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La Biennale di Venezia, 66esima Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica: a John Lasseter e ai registi della Disney-Pixar il Leone d’oro alla carriera 2009
E’ stato attribuito al regista e produttore statunitense John Lasseter – uno dei protagonisti dell’innovazione del cinema d’animazione contemporaneo – e ai registi della Disney-Pixar, il Leone d’oro alla carriera della 66esima Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica (Venezia, 2-12 settembre 2009). Eccezionalmente nella storia della Mostra di Venezia, il premio celebra non solo la personalità di un cineasta, ma anche il contributo di tutti i registi di questo studio visionario – la “bottega” di John Lasseter.
Il Leone d’oro alla carriera – attribuito dal Cda della Biennale di Venezia presieduto da Paolo Baratta, su proposta del Direttore Marco Müller – sarà consegnato a John Lasseter nel corso di una speciale cerimonia nella Sala Grande del Palazzo del Cinema al Lido di Venezia, durante la 66esima Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica (2009), alla presenza di alcuni dei suoi più vecchi e stretti complici, i registi Disney-Pixar Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton e Lee Unkrich.
“John Lasseter è il protagonista dell´animazione ‘occidentale’ contemporanea,” ha dichiarato Marco Müller. “Da sempre alla ricerca del punto di fuga dove l´avanguardia (artistica, tecnologica e formale) incontra il blockbuster, autore di film magnifici - come Toy Story (1995), Bug’s Life (A Bug´s Life, 1998), Toy Story 2 (1999) e Cars (2006) - Lasseter non ha solo contribuito in modo fondamentale a riposizionare il cinema d´animazione come una delle grandi forze espressive del nuovo millennio, ma è diventato uno dei simboli della tradizione preziosa, vitale e inventiva del grande cinema hollywoodiano”.
“Siamo particolarmente lieti di premiare col Leone alla carriera uno dei grandi innovatori e sperimentatori di Hollywood. – ha dichiarato il Presidente della Biennale Paolo Baratta – Riteniamo che la presenza di John Lasseter a Venezia, insieme ai registi Disney-Pixar, possa rappresentare una straordinaria occasione per loro di incontrare i giovani animatori italiani ed europei, in un workshop organizzato con la Biennale”.
John Lasseter – Note biografiche
John Lasseter è Chief Creative Officer della Walt Disney e dei Pixar Animation Studios, ed è inoltre Principal Creative Advisor della Walt Disney Imagineering. Ha vinto due Oscar (Toy Story, 1995; Tin Toy, 1988, miglior cortometraggio) e sovrintende a tutti i film e progetti associati Pixar e Disney. Lasseter ha diretto film particolarmente amati dal pubblico e dalla critica, quali Toy Story (1995), Bug’s Life (A Bug’s Life, 1998) e Toy Story 2 (1999). Inoltre, è stato produttore esecutivo di Monsters & Co. (Monsters, Inc., 2001, Pete Docter), Alla ricerca di Nemo (Finding Nemo, 2003, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich), Gli incredibili (The Incredibles, 2004, Brad Bird), Ratatouille (2007, Brad Bird) e di WALL-E (2008, Andrew Stanton). Lasseter è tornato alla regia nel 2006 con il film Disney-Pixar, Cars.
Nel 2004, Lasseter è stato premiato dall’Art Directors Guild con il suo prestigioso “Outstanding Contribution To Cinematic Imagery”, e ha ricevuto un titolo onorario dall’American Film Institute.
Sotto la supervisione di Lasseter, i corti e i lungometraggi animati della Pixar hanno ricevuto innumerevoli consensi critici e premi dall’industria cinematografica. Lasseter ha ricevuto un Oscar speciale nel 1995 per la sua ispirata direzione del team di Toy Story. Il suo lavoro per Toy Story ha inoltre avuto una nomination per la migliore sceneggiatura originale, riconoscimento toccato per la prima volta a un film d’animazione. Alla ricerca di Nemo, uscito nel 2003, ha ottenuto il maggiore incasso di tutti i tempi per un film d’animazione, e ha vinto l’Oscar nella sua categoria.
Come direttore creativo della Pixar, Lasseter ha riscosso un grande successo critico e al box office con Gli incredibili nel 2004. Il film si è distinto per un record di 16 nomination agli Annie Award, per numerosi “Best of” da The Wall Street Journal, American Film Institute, National Board of Review e molti altri riconoscimenti.
Lasseter ha inoltre scritto, diretto e animato per la Pixar cortometraggi molto apprezzati, quali Luxo Jr. (1986, nominato per l’Oscar), Red’s Dream (1987), Tin Toy (1988, vincitore dell’Oscar) e Knickknack (1989), che è stato prodotto come film stereoscopico in 3D. Tin Toy della Pixar è stato il primo film animato al computer a vincere un Oscar, nel 1988 per il miglior corto animato.
