PRIMA MATERIA: THE PERIODIC TABLE IN CONTEMPORARY ART

AT THE ALDRICH MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT
FEBRUARY 5 THROUGH AUGUST 27, 2023

A review by Anthony M. Napoli

Alchemists termed the original materials that served them in their efforts to create the philosopher’s stone the prima materia. While on the surface linking a work of art to a specific chemical element, The Aldrich Museum’s exhibit PRIMA MATERIA: THE PERIODIC TABLE IN CONTEMPORARY ART explores the aesthetic and imaginative expression of twenty-four artists working with dozens of chemical elements, whether as the medium of choice for construction of an object, or as the basis for a social, political or environmental critique— or sometimes both. The exhibit was curated by independent curator and artist Richard Klein, the Aldrich’s former Exhibition Director.

A whimsical portrait of Dmitry Mendelev, considered the most successful refiner of the periodic table, brandishing a copy like Moses holding the stone tablets bearing the ten commandments (Mendelev as Moses, 2000) greets visitors to the exhibit. (The table currently includes 118 elements organized by atomic nuclear charge number and weight.) Along with Robert Williams’ visually complex assemblage of alchemical gear (Theatrum Chemicum Britanicum - The Alchemists Shack, 1998-2023), they set the stage for an engaging, diverse and wildly creative array of works, each featuring an element of science but, from the crucible of the artists’ imaginations, producing objects and images sometimes abstract, sometimes dreamlike, but always insightful. While each work is accompanied by its symbol from the periodic table, none of the works descend to the didactic.

Matthew Barney’s Bayhorse (2018) features a series of five copper etching plates, engraved wit and immersed in a copper electroplating bath. The works appeared in Barney’s 2018 multimedia project Redoubt. The electroplating forms organic-like deposits which progressively overtake the landscapes on each plate.

Exhibits include a series of photos that explore the subtext of resource extraction of many of these elements and their impact on the environment. Edward Burtynsky’s “Uranium Tailings #12 Elliot Lake, Ontario” (1995), “Nickel Tailings, Sudbury Ontario” (1996) and “Lithium Mines #2, Atacama, Chile (2017) make real the impact and aftermath of mining of resources essential to modern society on the health and ecology of Canadian and South American communities.

The diverse concepts - whether noble gases (Ashley Epps’ Gravitron 2022), carbon (Julian Charriere’s Pure Waste 2021, video of artificial diamonds created from exhaled carbon dioxide and bacteria, that are thrown into a Greenland ice crevice or the Dufala Brothers’ Anvil and iPhone carved from coal, 2021) or cobalt (Rachel Berwick’s mesmerizing orbs of cobalt glass.)

Coincidentally colliding with one of this summer’s blockbuster films, Bryan McGovern Wilson’s Oppenheimer’s Ghost (2022), portrays a replica of the iconic hat worn by Robert Oppenheimer, often credited aa the “father of the atomic bomb.” The hat is cast from uranium glass, illuminated by UV light, it fluoresces with an eerie green glow. (The excellent catalog mentions this work is part of a larger project entitled the “Atomic Priesthood.” Since buried nuclear waste remains dangerous for millennia, the U.S. government was concerned that thousands of years from now, language could change drastically and the knowledge lost and warning signs about where not to dig would be useless. One idea was to create a “priesthood” that would pass the information down for centuries/millennia on the dangers of atomic waste and how to avoid digging it up!)

Prima Materia, in combining scientific thought and artistic imagination, creates its own special alchemy.

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Stressed World at The School - Opening Sunday, June 5, 2022, Jack Shainman Gallery in Kinderhook, NY

 

"The Ten Commandments, The Musical"

 

David Serero stars as Moses in the U.S. Premiere of "The Ten Commandments, The Musical"

 

David Serero, critically acclaimed international award-winning opera singer, actor, director and producer has returned to the New York stage with a sparkling production of “The Ten Commandments, The Musical” in a very limited engagement at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York, NY.) 

This new production dramatizes, through song and performance, the biblical story of the life of Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince who becomes the deliverer of his real brethren, the enslaved Hebrews, and after that leads the Exodus to Mount Sinai.

