Art With a Function
The expression "suitable for the entire family" is usually guaranteed to s/files/storyimages/a chill through the heart, but an exhibition to run at the Speed Museum Feb. 6-May 13 may be the exception. As a longtime fan of the artist’s books, I am eager to see Building Books: The Art of David Macaulay. His drawings illustrate how complex edifices and artifacts are made to happen. For me the most appealing of his many titles have always been Castle and Cathedral, which show with dazzling virtuosity how these centuries-old structures were created, so I am not surprised that they and another one called Pyramid have been made into a PBS series. The English-born New Jersey resident specializes in explaining and illustrating for us simple souls the workings of everything from complicated gadgets to monumental works of architecture. David Macaulay, it has been said, employs pictures and words "to reveal the secret lives of objects." He also created The Way Things Work: From Levers to Lasers, Cars to Computers — A Visual Guide to the World of Machines. He has revised and expanded that book to include explanations of 12 new machines, with 80 pages detailing the latest innovations in digital technology.
This Speed exhibition includes over 100 original works of art, studies, sketchbooks, book dummies, manuscripts and correspondence, artifacts (including hand-built ship models), stuffed specimens, reference materials, travel mementos, and a video documentary about the artist. Admission is $8, $4 for children and free for Museum members and really does seem the ideal opportunity to introduce the young to the wonderful world of the Speed.
A collage by Ronald W. Claxton (left) and a landscape (right) by Mervin R. Aubespin are among works to be displayed at ATL’s African American Art Exhibition, Feb. 2-24.
Entries, Stage Right
Few of even the most dedicated of Louisville’s army of arts volunteers can match Roanne Victor’s 40-year service to Actors Theatre, the last 13 of them as curator of ATL’s annual African American Art Exhibition, which celebrates Black History Month. This is correctly described as an important juried exhibition, with the top prize a purchase by (whom else?) Brown-Forman, still the city’s most consistently enlightened arts patron.
Victor tells us the 2007 show will include approximately 46 pieces of original art representing the work of 18 artists. All works are available for purchase. Garry R. Bibbs, associate professor of sculpture and printmaking and director of graduate studies for the art studio at the University of Kentucky, is juror for the 2007 exhibition.
The exhibit will open Feb. 2 with a free public reception and awards ceremony during downtown’s First Friday Gallery Hop and will be on display concurrently with ATL’s production of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, running through Feb. 24.
A Soviet Reunion
There are two schools of thought on the acoustic challenges facing the Louisville Orchestra in deciding whether to play in the Whitney Hall of the Kentucky Center or in the Brown Theatre on Broadway. Some, including the players, argue for the Whitney, in part because they claim they can hear one another better — essential for good ensemble work. Others, like me, incline towards the Brown because the sound is louder and you get a visceral wallop from the music lost in the rather soggy acoustic of the Whitney. There is a sparkling opportunity to test the Brown’s properties Feb. 9 at 8 p.m., when Raymond Leppard conducts a program being billed as "Russian Favorites." It includes Tchaikovsky’s exhilarating Violin Concerto, which is preceded by Dvorak’s Carnival Overture (never knew he was Russian; he certainly didn’t use to be) and ends with a centenary-year tribute to Shostakovich and his Symphony No. 5. That should have the roof off in no time. Call 584-7777 to book.
Final Thoughts
Just a line to draw your attention to the next in the fascinating series of MET operas being relayed live to Tinseltown. What a marvelous idea. Next up at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, is Tchaikovsky’s melodic and dramatic masterwork Eugene Onegin with a dazzling cast of Renee Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Book in person or online at www.cinemark.com.
Thought Two: The Kentucky Opera’s recently announced plan to change radically the way it does business and move from a season of operas spread out over the winter months to a more condensed season makes the best possible sense. The upcoming season will be contained within a short, well-defined period, from early September thru early December 2007. All the best medium-sized opera companies in America are short-season festivals: St Louis, Cincinnati and Glimmerglass. This allows the company to concentrate all marketing dollars, volunteer efforts, seasonal staffing and other resources during one brief period with obvious economies and efficiencies. A smart and long-overdue move.