Prima della nascita della Pixar nel 1986, Lasseter faceva parte della Computer Division della Lucasfilm Ltd., dove ha disegnato e animato il personaggio – generato al computer - del cavaliere di vetro in Piramide di paura (Young Sherlock Holmes, 1985), prodotto da Steven Spielberg.
Lasseter ha seguito nel 1979 l’anno inaugurale del programma di Character Animation al California Institute of the Arts e ha ricevuto lì il suo “B.F.A. in film”. Contemporaneamente, Lasseter ha prodotto due film animati, entrambi vincitori dello “Student Academy Award for Animation”: Lady and the Lamp nel 1979 e Nitemare nel 1980. Ma il suo primo vero premio lo ottenne all’età di 5 anni, quando vinse $15.00 da un negozio di Whittier, California, per il disegno a pastello di un cavaliere senza testa.
Mostra personale di Kamila Volčanšek alla Galleria A+A
La mostra dell’artista slovena è curata da Nada Zoran
Conosciuta come illustratrice nella scena artistica slovena, negli ultimi anni Karina Volčanšek si è affermata come pittrice, realizzando tele di notevoli dimensioni in cui la figura femminile, incarnazione della femme fatale di fine secolo, ricopre il ruolo di protagonista, abbattendo i contemporanei canoni estetici e dando nuova libertà al nudo.
Le sue donne si offrono al pubblico in tutta la loro vigorosa fisicità, tratteggiata con linee sinuose che regalano un’incredibile leggerezza ai movimenti quasi solenni. Hanno corpi che richiamano la pienezza barocca delle forme, con i seni pesanti e le cosce massicce, i cui veli che parzialmente ne coprono le forme finiscono in qualche modo per esaltarle, rendendole voluttuose e fluttuanti. La celebrazione della visione dionisiaca del principio femminile si manifesta attraverso questa prorompente femminilità che sembra voler scacciare dai dipinti la componente maschile, confinata infatti ai margini della scena e che solo occasionalmente fa capolino, surrogata da simboli che ne richiamano la presenza. Non si tratta però di una guerra tra sessi, ma di un gioco lussurioso condotto con leggerezza.
L’arte di Kamila tenta una sintesi tra varie influenze, evolvendosi senza seguire una precisa corrente artistica. Le sue tele rappresentano una naturale fusione tra lo stile fumettistico, le superfici piatte e bidimensionali delle stampe giapponesi, i giochi decorativi della secessione austro-tedesca, l’estetica pop e di Richard Lindner, con qualche richiamo alle donne del Botticelli.
Kamila Volčanšek nasce in Slovenia e si laurea in pittura nel 1978 all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Lubiana con il Prof. Janez Bernik e il Prof. Špelca Čopič. Dopo essersi occupata a lungo di illustrazione, lavorando soprattutto alle immagini di libri per bambini, si dedica ora alla pittura. Vive a Lubiana e lavora come freelance.
Inaugurazione: martedì 27 gennaio 2009 alle ore 18.00
In mostra fino al 21 febbraio 2009.
Orari: dal martedì al sabato 11.00/14.00 – 15.00/18.00
Presso: Galleria A+A - Centro Espositivo Pubblico Sloveno, San Marco 3073 - 30124 Venezia
Per informazioni: Tel 041.2770466, info@aplusa.it, www.aplusa.it
Verdi’s Popular Masterpiece Rigoletto Returns with an International Cast Singing Roles for the First Time at the Met
Title role features Roberto Frontali in company role debut and George Gagnidze in his Met debut, conducted by Riccardo Frizza in his Met debut. Three young star tenors share role of Duke: Giuseppe Filianoti, Piotr Beczala, and Joseph Calleja. Company role debuts for Aleksandra Kurzak and Diana Damrau as Gilda.
Verdi’s popular masterpiece Rigoletto returns to the repertory on January 24 with baritone Roberto Frontali making his Met role debut as the hunchback jester and conductor Riccardo Frizza in his company debut. They are joined by Aleksandra Kurzak as Gilda and Giuseppe Filianoti as the Duke of Mantua, both of whom are also singing their roles for the first time at the Met. Viktoria Vizin makes her Met debut as Maddalena, and Mikhail Petrenko sings his first Sparafucile with the company.
Georgian bass George Gagnidze makes his Met debut on January 27 in the title role and sings the following five performances through February 12. Piotr Beczala, whose performances as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor last fall drew wide acclaim, sings the Duke on February 12.
A second run of performances begins April 1 and features the first Met Gilda of Diana Damrau, who earlier this season created a sensation with her interpretation of the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor. She will be partnered with Joseph Calleja as the Duke and Roberto Frontali as Rigoletto. Frontali returns for the April performances which run through April 17. Tamara Mumford sings Maddalena and Raymond Aceto is Sparafucile in the April cast.
