the front, which bows to the 20th anniversary of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, and you'll find a second cover, featuring an untitled photo from Richard Prince's cowboy series -- a nod to the Walker's Prince exhibition. Why two covers? The short of it: Twice the happiness. The medium of it: We recognize two programs worthy of the cover's spotlight.
By the way, in house, we don't call the first cover a cover (not if you want to preserve your kneecaps). It's a wrap -- the first in the short history of the magazine in its current format. It's printed on rough paper stock and, if one were so inclined, easily pulled away from the glossy magazine proper. Hypothetically, one could carefully pull the wrap away and present the May/June issue with a Prince cover. Nobody would be the wiser (indeed, the issue date and magazine logo are reserved for the inner cover).
Who would do such a thing? And why? You could pin the entire summer slate of Garden-related events (they appear on the back of the wrap) on your refrigerator or on your bedroom wall, alongside your black-light posters. Perhaps you’d like a Prince keepsake on the cheap. The Walker doesn't recommend engineering this cover separation at home -- or at your own museum -- nor is the Walker responsible for any ensuing injury.
The second distinction is the illustration adorning the wrap. Again, this is new to the magazine, which traditionally devotes the cover to artwork drawn from a current/upcoming exhibition or publicity still from a performance group or film. This tableau is drenched in PMS 802 -- the official color of the summer-long Garden anniversary celebration. Dare to imagine your summer day in the sculpture garden bathed in day-glo green.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph and his collaborators marked their steps Wednesday afternoon in a tech rehearsal for the premiere of the break/s. Real performances are today through Saturday at the Walker.
The Walker shop sells a product called Q-Ba-Maze, a Lego-like system of clear/colored plastic cubes that kids (or you) can fit together to sculpt … well, virtually anything. Drop a marble into any hole, stand back and watch the magic. I bring you this little commission-free plug because the Walker tapped architect-turned-Q-Ba-Maze founder Andrew Comfort to fill the shop display window facing Hennepin Avenue with something colorful, grand and plastic. With the help of University of Minnesota art and architecture students, Comfort spent most of Monday (and likely much of today) installing a giant replica of a red snapper. Eavesdrop dropped in on his process.
Tyler Green breaks news this morning on his Modern Art News blog that the Art Institute of Chicago has concluded that a Paul Gauguin sculpture in the museum’s collection, The Faun (c1888), isn’t from Gauguin at all, but from the so-called Greenhalgh Forgery Gang (aka The Bolton Forgers) — apparently fine art’s equivalent to the Legion of Doom.
What I find most striking is that anyone would go through the trouble of forging stone sculpture. Stone isn’t a very forgiving medium, and you’d think someone with the skill to create a detailed knockoff of a centaur in repose would have the goods to come up with something original (of course, faux Gauguin can probably fetch much more at the Sotheby’s or, failing that, the Uptown Art Fair). Then again, the mere act of copying a masterwork isn’t different, in concept, than a bar band covering Foreigner (masterwork? somebody must think so) — that is, until it’s marketed as an original (the Greenhalghs are serving time).
This reminds me of the deliciously subversive work of Improv Everywhere, which not long ago jumped on a case of mistaken identity to impersonate Ben Folds Five. The real Ben Folds thought the act was hilarious and invited the fake Ben Folds to take the stage in a choreographed opening of a real Ben Folds Five concert.
… which brings me to a closing thought: What would Gauguin, who would turn 160 next year, do?
Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love is opening next week, and Kara Walker has been here since the beginning of the week working on the show. She’s been seen in the offices. But how do I really know she’s here? Because she has coffee creamer in our fridge:
This struck me as unexpected. We’ve all been working on various aspects of this show for a while now; to see it coming to fruition is rewarding. And this post answers the question that everyone wanted to know, but was missing from the Q&A Paul posted. Sadly, I still don’t know if she takes sugar in her coffee.
As Cameron has been posting some of the portraits that come out of the Walker Photo Studio, I’m sure you have a sense of how great the work Cam and Gene do truly is.
We try to document all of the visiting artists that visit the Walker with a portrait, and I often get to escort visiting filmmakers down to the studio for their portraits. It’s always a pleasure to watch Cam and Gene work, and makes me look forward to seeing the results.
Last night, Cameron was able to work a portrait of Li Zhenhua into his schedule. I took a few pictures to document the occasion.
Zhenhua is in from China to present The Wave and to complete the installation of Virtual China. (Be sure to check this out, it is fantastic! Also, be sure to read his Artist in Residence blog, to read the account of his first visit to the US.)
I can’t wait to see the final pics.
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