Weekend Cultural Highlights, June 11-13, 2010

 

 

 

The Clark’s celebrates the opening of its summer exhibitions, Picasso Looks at Degas and Juan Muñoz, with an evening of art, strolling guitarists, Spanish food, flamenco dancing, opera, and other delights inspired by the riches of Spain on Saturday, June 12, at 6.

 

 

The tradition and passion of Spanish music will be brought to life by three skilled musicians who now call Massachusetts home: Spanish Morocco-born flamenco guitarist Manolo Caballos of Lenox; classically trained Spanish guitarist Francisco Isaza of Foxboro; and Venezuelan Abraham “Abe” Sanchez of Williamstown, who performs internationally with Viva Quetzal.

 

 

The magical evening will continue at 8 with a passionate pairing of opera and flamenco dancing. Selections from Georges Bizet’s Carmen will be performed by a tenor and a soprano from Glimmerglass Opera, the internationally renowned opera festival held each summer in Cooperstown, N.Y., followed by a performance by critically acclaimed Spanish flamenco dancer Inés Arrubla of Inés Arrubla Flamenco Dance Theater.

 

 

 

The gala will be held at various locations on The Clark’s campus and trolleys will be available to transport guests around the site. Throughout the evening, gala attendees will have the opportunity to see the exciting Clark-exclusive exhibitions Picasso Looks at Degas and Juan Muñoz. Picasso Looks at Degas, on view June 13 through September 12, focuses on two of the great artists of the modern period and examines Picasso’s lifelong fascination with the life and work of Degas. The Clark is the exclusive North American venue for this groundbreaking exhibition that explores the depth of the Spanish artist’s fixation, through dramatic pairings and groupings of art that have never been brought together in this ambitious way.

 

 

Tickets are $125 ($100 for members) and may be purchased online at clarkart.edu or by calling 413 458 0524. Festive attire is suggested.

 

 

Picasso Looks at Degas is the first to look at Picasso’s direct artistic response to Degas. While Degas is almost always associated with imagery of the ballet, Picasso’s relationship with dance images is little explored. The depth of Picasso’s fixation is revealed through dramatic pairings and groupings of art that have never been brought together in this ambitious way. Degas’s In a Café (L’Absinthe) (1875–76, Musée d’Orsay) is placed alongside Picasso’s Portrait of Sebastià Junyer i Vidal (1903, Los Angeles County Museum of Art); Picasso’s oil on canvas The Blue Room (The Tub) (1901, Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.) is paired with The Tub (c. 1889, Collection Jacques Doucet, Paris), a monotype by Degas that may have served as a prototype; and Picasso’s 1905 Portrait of Benedetta Canals (Museu Picasso, Barcelona) is hung beside Degas’s Woman with an Umbrella (c. 1876, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa).

 

 

 

Juan Muñoz, on view June 13 through October 17, features works by Spanish sculptor Juan Muñoz (1953–2001) and explores themes of absence, memory, and paradox. Well-known for his commentaries about space and displacement, Muñoz uses forms that resemble ballerinas, actors, dwarves, puppets, and Chinese figures, among others. The exhibition will be on view in Stone Hill Center and other Clark spaces, providing a unique environment in which to experience Muñoz’s immersive works.

 

 

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 to 5 (daily in July and August). Admission is free November through May. Admission is $15 June 1 through October 31. Admission is free for children 18 and younger, members, and students with valid ID. For more information, call 413 458 2303 or visit clarkart.edu.

 

PHOTO CREDIT

Many Times by Juan Muñoz (Photo: Erika Barahona-Ede, installation at the Guggenheim Bilbao Museo, 2008) © FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museo, 2008

 

 

 

 

This weekend marks the opening of a new exhibition featuring the work of New Yorker cartoonist and Shrek creator William Steig. William Steig: Love and Laughter opens on Saturday, June 12, and runs through October 31, 2010, at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. The opening reception for the exhibition takes place on Saturday, June 12, from 7 to 10 p.m.

 

 

The exhibition includes Steig’s earliest New Yorker cartoons and symbolic drawings and beloved children’s books such as Alpha Beta Chowder and Shrek! A display of three-dimensional sculptures by wife Jeanne Steig will also be on view.

 

 

Image credit: Artwork by William Steig. ©William Steig, all rights reserved.

From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum, gift of Jeanne

Steig.

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, June 12, at 8, Michelle Lewis performs at Mission Bar + Tapas. The pop-rock singer-songwriter, who counts Elvis Costello as a main influence, and who has jammed with the likes of Blues Traveler and the Spin Doctors and sung with Jazzhole (bum rush the), Brooklyn Funk Essentials, and US3.

 

 

In 1998, Lewis’ album Little Leviathan was released on Giant/Warner Brothers to critical acclaim. “Nowhere and Everywhere” became the number-one most added single on Triple A radio, with its hypnotizing spoken-word lyrics (“my heart fell out of my backpack and into a puddle…”). Lewis performed on VHI, NPR, and at the Sundance Film Festival and toured with The Corrs and Fastball. A move to Los Angeles in 2002 led to a myriad of writing work for artists ranging from Cher to Hillary Duff, Kelly Osbourne to Shawn Colvin and placement in films (Cinderella, Practical Magic) and television (Felicity, One Tree Hill).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Club Helsinki Hudson continues its pre-opening Sound Check Series on Saturday, June 12,  with a performance by noirish honky-tonk rocker Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles. Think Americana meets roots-rock, girl-rock, rockabilly-rock, and pure “Borges Rock.” The New York Times calls Sarah Borges, “a modern-minded honky-tonker with a retro streak.” The Daily Page says, "If Sid Vicious and Dolly Parton had a kid, she might sound something like Sarah Borges, who’s making some of the most punked-out alt-country around.”