About the performers
Roberto Frontali sings the title role of Rigoletto for the first time at the Met on January 24, then returns to the cast from April 1 to 17. In February, the Italian baritone also adds the role of Michonnet in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur to his Met repertoire. Frontali has undertaken many major baritone parts at the Met since his 1992 debut as Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, half of them by Verdi: Germont in La Traviata; Miller in Luisa Miller; Ford in Falstaff, and Count di Luna in the 2002 new production of Il Trovatore, when The New York Times called his performance “ardent and stylish.”
Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak sings Gilda for the first time at the Met. When she played Blondchen in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail last season, The New York Times reported that her part was “nimbly sung and portrayed with bubbly vivacity.” From 2001 to 2007, she was a member of the Hamburg State Opera, where her repertoire ran from Mozart (Blondchen, Susanna, Servilia) to Richard and Johann Strauss (Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and Adele in Die Fledermaus) to Thomas Adès (the Maid in Powder Her Face). Kurzak, who made her Met debut in 2004 as Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, played two Rossini heroines in Europe earlier this season, the title role of the seldom-staged Matilde di Shabran at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Vienna State Opera.
“He has a rich and poignant voice that carries well and a lovely feel for Italianate phrasing,” The New York Times said of Giuseppe Filianoti’s Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, the role he sang in his 2005 Met debut and repeated last season. The young Italian tenor sings the role of Ruggero in La Rondine at the Met from February 14 through 26 this season. He has also been heard here as Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, a role he sings at Covent Garden this season. Other appearances this season include Lucia at the Vienna State Opera, Faust at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, and Werther in Reggio Calabria.
Hungarian-born mezzo-soprano Viktoria Vizin makes her Met debut as Maddalena. This season she made her Los Angeles Opera debut as Carmen (the same role of her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2006). “Vocally, Vizin is a rare, real and very centered Carmen. Hers is the sultry mezzo Bizet wrote for,” said the Los Angeles Times. Later this year, Vizin, who has also sung Maddalena at Covent Garden, will perform Carmen at Taiwan’s National Opera House and return to her native country for Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle at the State Opera in Budapest.
Returning to the Met after appearing last season as Hunding in Die Walküre, Mikhail Petrenko makes his role debut as Sparafucile. The Russian bass, who regularly sings with St. Petersburg’s Kirov Opera of the Mariinsky Theater, made his Met debut in the company premiere of War and Peace (2002) and played Pistola in Falstaff (2005).
Riccardo Frizza makes his Met debut with Rigoletto and conducts the new production of Il Trovatore in April and May. From 1994 to 2000, he was a young staff conductor with the symphony of Brescia. He has worked with major orchestras and opera companies around the world, and though his operatic repertoire ranges from Mozart to Martinů, he specializes in nineteenth-century Italian works. His future engagements include Simon Boccanegra with the Hamburg State Opera and Falstaff at the Seattle Opera.
George Gagnidze, who makes his Met debut as Rigoletto on January 27, sang Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca with the New York Philharmonic last June. The New York Times said he was “an exceptionally menacing Scarpia, singing with robust, earthy power and seductive lyricism when the villain turns on the charm.” Gagnidze made his opera debut in 1996 and has regularly performed dramatic baritone roles such as Scarpia, Rigoletto, the Dutchman in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer, and Renato in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera in the opera houses of Germany and Eastern Europe. He won first prize in the 2005 Concorso Voci Verdiane (Verdi Voice Competition).
With the Duke of Mantua, Piotr Beczala returns to the role of his 2006 Met debut. This season he is also singing two roles for the first time with the company: Lenski in Eugene Onegin beginning on January 30, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, which he performed in the fall. The New York Times said that his “impassioned singing”as Edgardo “had poignant colorings and virile intensity, that ping that opera buffs call squillo.” In the spring, the Polish tenor performs throughout Europe. His schedule includes Rodolfo in La Bohème at the Bavarian State Opera; the Duke in Rigoletto and Alfredo in La Traviata at the Zurich Opera; the title role in La Damnation de Faust at Madrid’s Teatro Real; Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Berlin State Opera, and the title role in Gounod’s Faust at the Vienna State Opera.
Gilda is the second role that Diana Damrau is adding to her Met repertory this season; she sang her career first Lucia at the Met last fall. Since her sensational Met debut in the brilliant coloratura role of Zerbinetta in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos in 2005, the German soprano has appeared with the company as Rosina in the hit 2006 production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, directed by Bartlett Sher, and as Aithra in a new production of Richard Strauss’s Die Ägyptische Helena. Last season at the Met, she sang both Pamina and the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, in addition to Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
Joseph Calleja reprises his 2006 Met debut role as the Duke of Mantua on April 1, before singing his first Met performances as Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore later that month. Last season the young Maltese tenor was Macduff in Macbeth. Elsewhere this season he sings the Duke at the Hamburg Opera and Berlin’s Deutsche Oper; Edgardo in Lucia (Frankfurt Opera), Rodolfo in La Bohème, (San Francisco Opera and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera), and Alfredo in La Traviata (Vienna State Opera and Covent Garden).