While music, in its many forms, has been a part of the theatrical experience since ancient times, musical theater as we have come to know it is a more modern concept, emerging from earlier commedia della’arte, and later the popular operettas of Herve and Offenbach in France and Gilbert and Sullivan in the UK.  American musical theater emerged from variety revues, minstrel shows and vaudeville, eventually evolving into the big budget, world-renowned merging of art and entertainment that we know today as “Broadway.” But each nation and culture has developed its own unique style and tradition for this art form. 

Mr. Serero’s NY production is an adaptation for American musical theater of the original French production which features music by Pascal Obispo, lyrics by Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao, and the original book by Elie Chouraqui.  Composer Obispo is among the most successful singer/songwriters in French pop, who released numerous commercial blockbuster albums, scored multiple Top Ten hit singles with regularity, embarked on multiple sold-out concert tours, and also collaborated with a long list of French pop stars.

"I have carried this masterpiece in my heart since its first day of creation,“ said Mr. Serero. “This unique collaboration between two masters, Elie Chouraqui and Pascal Obispo, [along with the original French lyrics of Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao] will forever remain in the history of French musicals.”

Maestro Serero’s vision — to make this work suitable for American audiences with its own established musical theater culture— aspires to ”the perfected combination of theatrical dialogues and music.”   In reaching for this goal, Mr. Serero, who also expertly delivers in the strong and stirring role of Moses, has assembled a wonderful cast of talented singers and actors:  DaShaun Williams (Ramses), Caroline Purdy (Nefertari), Stephanie Craven (Sephora), Melissa Lubars (Jochebed), Lisa Monde (Bithia), Cale Rausch (Joshua), Zachary Harris Martin (Aaron), Kristyn Vario (Myriam), Andy Donnelly and Julia Anne Cohen (Various roles and U/S).  Of special note, the dramatic vocal interplay between Mr. Serero and Mr. Williams as they reaffirm the theme of brotherhood and peace between Moses and  Pharoah, which, while absent from the original biblical tale, is a welcome reminder of something also missing from our current chaotic era. 

Overall, the cast delivers passionate and compelling performances in a creative, unpretentious yet dynamic staging that lovingly intertwines opera, pop, and musical theater.  “The Ten Commandments” offers audiences a new entry in the canon of truly American musical theater, one with an international flair.

A trailer is available here: https://youtu.be/_p4TfQs-txo

Tickets for the limited NYC run are available for May 8th (6 pm- premiere), 10th and 12th (8 pm), and 15th (6 pm)  on thetencommandmentsthemusical.com   or 1.800.838.3006

—Anthony Napoli

Nomadland

 I was curious and anxious (in a good way) to watch Nomadland, but a few minutes in I became even more  anxious (in a not-so-good way.)  it’s a heavy lift during a dark time but a must see movie. Almost a docudrama, as Frances McDormand acts in situations with actual “Rubber Road Tramps”, it definitely cuts too close to the bone as you reflect how near many of us —native and immigrant—American dreamers have come to financial disaster at some point in our lives and makes one wonder what the future holds for the next generations. That it was directed by an immigrant American (Chloe Zhao) gives it even more depth and emotion. At the outset of the tech era, they described the computer in the home and workplace as blurring work and leisure. Nomadland , and the 21st century economic reality for many it portrays, shows a world where “travel” and survival are inexorably mixed, in a sort of non-violent boomer prequel to “Mad Max”, an alternative society that is at once social and supportive but highly individualistic.

Anthony Napoli

Beacon, NY

A Real Brooklyn Ghost Story

           A Real Brooklyn Ghost Story

Back in the day, well, sometime in the 1980s, when Reagan was as far-out and far-right a reaction to the Jimmy Carter years that the human mind could contemplate, you could still afford to rent your own apartment in Park Slope even though you were neither the employee nor scion of a hedge fund. Anyway, I lived on 7th street between 5th and 6th avenues. It wasn't a fancy hipster neighborhood, and as hard as it is to believe, we were were young once too and were probably the hippest things happening, but there was El Faro and Polly-O and Save on Fifth, and I was just leaving a public affairs and marketing writing job at local hospital (then known as the Park Slope Body Shop), and taking up freelancing for a number of film, engineering and trade mags, so I guess essentially life was good. I was living in the first floor of a brownstone; the owners, an older Italian American couple and their grown sons, lived in the upper floors.

