by Guest Contributors | Jan 29, 2010
Tonight's Film Love event, "Open to You," features classic early video works by the pioneering artist Vito Acconci. Curator Andy Ditzler will introduce the works before the 8 p.m. screening at Atlanta's Eyedrum music and arts space, but I invited him to share with us some thoughts on Acconci, perhaps as an extra enticement to attend. -- Cathy
BY ANDY DITZLER
From 1969 to about 1973, in the course of his remarkable journey from experimental poet to art world visionary, Vito Acconci created a staggering amount of works: performances, “activities,” photos, films, videos, writings, installations, audio.
Most of these activities center on Acconci’s body. This artist is famous for the extent to ...
by Guest Contributors | Jan 27, 2010
Editors' note: The Atlanta writer and Renaissance scholar Frank Manley, a beloved member of the community, died in November. Vincent Murphy, an Emory University professor and former artistic producing director of Theater Emory, wrote this affectionate tribute for ArtsCriticATL. -- Pierre and Cathy
By VINCENT MURPHY
On Monday, Feb. 1, several major theater artists will join the late Frank Manley at the campfire he invoked in his beautiful, haunting play, “The Evidence.” In this drama, a Bigfoot creature also shows up at the campfire, often with the look of a dearly departed family member. I expect to see, at least in my mind’s eye, ...
by Guest Contributors | Jan 22, 2010
By JON ROSS
Aside from the most obvious venue -- Churchill Grounds next to the Fox Theatre in Midtown -- jazz in Atlanta can be hard to find. On Monday nights at Café 290, trumpeter-vocalist Joe Gransden's 16-piece big band functions as a sort of search engine, bringing the best local players together in one place.
For the past six months, the wide, low-ceilinged club in Sandy Springs has hosted the band on the first and third Mondays of the month. What started as a low-key gathering quickly spawned into a regular event that has become surprisingly popular. In the process, the regular ...
by Guest Contributors | Jan 16, 2010
Editor's note: We're happy to introduce Jon Ross, a jazz specialist, who from time to time will write about the local scene for ArtsCriticATL. Jon has written for DownBeat magazine, among others, and blogs at Jazzlanta. -- Pierre
By JON ROSS
Polyglot trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' "Blues Symphony" seems to be experiencing some growing pains. And the story still isn't over.
A co-commission of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony, "Blues Symphony" is billed as a complete fusion of classical and jazz styles. Subtitled "Symphony No. 2," it revives a form birthed from composer Gunther Schuller's Third Stream experiments in the 1960s.
Each movement ...
by Guest Contributors | Jan 13, 2010
BY REBECCA DIMLING COCHRAN
Not all art is intended to find its way into a museum. In fact, millions of small drawings created by people across the United States will soon be headed to the Federal Reserve and Congress in Washington. The works are part of the Fundred Dollar Bill Project, a community action and performance piece that is the brainchild of internationally recognized artist Mel Chin.
Chin has asked people around the country to decorate one of his templates designed to look like a $100 bill. These fake hundred -- or “Fundred” -- dollars are being collected at sites around the country, where they are counted and bundled. Beginning Jan. 18, ...
by Guest Contributors | Jan 9, 2010
BY JERRY CULLUM
Editors' note: A well-known critic, poet and Art Papers staff member, Jerry Cullum has been a keen observer of the metro Atlanta scene for decades. We welcome him on our site. -- Pierre and Catherine
Venske & Spänle, whose fluid-seeming stone carvings don’t behave like “proper” stone, are showing at Marcia Wood Gallery through February 13 alongside Susanna Starr, whose astonishingly thin wood veneer sculptures behave more like the lace doilies that inspire them than like wood.
But the young German couple’s work deserves to be discussed in terms of its story, and their own, as much as in terms of ...