Canadian mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford, who until recently was a member of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, also adds a pair of roles to her Met repertoire this season: Maddalena in Rigoletto and the Rhinemaiden Flosshilde in Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung in the final revival of Otto Schenk’s staging of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, this spring.
Bass Raymond Aceto, also a graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, made his company debut in 1992. He has since sung 17 roles with the company, including one previous performance as Sparafucile in 2006 at a Met in the Parks concert.
Live broadcasts around the world
Rigoletto is being heard by millions of people around the world this season, on the radio and via the internet, through distribution platforms the Met has established with various media partners. The Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 is broadcasting the matinee on January 31 as well as performances on February 4 and 12, while the February 12 performance will also be available via RealNetworks internet streaming through the Met’s web site, www.metopera.org. In addition, the Saturday matinee performance on January 31 will heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan International Radio Network.
Walker Evans’s Eclectic Picture Postcard Collection Featured in Metropolitan Museum
Nine thousand picture postcards amassed by American photographer Walker Evans (1903–1975) are among the fascinating works in The Walker Evans Archive, acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1994. Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard, to be presented at the Museum from February 3 through May 25, 2009, will be a dynamic installation of hundreds of these postcards from Evans’s collection, which he built and refined over the course of 60 years. The direct influence of the postcard on his pictorial style will be demonstrated with the inclusion of a small group of Evans’s own photographs, also from the Museum’s collection.
Walker Evans was the progenitor of the documentary style in American photography, and he argued that picture postcards captured a part of America that was not recorded in any other medium. In the early 20th century, picture postcards, sold in five-and-dime stores across America, depicted small towns and cities with realism and hometown pride—whether the subject was a local monument, a depot, or a coal mine. Evans wrote of his collection: “The very essence of American daily city and town life got itself recorded quite inadvertently on the penny picture postcards of the early 20th century.…Those honest direct little pictures have a quality today that is more than mere social history.…The picture postcard is folk document.”
Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard is the first exhibition to focus primarily on works drawn from The Walker Evans Archive. The installation is designed to convey the incredible range of his collection and to reflect the eclectic and obsessional ways in which the artist organized his picture postcards. For example, Evans methodically classified his collection into dozens of subject categories, such as “American Architecture,” “Factories,” “Automobiles,” “Street Scenes,” “Summer Hotels,” “Lighthouses,” “Outdoor Pleasures,” “Madness,” and “Curiosities.”
For Evans, the appeal of the postcards lay in their commonplace subjects, the humble quality of the pictures, and the uninflected style, which he borrowed for his own work with the camera. The exhibition will include about a dozen of Evans’s well-known photographs that he turned into postcards. To create each of these works, Evans printed a portion of one of his large-format negatives on postcard-format photographic paper.
Through the juxtapositions presented in the exhibition, Evans’s photographs seem as anonymous, straightforward, and sincere as the picture postcards he so admired.
Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard is organized by Jeff L. Rosenheim, Curator in the Department of Photographs.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue by Jeff Rosenheim featuring illustrations of picture postcards from Evans’s collection; an essay by Mr. Rosenheim; the artist’s essays on the subject for Fortune magazine in 1948 and 1962; and an illustrated transcript of his 1964 Yale lecture on picture postcards and the documentary tradition, which he gave in lieu of speaking about his own work. The book will also reproduce a rare set of Evans’s postcard-format gelatin silver prints, as well as a selection of postcards the artist received from and sent to his friends, including Helen Levitt, Robert Frank, and Lee Friedlander. The catalogue is published by Steidl (Göttingen, Germany).
The Museum will offer an array of educational programs in conjunction with Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard. Highlights include gallery talks given by exhibition curator Jeff Rosenheim at 11:00 a.m. on February 27, March 10, March 31, April 14, April 29, and May 12; and a teacher workshop consisting of online discussion and activities, live webinars, and an in-person workshop led by Jeff Rosenheim, Nora Kennedy, William Crow, and Herminia Din.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Hours
Fridays and Saturdays 9:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Sundays, Tuesdays–Thursdays 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Met Holiday Mondays in the Main Building:
January 19, February 16, and May 25, 2009
Met Holiday Mondays sponsored by CIT 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
All other Mondays closed; Jan. 1, Thanksgiving, and Dec. 25 closed
Suggested Admission
(includes Main Building and The Cloisters museum and gardens on the same day)
Adults $20.00, seniors (65 and over) $15.00, students $10.00
Members and children under 12 accompanied by adult free
Advance tickets available at www.TicketWeb.com or 1-800-965-4827
For more information (212) 535-7710; www.metmuseum.org
No extra charge for any exhibition.
ETHNOPASSION: La collezione di arte etnica di Peggy Guggenheim a Milano
Altre culture a Milano. Quattro collezioni del Castello Sforzesco dall’Africa e dalle Americhe. Milano, Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta. Fino al 22 febbraio 2009.