The husband of the couple grew his tomatoes and enjoyed his occasional chianti which reminded me alot of my maternal grandfather who had passed away shortly before I moved to this new place.

One day, after I was living in the building for a year or so, the elderly husband himself passed away rather suddenly. My girl friend at the time, the Art Director's Daughter, and I had spoken to the sons earlier in the day. It was the first night of the wake, the family left in the early afternoon and informed us that they would not be returning until much later in the evening. We were planning to pay our respects the following night. Anyway, at around 7:00 PM it started.

Footsteps. Nothing but footsteps, loud and clear, walking the length of the brownstone apartment above. A constant pacing that started near the front door, walked to the opposite end of

the house, turned and walked back to the door. Slowly, methodically, but unmistakably. At first, I believe the radio was on, I could hear this strange pacing (they had no dogs or pets of any kind) only intermittently, until it finally made its way into our consciousness as the Art Director's Daughter and I made dinner. I turned off the radio. Then, when it was very quiet, a chill went up and down my spine as I listened to the mysterious, relentless pacing.Finally, I went upstairs to knock on the door, but of course no one answered. I could not see or hear anyone (or anything) through the door. Since it was clear no one was ransacking their apartment, there was nothing much else to be done. But when I returned downstairs, there it was again. We turned on some music. The Art Director's Daughter (who was a Red Diaper Baby) was a big fan of the Weavers and Pete Seeger, so we cranked up some of that beneficent, positive vibe, good time hammer and sickle music, and had another glass of wine.

I guess between the clomping, and the wine, and the Weavers, we distracted ourselves until it either stopped or we took less and less notice of it. A few hours later, when the family returned from the first night of the wake, we decided to throw caution to the wind and mention the strange noises, just in case someone had in fact broken in through a window.

The older son looked at us quizzically but went upstairs first to look around before his mom got out of the car. Nope. Everything was as it should be. "Maybe it was a sound from next door through the walls" he offered good naturedly. We apologized for bothering him, but he said, no, don't worry about it, I am glad that you let me know.

But, just as brownstone walls are thick, and floors in old houses can creak when you walk on them, I was sure that the old man had returned for a final visit, and was looking to see where his wife had hidden the chianti.
--Anthony Napoli --- Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

Germano Celant: Art Historian Who Defined “ Arte Povera” Contemporary Italian Art Movement Dead at 80

The widely influential Italian art historian, critic, and curator Germano Celant, who coined the term Arte Povera to describe the radically economical art of Jannis Kounellis, Mario and Marisa Merz, and Giuseppe Penone, among others, has died at age 80 in Milan due to complications from the coronavirus.

His death on April 29, 2020,which was reported by various Italian news outlets, followed his hospitalization at San Raffaele hospital several weeks ago.

Full ArtNet obituary here: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/germano-celant-death-1847856/amp-page

Magazzino Italian Art: Contemporary Italian Art in the Hudson Valley

Artnet.com interview with Magazzino Italiano Art Executive Director Vittorio Calabrese, the Hudson Valley’s newest, most vibrant, contemporary art space

https://news.artnet.com/partner-content/vittorio-calabrese-magazzino

The Marriage of Figaro: From Vienna with Love (By Way of the Borscht Belt)

There's the opera buffa-- as reflected in the comedy of life, say, in NYC during the dog days of summer-- and then there's the "Opera Serero" which is a grand entertainment, as the maestro presents his latest operatic adaptation:  Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro  (Le Nozze di Figaro)" in a brief run at the American Sephardic Federation/Center for Jewish History in NYC.

Serero adapts the opera classic into a 90 minute pageant, retaining much of Mozart's brilliant score, performed by a wonderful company, but with a rewritten, contemporized pop libretto that honors Lorenzo Da Ponte's original, and breathes new comic life into the story and characterizations of Figaro and Susanna, the Count and Countess, and the lovestruck Cherubino, to the delight of new audiences. 

