I finally got a chance to see Patricia Hickson’s first curatorial swing at the Wadsworth‘s Matrix gallery and I have to say that I hope she’s with us for a long time. Matrix 158 features German sculptor Kitty Kraus and her haunting and exciting lightboxes. This exhibit opened on February 4th and is up til May 2.
It’s interesting that the exhibit catalog (which is always available free of charge) mentions a guillotine in its opening paragraph. In John Moore’s 2006 remake of The Omen, the foreshadowed deaths of some of the victims was manifested by a sharp streak of light on an image of the said victim. That being said, my initial take on the exhibit did not conjure any such violent imagery. Let’s delve in… Continue reading Contemporary Art is back in a big way at WAMA
***Update…I realize that sometimes I get very reactionary and just start jotting down stuff without checking my attitude at the door. I need to start adopting the whole “disagree without being disagreeable” motto Mercy is always preaching to me, and in that spirit I’m going to scratch out all the areas where I let the moment take me and made what I can only categorize as inappropriate snide comments against Señor McEnroe. My apologies go out to him. Mind you, I still think we need to get beyond the whole who’s best BS, but I can make that point without attacking anybody.***
Our favorite radio personality is at it again. Apparently the aforementioned Colin McEnroe (no relation to Colin Farrell who he’s always mistaken for) was on his show today trying to stir up the whole Hartford v New Haven thing today. Our buddy over at Mira Hartford speaks a little to it here. I’ll give you my quick take. Continue reading Colin gets NH-envy again…
Upon her arrival as the new Director of the Wadsworth Atheneum, one of Susan Talbott’s commitment to Hartford’s arts fans was the return of the seemingly comatose Matrix program. Upon arrival she filled the small gallery at the northeast corner of the complex with the lifesize, styrofoam sculptures of Folkert de Jong and his study on anti-colonialism entitled, “The Shooting…at Watou.” She followed that by hiring a new Emily Hall Tremaine Curator of Contemporary Art in Patricia Hickson in March. Ms. Hickson was a familiar face from the Des Moines Art Center who also spent some time at the Boston ICA before it moved to its new home on the harbor. Ms. Hickson’s first foray into this storied program, The Matrix Effect, is a mini retrospective which serves as a sort of re-introduction to the Matrix program so that she can start programming with a bang in 2010, a year that marks 35 years since the gallery’s inception.
Continue reading The Matrix Effect reaches back to move forward…
I normally do not use this space to advertise/promote/highlight things that I personally am involved with. Seems kinda unfair so it’s my own type of self censureship. Normally I try to highlight good things in the city as well as complaining about things that I feel might not be for the overall goodness of our fair city.
Well, this weekend I will be involved with 3 events that are soooo kick@$$ that not even my own crappy sense of fairness can stop it. Yes people, I now give to you (drum roll) THE BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!
Continue reading The Best Weekend EVER….
It’s safe to say that the days of “What’s there to do in Hartford?” are over. Conventional wisdom has destroyed that always untrue perception of the City. The question now isn’t “What is there to do?” but “How can I find out about it?” While The Courant’s Cal section is to be envied in its deliverance of this type of info, their online presense suffers form the same confusion as the rest of Courant.com. The Advocate is getting better but, lets face it, they are NOT an arts & entertainment weekly.
But quietly a small group of individuals have started to use email as their tool of choice to inform people on the cultural happenings of the city and the region. Here’s a short list with contact info: Continue reading Where’s the cultural 4-1-1?
Long over due props need to goto the folks over at the Hartford Independent Media Collective. For a number of months now they have moved over to their new online presence…and it is snaaaaaazyyyyy.
My experience working in DC opened my eyes to the world of more progressive / radical thought in the states. I DJ’d for a wonderful low power radio station in Columbia Heights and learned about the Indy Media movement from the DC Indymedia peeps. I was so enraptured by the experience that I came back ready to start my own…but there was one already here! Continue reading New presence to old friends
I finally got a chance to see Patricia Hickson’s first curatorial swing at the Wadsworth‘s Matrix gallery and I have to say that I hope she’s with us for a long time. Matrix 158 features German sculptor Kitty Kraus and her haunting and exciting lightboxes. This exhibit opened on February 4th and is up til May 2.