Dopo la prima tappa svizzera, una prima mondiale, approda a Milano la collezione d’arte etnica di Peggy Guggenheim. Si tratta di un’esposizione che coniuga un ricco apparato di documenti e fotografie con la presentazione di una serie di preziose opere d’arte etnica, solo di recente restaurate e studiate in maniera compiuta, che hanno ornato il Palazzo Venier dei Leoni di Venezia fino alla morte della grande collezionista e mecenate.
Il progetto di ricerca e di valorizzazione della collezione nasce dalla collaborazione fra il Museo delle Culture di Lugano, la Collezione Peggy Guggenheim di Venezia e la Galleria Gottardo di Lugano. La Fondazione Mazzotta lo espone nella stagione 2008-2009 nella propria sede, e come di consuetudine propone una serie di eventi collaterali volti a esplorare il significato e il valore delle opere esposte, sia in quanto capolavori di arte etnica, sia in quanto espressione privilegiata per comprendere il rapporto fra il collezionismo di “arte primitiva” e l’arte del Novecento.
La passione di Peggy Guggenheim per l’arte etnica risale ai tempi della sua tormentata relazione sentimentale con Max Ernst che era di questa arte un acceso collezionista. Quando nel 1943 il loro rapporto naufragò, l’artista se ne andò via di casa portando con sé tutte le opere della collezione. Dopo il trasferimento definitivo a Venezia, e l’apertura al pubblico della sua casa, Peggy recuperò il suo interesse per le opere d’arte etnica e, dal 1959, cominciò ad acquistarle ed esporle, mescolandole, alle opere d’arte contemporanea. La sua passione per le opere d’arte etnica fu autentica e genuina: un sentimento involontario mosso da un’attrazione inconscia e da considerazioni di carattere squisitamente fenomenologico, che trascendevano il desiderio di approfondire la conoscenza dell’origine culturale del suo piccolo tesoro. Il piacere di esporre le opere della sua collezione di arte etnica era animato da un intento decorativo, era volto all’estetizzazione dell’interior design, ed era dettato - in ultima analisi - del piacere di seguire una moda del tempo.
Secondo quanto si può ricavare dalle fotografie dell’epoca e dalle altre informazioni emerse dalla ricerca dell’équipe del Museo delle Culture, si ritiene che la raccolta comprendesse una cinquantina di opere, in gran parte provenienti dall’Africa e dall’Oceania, 35 delle quali, rimaste in eredità a Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, sono state conservate per trent’anni nei depositi per essere esposte per la prima volta a Lugano durante l’estate scorsa, ora a Milano.
I manufatti esotici assumevano un valore perché facenti parte della collezione di Peggy, ma questa consapevolezza lasciava comunque un’incertezza forte sul valore sostanziale degli stessi. Uno degli scopi dell’esposizione Ethnopassion è quello di aggiornare tale convinzione conferendo alle opere esposte non solo il valore che esse hanno nell’ambiente intellettuale in cui nasce l’interesse di Peggy Guggenheim per l’arte etnica, ma attribuendo loro quel valore antropologico che nasce dagli studi compiuti e dai riferimenti a diverse epoche e culture. La ricerca scientifica sulla collezione è stata affidata al Museo delle Culture di Lugano, sotto la direzione di Francesco Paolo Campione.
Nell’ambito della mostra Ethnopassion, dalle Raccolte etnografiche del Castello Sforzesco di Milano Altre culture a Milano. Quattro collezioni del Castello Sforzesco dall’Africa e dalle Americhe.
Contemporaneamente alla raccolta di Peggy Guggenheim, la Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta e il Comune di Milano - Cultura propongono quattro collezioni di arte etnica che sono patrimonio della città. L’idea della mostra Altre culture a Milano. Quattro collezioni del Castello Sforzesco dall’Africa e dalle Americhe è quella di raccontare quattro storie appassionanti, di collezionisti (Ezio Bassani, Enrico Pezzoli, Federico Balzarotti e Aldo Lo Curto) che hanno contribuito all’incremento delle collezioni del Castello Sforzesco e che sono una testimonianza di una ethnopassion tutta lombarda. La mostra è anche una riflessione sui processi di formazione delle raccolte etnografiche delle nostre città. (continua…)
VENETO JAZZ WINTER 2009: fra jazz e contaminazioni, da gennaio a maggio, nei migliori teatri del Veneto
Nuova edizione di Veneto Jazz Winter, la rassegna dedicata ai nuovi percorsi della scena jazz nazionale ed internazionale ed ospitata nei migliori teatri del Veneto, secondo un tour che interessa diverse città. Più di venti le date in cartellone, secondo un programma che si snoda da gennaio a maggio, con importanti ospiti e qualche nuova scoperta. La rassegna è organizzata in collaborazione con la Regione del Veneto e con il sostegno di Fondazione Antonveneta, main sponsor di Veneto Jazz.
La tradizione è rappresentata dal pianista McCoy Tyner, una leggenda del jazz, noto per la sua militanza nel quartetto di John Coltrane. Il suo stile armonico ha ispirato uno stuolo di giovani pianisti che si sono affacciati nel mondo del jazz stimolati dal suo spiccato virtuosismo e da una musica che ha da sempre precorso i tempi per la sua freschezza e originalità (8 marzo, Teatro Accademia, Conegliano, Tv). Altro grande maestro, Enrico Rava, presenta il nuovo progetto “New York Days” 5tet, accompagnato dal camaleontico pianista nazionale Stefano Bollani, con tre musicisti eccezionali, Larry Grenadier al contrabbasso, Jeff Ballard alla batteria, Michael Blake al sax. Un quintetto ricco di sorprese, data la statura e creatività dei componenti (7 febbraio, Auditorium Maxlive, Costabissara, Vi).
Soul e Rhythm and Blues con le stelle Sarah Jane Morris, in duo con il chitarrista Dominic Miller (12 febbraio, Teatro Comunale, Mirano, Ve, in collaborazione con Ubi Jazz) e Maceo Parker, re del funk, in un travolgente concerto all’Auditorium Maxlive (18 aprile).
Fra le proposte inedite della rassegna, si segnalano la giovane contrabbassista, vocalist e compositrice nordamericana Esperanza Spalding, nuova stella del firmamento jazzistico (15 gennaio, Auditorium San Nicolò, Chioggia – Ve); gli Aca Seca, per la prima volta in Italia, una delle formazioni più innovative della musica folcloristica argentina (4 aprile, Teatro dei Villa dei Leoni, Mira, Ve); Hiromi, giovane e dotata pianista giapponese, con all’attivo un live con Chick Corea (17 aprile, Teatro Accademico, Castelfranco Veneto, Tv).
Le contaminazioni arrivano dalla musica popolare con la voce di Teresa Salgueiro (ex-leader dei Madredeus)e il suo canto portoghese (19 aprile, Auditorium Maxlive, Costabissarra, Vi); dalla musica elettronica con uno sperimentale Cesare Picco, accompagnato dal sound designer giapponese Taketo Gohara (30 gennaio, Teatro Filarmonico, Piove di Sacco, Pd), una inedita Antonella Ruggiero in versione multimediale, con il progetto Pomodoro Genetico (4 aprile, Auditorium Maxlive, Costabissara, Vi), il rappresentante del nu-jazz Nicola Conte, con il nuovo disco Rituals (venerdì 24 aprile, Teatro Vivaldi, Jesolo, Ve).
Non manca una sezione dedicata alle voci, con il canto “a cappella” dei Swingle Singers, celebrato gruppo vocale (6 febbraio, Teatro Accademia, Conegliano, Tv); il Brasile e la raffinata bossa nova di Joyce (28 marzo, Palazzetto dello Sport, Carmignano di Brenta, Pd); lo swing sofisticato di Nick The Nightfly e la sua Montecarlo Orchestra (sabato 9 maggio, Auditorium Maxlive, Costabissara, Vi).
Fra i progetti speciali i Quintorigo, formazione dell’anno per il Referendum Top Jazz 2008, presentano il primo omaggio italiano a Mingus, musicale e teatrale (20 marzo, Teatro Giardino, San Giorgio delle Pertiche, PD).
Le nuove tendenze del jazz newyorkese sono firmate dal quartetto Sangha con Seamus Blake al sax, Kevin Hays al piano, Doug Weiss al contrabbasso, Bill Stewart alla batteria (21 marzo, Auditorium San Michele, Selvazzano Dentro, Pd).
Due i progetti di collaborazione di musicisti italiani con artisti internazionali: il trombettista Alex Sipiagin incontra il The Edge Quartet di Robert Bonisolo, Michele Calgaro, Marc Abrams e Mauro Beggio (venerdì 27 marzo al Teatro Filarmonico di Piove di Sacco, Pd); i Marea presentano il nuovo disco Cammino Dritto prodotto con il fisarmonicista Frank Marocco (sabato 14 marzo, Auditorium San Michele, Selvazzano Dentro, Pd).
Fra i protagonisti della scena italiana, il compositore e pianista molto apprezzato anche nel cinema Remo Anzovino (31 gennaio, Auditorium scuola media ‘A.Canova’, Brugnera, Pn, in collaborazione con Blues in Villa)e il cantautore Enzo Jannacci, in scena con un gruppo jazz (16 maggio, Auditorium Maxlive, Costabissara, Vi).
Infine, tre chitarre per l’MGT Trio, formato dall’americano Ralph Towner, dall’australiana di orgini kazake Slava Grigoryan, dall’austriaco Wolfgang Muthspiel (venerdì 13 marzo, Auditorium San Nicolò, Chioggia, Ve) e un quartetto tutto di talenti guidato dal polistrumentista Myron Walden e dal pianista cubano Aruan Ortiz (3 aprile, Audidorium San Nicolò, Chioggia, Ve).
La direzione artistica è curata da Giuseppe Mormile.