As a result, this traditional comic opera displays fresh charm in a low budget but wildly creative production, adding a layer of borscht belt Jewish humor,  (along with a dash of The Godfather, Star Wars and Looney Tunes), to the Mozart and Da Ponte original creation, which remains the cornerstone of opera companies worldwide.

Led by David Serero's Figaro, the cast, including Hannah Madeline Goodman (Susanna), Charles Gray (Count Almaviva), Jennifer Zamorano (Countess) and Allegra Durante (Cherubino), lend humor and warmth to some sublime performances. Accompanist Felix Jarrar drives a solo performance to orchestral heights.  (Serero's appearance as "The Don", and his unexpected detour into Figaro's Aria from Rossini's "Barber of Seville," were at once silly pleasures and demonstrations  of his vocal and comic skill.)  

Tempis fugit, as do the summer months. Catch this joyously funny adaptation while you can. July 11 through July 21. Tickets at ASFFigaro.bpt.me, or call 1-800-836-3006.

—Anthony Napoli

Bob Dylan: The Beaten Path

Bob Dylan has released another set of signed prints of his work based on his travels. Notable are several from Brooklyn Heights area. The Long Island Restaurant (located on Atlantic, not Myrtle Avenue as titled) should be a familiar point of reference to many Brooklynites.

For more info on this collection, visit http://BobDylanart.com

James Turrell At Mass MoCA

James Turrell’s “Hind Sight” (1984), at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMoCA), North Adams, MA:

“the viewer proceeds through a corridor into a dark chamber devoid of visual or aural stimuli (apart from the exhalations of an air duct). The experience is similar to falling asleep, as physical reality recedes from consciousness and the viewer enters a meditative state. After 10 to 15 minutes, the viewer’s pupils are fully dilated, at which point the viewer is called back to the material world by the presence of a dim light on the opposite side of the chamber, so faint that it can only be perceived in the viewer’s peripheral vision.”

Having previously experienced Turrell’s “Perfectly Clear” at the Museum, which projects a sense that one is floating in a boundless visual void, one recognizes Turrell’s proposal that he does not make art using light but rather by challenging the human eye and perception to recognize not what we see but how we see....
-Anthony Napoli

Romeo & Juliet (adapted in a Jewish-style) at the American Sephardi Federation/Center for Jewish History

Singer, composer, impresario David Serero's latest work, a Jewish adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, is a clever, slightly contemporized performance of the theatrical classic. Seen through a Jewish lens of an  Ashkenazi Juliet and a Sephardi Romeo, the production combines English, Yiddish, Ladino and Russian song, with drama, humor and requisite sword play. Performed by an energetic cast, and highlighted by Serero's operatic performance, the show's all-to-brief run will be at the Center for Jewish History, in New York City, thru June 23.

American Journalism in the Era ofFacebook, President Trump and Red Ink

Reflections: 

Does Facebook and other social media corporations play a role in the proliferation of fake news ? And if so, do these mega-rich corporations have an obligation as some suggest Would a cash influx make a big difference in the future of American journalism, especially in the era of President Trump, fake news and alternative facts?

The chief question may be, what would represent a disruption in journalism, the same type of disruption that Donald Trump represented in American politics in 2016 that cleared a pathway to the presidency? Did that disruption already come and go with the rise and influence of Hunter S. Thompson's gonzo journalism in the 70s? Is journalism by its nature too conservative a profession to be able to forge a new path?  Is journalism in danger or and in need of disruptive change or is it the current political climate that suggests that it is disfubctional if not on its last legs?Can journalism, even if completely torn from any reliance on newsprint and TV adverts really survive if it became even more of a web-based entity? Does a new, til now unforeseen business model of journalism exist within the American business enterprise system? Could and should a BBC-style model of American journalism and media evolve in the US to compete with purely profit-driven models ?

Is quality American journalism fighting with one hand tied behind its back as it is wedded to the Superman virtues( of truth justice and The American Way) while its corporate overseers and need to meet payrolls demand profitability ?

It seems like there remain many more questions and no easy answers as journalism faces continuing challenges with the continuing disappearance of local media and the pressures of a new government Administration that paints much of MSM and actually any news outlet that strives for objective coverage  as the "enemy."  The future of journalism in an era of ascendant public ignorance and 1984-style rule-by-misinformation remains a big question mark, but journalists need to keep up the struggle, holding that lamp high, and the profession as a whole needs to consider all options, remaining open to risk and experiment. The survival of American journalism, and the American Democratic Experiment, depend on it.