 

Doors open at 8; show begins at 9.       

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Work O’ the Weavers will perform at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Mass., on Friday, June 11 as part of the ongoing Troubadour Series. The Work O’ the Weavers captures the classic folk sound of the original group that expanded the sounds of the Woody Guthrie era with such hits as : “Goodnight Irene,” “It’s Been Good to Know Yuh,” “Tzena, Tzena,” “This Land is Your Land,” and “If I Had A Hammer.”

 

 

On Saturday night, June 12, the Troubadour Series continues with The Primate Fiasco, a group of Western Massachusetts musicians who bring a plethora of influences to their package, including jazz, bluegrass, funk, and rock ‘n ‘roll. With a tuba, a banjo, a clarinet, and multiple modes of percussion driving their songs, they suggest calling their music “psychedelic Dixieland band.”

 

The Work O’ the Weavers will take the stage at the Guthrie Center at 8, Friday, June 11. Doors open at 6. Ticket prices are $20 for members of the Guthrie Center, and $22 for non-members. On Saturday night, June 12, the Primate Fiasco band will be on stage at 8, with house doors open at 6. Ticket prices are $12 for members of the Guthrie Center, $15 for non-members. For more information about the Guthrie Center’s Troubadour Series, including directions, visit http://www.guthriecenter.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outspoken!, the monthly performance series and open mic in Pittsfield, Mass., presents: four-time National Poetry Slam Champion Taylor Mali on Thursday, June 17, at 8, at the micro THEATER at 311 North St. (upstairs).

 

Taylor Mali was one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry. The author of two collections of poetry, What Learning Leaves and The Last Time As We Are, his work has appeared in anthologies and other publications including The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, The Idiot’s Guide to Slam Poetry, Spoken Word Revolution, The Tampa Review, Pank, Taj Mahal Review, Cadillac Cicatrix, Spindle, and Paddlefish. He runs the Page Meets Stage reading series at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City. For more information, visit www.taylormali.com.

 

 

Suggested Donation $10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music Mountain, the oldest summer chamber music series in the country, opens on Saturday, June 13, with a celebration of Chopin’s 200th birthday with a Music Mountain premiere of Chopin’s Sonata for Cello & Piano in G Minor, Opus 64 (1845-1846) performed by pianist extraordinaire Peter Serkin and brilliant and charismatic soloists (and sisters), Madalyn Parnas, violin, and Cicely Parnas, cello

 

860-824-7126

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, June 16, at 8, the Berkshire Playwrights Lab will present a staged reading of Philip Gerson’s Eyes Forward, directed by BPL cofounder Bob Jaffe, and featuring Ylfa Edelstein, Shelly Feldman, Chris Stack, Anatol Yusef and Louis Zorich, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass.

 

 

Admission is free, but tickets are required and advanced ticketing is recommended. For reservations go to the Mahaiwe Box Office or call 413.528.0100 or online at Mahaiwe.org

 

 

In Philip Gerson's new play, Eyes Forward, a valuable painting stolen by the Nazis during WWII forms the background for two extraordinary love stories in two different countries, seven decades apart. A story of the need for human connection in the present and to the past, it is about love and reconciliation and the healing power of art.

 

 

Gerson's work for theater includes productions at the Colony Theatre in Los Angeles, Musical Theatre Works in New York, the New York International Fringe Festival, and Gayfest NYC. Among the many television shows he has written for are two of the most successful series in TV history - Murder, She Wrote (for which he was story editor) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (for which he was co-executive producer). He divides his time between New York and Los Angeles.

 

 

The Berkshire Playwrights Lab is entering its third season of presenting staged readings of new plays by emerging and established playwrights at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts

 

The Berkshire Playwrights Lab is the artistic collaboration of founders Joe Cacaci, Jim Frangione, Bob Jaffe, and Matthew Penn, all established theater professionals.

 

Audiences will see and hear exciting new plays performed and staged, script in hand, by a talented cast of professionals. The actors, author, and director will rehearse in the beautiful Berkshires for four days, culminating in a full exploration of the text that will bring the writer's words to life onstage.

 

 

 

 

Sunday at the Cinema & Brunch

 

The acclaimed documentary film Yoo Hoo Mrs. Goldberg will be shown at 10:30 am at the Beacon Theatre on North Street, Pittsfield, on Sunday, June 13. The film is a humorous and eye-opening story of television pioneer Gertrude Berg. After the film, attend a brunch and film discussion with filmmaker, Aviva Kempner, at Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield.

 

Cost: $22 which includes the movie ticket, brunch and speaker.

 

Co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires and Temple Anshe Amunim.

 

For reservations contact 413.442.5910