17th century Italian baroque artist Guercino paintings on display at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York
The City of Bologna, the Municipality of Cento, in collaboration with the Consortium of Hoteliers of Bologna and the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, are the organizers of an exceptional exhibition of early paintings by Guercino. The scientific committee of the project is formed by distinguished scholars and chaired by Sir Denis Mahon, one of the greatest experts on Guercino. (continua…)
Pierre Bonnard’s Luminous Late Interiors Featured in Metropolitan Museum Exhibition Opening January 27
The first exhibition to focus entirely on the radiant late interiors and still-life paintings of Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) will open January 27, 2009, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors will feature 80 paintings, drawings, and watercolors that date from 1923 to 1947, when Bonnard centered his painting activity in Le Cannet, a hill town in the south of France. Working in his modest house overlooking the Mediterranean, Bonnard’s paintings transformed the rooms and objects that surrounded him into dazzling images infused with intense light.
It is these luminous late interiors that define Bonnard’s modernism and prompt a reappraisal of his reputation in the history of 20th-century art. Among the 45 paintings, 16 watercolors and gouaches, and 19 drawings and sketches in the exhibition are numerous rarely seen works from private collections, as well as loans from prominent museums in Europe and the U.S. The exhibition will also reunite several pictures that once hung side-by-side on Bonnard’s studio wall in Le Cannet. The exhibition is made possible by The Florence Gould Foundation. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
More modern than is commonly recognized, the late work of Pierre Bonnard is remarkable for the artist’s individualistic approach to color, light, perspective, and composition—particularly as seen in his interiors and still lifes. Although less wellknown than his paintings of bathers, Bonnard’s late interiors and still-life paintings are equally extraordinary. Over the course of 24 years of painting the simply furnished, familiar rooms of his house at Le Cannet, Bonnard discovered infinite possibilities, much as Paul Cézanne had discovered in the landscape of Mont Sainte-Victoire. The exhibition will feature the artist’s finest interiors, including Corner of the Dining Room at Le Cannet, The White Interior, and The French Window, all from 1932.
Bonnard’s late interiors and still lifes explore a multitude of nuanced color relationships among glowing yellows, violets, reds, oranges, greens, and whites, as in Basket of Fruit: Oranges and Persimmons (ca. 1940) and Bouquet of Mimosas (ca. 1945). His images of fruits and bread baskets, teapots and milk jugs, in such paintings as Breakfast (ca. 1930) and The Dessert (1940), transcend domestic narratives to speak of the artist’s process of creating pictures through a masterful orchestration of color and light.
Although Bonnard’s subjects were close at hand, he rarely painted directly from life, relying instead on pencil drawings sketched rapidly in little diaries. Four of the artist’s diaries from his years at Le Cannet will be loaned by the Bibliothèque national de France, Paris. The diary notations lay out idiosyncratic marks as reminders of color, tone, intensity, and contrast. These shorthand sketches were critical to the genesis of large-scale paintings, which Bonnard developed slowly, through a process of continual editing and revision. He often worked on several paintings at once, tacking the unstretched canvases to his studio wall in order to allow for alteration of the periphery of the painting and its overall proportions.
In creating his paintings, the artist deferred to the memory of perception. His interest lay in exploring how diverse objects interrelate within a pictorial field, rather than dwelling on the literalness of any object or figure. For instance, in the paintings Still Life with Ham (1940) and Young Women in the Garden (Renée Monchaty and Marthe Bonnard) (ca. 1921–23, reworked 1945–46), equal attention is paid to every component of a painting. Negative spaces are as important as positive forms, thus achieving a kind of “overallness” in the composition.
Bonnard created a body of work that became less obviously descriptive and more metaphoric over time. The artist played with conventions of perspective and
proportion and intensified the relationships among objects and figures to a disquieting effect. Bonnard’s paintings often convey a feeling of forbidden sights, as if one is trespassing among private or intimate settings. In Before Dinner (1924), the figures, though physically present, are emotionally absent. In later paintings figures become peripheral, even lacking corporeality. Some figures begin to disappear off the picture plane, as in Dining Room Overlooking the Garden [The Breakfast Room] (1930–31) and Table in Front of the Window (1934–35). Through a shimmering palette of intense, pulsating colors and a fluid interaction between foreground and background, the forms and spaces of Bonnard’s still lifes and interiors are not still at all, but quietly transient.
Pierre Bonnard is organized by Dita Amory, Associate Curator-in-Charge of the Robert Lehman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays by Dita Amory, Jack Flam, Jacqueline Munck, Rika Burnham, and Rémi Labrusse. Titled Pierre Bonnard: Late Still Lifes and Interiors, the catalogue will be published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press and will be available in the Museum’s book shops ($45 cloth, $30 paperback). The catalogue is made possible by the Janice H. Levin Fund.
The Museum will offer an array of educational programs in conjunction with Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors, including a Sunday at the Met lecture program on February 8; gallery talks by exhibition curator Dita Amory; family programs throughout the day on Saturday, February 21; a “Picture This!” workshop for blind or partially sighted visitors on Thursday, March 19; and the documentary film, In Search of Pure Colour: Pierre Bonnard, scheduled for Tuesday, January 27, and Thursday, January 29.