Anthony Napoli

Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

NYC:GroundhogDay

Missing from the action was Mayor Bill deBlasio, who, having failed in his commitments to Animal-loving Real Estate Moguls seeking to eliminate the Central Park horse drawn set, and whose Administration is currently under investigation for possible campaign finance violations, said investigation now possibly having expanded into the Mysterious Death of Staten Island Chuck in his previous incarnation, has apparently foresworn all involvement with animals through the conclusion of the election year. Having just settled a deal with the NYPD, he was seen happily making his way to the Park Slope Y where he could exercise undisturbed by protesting cops, and where the only wildlife are the hipsters and gentrifying stroller moms protesting outside “Brooklyn Chuck’s” condo on Prospect Park West, far from SI Chuck.  

 

Fortunately for the current transgender prognosticator, SI Chuck is safe to live another day.

 

-Brooklyn Beat

Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

A Real Brooklyn Ghost Story

A Real Brooklyn Ghost Story

A true story first posted here in 2007.

Back in the day, well, sometime in the 1980s, when Reagan was as far-out and far-right a reaction to the Jimmy Carter years that the human mind could contemplate, you could still afford to rent your own apartment in Park Slope even though you were neither the employee nor scion of a hedge fund. Anyway, I lived on 7th street between 5th and 6th avenues. It wasn't a fancy hipster neighborhood, and as hard as it is to believe, we were were young once too and were probably the hippest things happening, but there was El Faro and Polly-O and Save on Fifth, and I was just leaving a public affairs and marketing writing job at local hospital (then known as the Park Slope Body Shop), and taking up freelancing for a number of film, engineering and trade mags, so I guess essentially life was good. I was living in the first floor of a brownstone; the owners, an older Italian American couple and their grown sons, lived in the upper floors. The husband of the couple grew his tomatoes and enjoyed his occasional chianti which reminded me alot of my maternal grandfather who had passed away shortly before I moved to this new place.

One day, after I was living in the building for a year or so, the elderly husband himself passed away rather suddenly. My girl friend at the time, the Art Director's Daughter, and I had spoken to the sons earlier in the day. It was the first night of the wake, the family left in the early afternoon and informed us that they would not be returning until much later in the evening. We were planning to pay our respects the following night. Anyway, at around 7:00 PM it started.

Footsteps. Nothing but footsteps, loud and clear, walking the length of the brownstone apartment above. A constant pacing that started near the front door, walked to the opposite end of the house, turned and walked back to the door. Slowly, methodically, but unmistakably. At first, I believe the radio was on, I could hear this strange pacing (they had no dogs or pets of any kind) only intermittently, until it finally made its way into our consciousness as the Art Director's Daughter and I made dinner. I turned off the radio. Then, when it was very quiet, a chill went up and down my spine as I listened to the mysterious, relentless pacing.Finally, I went upstairs to knock on the door, but of course no one answered. I could not see or hear anyone (or anything) through the door. Since it was clear no one was ransacking their apartment, there was nothing much else to be done. But when I returned downstairs, there it was again. We turned on some music. The Art Director's Daughter (who was a Red Diaper Baby) was a big fan of the Weavers and Pete Seeger, so we cranked up some of that beneficent, positive vibe, good time hammer and sickle music, and had another glass of wine.

I guess between the clomping, and the wine, and the Weavers, we distracted ourselves until it either stopped or we took less and less notice of it. A few hours later, when the family returned from the first night of the wake, we decided to throw caution to the wind and mention the strange noises, just in case someone had in fact broken in through a window.

The older son looked at us quizzically but went upstairs first to look around before his mom got out of the car. Nope. Everything was as it should be. "Maybe it was a sound from next door through the walls" he offered good naturedly. We apologized for bothering him, but he said, no, don't worry about it, I am glad that you let me know.

But, just as brownstone walls are thick, and floors in old houses can creak when you walk on them, I was sure that the old man had returned for a final visit, and was looking to see where his wife had hidden the chianti.

--Anthony Napoli --- Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn