“Peace and health – this is my journey as an artist,” Jon Tsoi says. “It’s who I am as a human being.” Tsoi says his art is guided by the Tao, an eastern philosophy meant to harmonize human life with the natural state of the universe. The exhibition is titled War and Witness, running through […]
Jon Tsoi performing and painting for peace at White Box Art Space Read More »
Fowl Play: Conference of the Birds is an experimental play. Let’s get that out of the way before anything else, as without that knowledge, the viewing experience will be quite confusing. Now, Fowl Play is also not a puppet theater. Let’s get that out of the way, too, as, again, without that knowledge, the viewing
Simple pleasures. On Only the Void Stands Between Us (LP and download released last month by Silver Current Records), Julie Beth Napolin sings of distance and intimacy. She sings quizzically of a fire coming to burn, it seems, those who don’t deserve to survive, and she sings very directly about praying for the living
Music: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk Read More »
This is just one calendar year, which may be sufficient time in the pop music manufacturing industry to spot a trend, but is a far less meaningful span in music that wrestles with its own history—the old is constantly being renewed and incorporated with ideas from other genres—as jazz does, and that is so free
Grella on Jazz: Best Jazz Albums 2024, by George Grella Read More »
I opened my eyes and there was a face, a spirit face, hovering inches above my face. It had no body, per se. Just a face and a long tail of spiritual essence that trailed off into nothingness. So, in the late 1970s I became fascinated with the work of the poet Robert Graves. This
A visitation on East 7th Street, by Stephen DiLauro Read More »
Cecily Brown’s work is in the order of delicious maximalism and has by no means ever been an easy read. Indeed, certain passages in her paintings are busy beyond perception, and one may even ask after a long standing view are they occluded indecipherable visual entities, or rather, rapturous musical movements akin to a Joan
Revisiting Reubens and Breughel and more, by Lee Klein Read More »
Susan Swartz’s exhibition is enjoying an extended stay at Georges Berges Gallery in SoHo. Visitors will be able to view the vibrant, intriguing works now on display until November 20. Both a nature and abstract painter, in the same compositions, Swartz’s work is provoking discussion worthy of a major talent, which she is. The curator
Seeing great art free in downtown Manhattan, by Stephen DiLauro Read More »
Something in 4/4 time. Late last year, Robert Fripp—the lynchpin between ambient music and prog rock—appeared on an episode of Daryl Hall’s home cooking and barn jam show Live From Daryl’s House. The series has been airing intermittently since 2007 and is generally a pleasure. (All of the episodes can be found on YouTube.) The
Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk Read More »
Moral panics have been around long before Socrates was forced to commit suicide for corrupting the youth of Athens. Since civilization began, there’s been an endless cycle of social/political/artistic change provoking reaction from those who are fearful of any change whatsoever, or even, in Mencken’s immortal words, “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be
Crime Jazz By George Grella Read More »
Authors sometimes see renewed interest in their old work, especially if they’ve made a name for themselves. These older titles may not be as good as their most popular books (though occasionally, they’re better). Yet it’s always interesting to dip into an author’s back catalog to see how they’ve evolved. Early attempts often have a