An audio tour, part of the Museum’s Audio Guide Program, will be available for rental ($7, $6 for Members, $5 for children under 12). The Audio Guide program is sponsored by Bloomberg.
The exhibition also will be featured on the Museum’s website (www.metmuseum.org).
VISITOR INFORMATION
Hours
Fridays and Saturdays 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Sundays, Tuesdays–Thursdays 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Met Holiday Mondays in the Main Building:
January 19, February 16, and May 25, 2009
Met Holiday Mondays sponsored by CIT 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
All other Mondays closed; Jan. 1, Thanksgiving, and Dec. 25 closed
Suggested Admission
(includes Main Building and The Cloisters museum and gardens on the same day)
Adults $20.00, seniors (65 and over) $15.00, students $10.00
Members and children under 12 accompanied by adult free
Advance tickets available at www.TicketWeb.com or 1-800-965-4827.
For more information (212) 535-7710; www.metmuseum.org
No extra charge for any exhibition.
New York City achieved record high visitors and visitor spending in 2008
Despite Economy’s Downturn, Hotel Occupancy Rates Continue to Top National Average by More than 20 Percentage Points
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert C. Lieber, and NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta announced today that New York City attracted an estimated 47 million visitors and $30 billion in total spending in 2008, both record highs. The latest tourism numbers surpass the 46 million visitors and $28.9 billion New York City attracted in 2007. International tourism accounted for the increase, with an additional one million international visitors coming to the City in 2008, bringing the total to 9.8 million. This past year, NYC & Company, the City’s marketing, tourism, and partnership organization, completed its planned global expansion to 25 international markets, launched domestic and international marketing campaigns, and opened new convention sales offices in California and Illinois. Last year, the City surpassed top destinations such as Orlando and Las Vegas to rank number one in tourism spending in the United States for the first time. NYC & Company projects record tourism numbers will keep New York in the top spot for 2008. Despite the economic downturn, New York City’s hotel occupancy rate remains more than 20 percentage points higher than the national average. The announcement took place at Rockefeller Center.
“Despite the economic challenges all cities are facing, tourism remains a bright spot for New York City, with 47 million visitors spending $30 billion here in 2008, the highest totals we’ve ever achieved,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “To be sure, the ongoing downturn will weigh on New York City’s hospitality industry as people all over the world cut back on travel, but the investments we’ve made to promote New York City will continue to pay dividends, now more than ever. In 2007, the $28.9 billion in visitor spending we garnered caused New York City to surpass Orlando and Las Vegas to rank number one among U.S. cities for the first time ever, and this year we’ve done even better. The number of overseas travelers coming to New York City continues to rise, and now roughly a third of all who come to the U.S. come to New York. The importance of diversifying our economy is clearer today than ever, and we will continue to make strategic investments to promote New York City and keep it the place travelers want to come.”
“New York City has been favorably impacted by the City’s aggressive global marketing efforts launched through the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg,” said George Fertitta, CEO of NYC & Company. “This year, we completed our international expansion that began less than two years ago, targeting international visitors who contribute more than half of total visitor spending. In so doing, the City has secured the top spot in U.S. tourism spending, beating out strong competitors such as Orlando and Las Vegas. These achievements underscore New York City’s attractive position as a premier global travel destination.”
Over the past year, NYC & Company opened new international tourism marketing offices in Toronto, Sydney, and Mumbai—bringing the total number of representative offices to 18 serving 25 global markets. NYC & Company also expanded its global communications campaign “This is New York City” to Italy and Germany, launched the second phase of its tourism appreciation campaign “Just Ask the Locals,” and opened domestic convention sales offices in California and Illinois to more actively engage meeting planners. NYC & Company also hosted more than 18 international press trips, showcasing the five boroughs to more than 115 travel journalists from around the world.
In 2008, NYC & Company also launched a new communications and marketing campaign, “Go Local,” aimed at encouraging New Yorkers and tri-state residents to visit the five boroughs during the summer months. Popular citywide marketing campaigns were also rolled out, such as NYC & Company’s bi-annual Restaurant Week promotion, the Harlem for the Holidays shopping campaign, the bi-annual Signature Collection Third Night luxury hotels promotion, and the tourism savings programs Winter in the City and Summer in the City. The year was also highlighted by the popular public art exhibition, The New York City Waterfalls, which NYC & Company heavily promoted both domestically and internationally.
New York City’s hotel occupancy rates continued to top the national average in 2008 by at least twenty percentage points despite the economic downturn. The City added 1,800 net rooms to its hotel inventory, bringing the total to roughly 75,600 rooms, and in 2008, room demand increased 2 percent. Through September, attendance at New York City visitor attractions and cultural organizations rose 14 percent over the same period last year, according to NYC & Company estimates.
