GALLERY OPENING: JoAnne Artman
Declaring her solidarity with the neighborhood’s “instinct to re-invent and re-imagine,” Laguna Beach, CA-based gallery owner JoAnne Artman has established a West Chelsea presence by bringing the work of contemporary artists to the walls of an 1893 commercial manufacturing building.
The gallery stakes its claim as a contender by stepping into the ring with “America Martin: The Boxer Series.”
The kinetic and colorful inaugural exhibition, says Artman, compels the viewer to “become the fan and spectator, watching in singular obsession as artistry in motion spills over the canvas. Visually stimulating and emotionally penetrating, America delivers that one-two punch.”
Opening reception on Thurs. Sept. 10, 6–8 p.m. JoAnne Artman Gallery is located at 511A W. 22nd St. (btw. 10th & 11th Aves.).
Regular hours: Wed.–Sat. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. “The Boxer Series” is on view through Nov. 15. Visit joanneartmangallery.com.
MIGUEL GUTIERREZ: AGE & BEAUTY
“What a drag it is getting old” was easy for Mick Jagger to sing back in 1966, when he was young — a full five years before Miguel Gutierrez was born, quite possibly already imprinted with the sort of emotional intelligence and intellectual curiosity about one’s place in the world that distinguishes his work as a performer and choreographer. “I make performances,” he says, about “how to live in the world, how to love, how to feel about being yourself.” And how does he feel about entering the ranks of middle age? This NYC premiere of the three-part “Age & Beauty” series finds Gutierrez working within the realms of celebration, defiance and contemplation while touching on the subjects of queerness, creation, and mortality.
Part 1 (“Mid-Career Artist/Suicide Note”) is a frenetic duet with Mickey Mahar in which queer theory and club dance collide. Part 2 (“Asian Beauty @ the Werq Meeting”) delves into the dynamic between Gutierrez and his frequent collaborators: choreographer Michelle Boulé, lighting designer Lenore Doxsee, and producer Ben Pryor. Part 3 (“Dancer or You can make whatever the f*ck you want but you’ll only tour solos”) is both a melancholy lament and an aspirational vision, in which the choreographer’s work exists when he no longer does. For this, Gutierrez assembles his “utopian ideal” of a company, in which members of wide-ranging ages, shapes and skills “disrupt the traditional image of the dancer.”
A Crossing the Line festival presentation: Thurs. Sept. 16 through Sat. Sept. 26 at New York Live Arts (219 W. 19th St. btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.). Tickets start at $15. For reservations and the schedule (times vary; 3, 7:30 & 10 p.m.), visit fiaf.org or newyorklivearts.org. For artist info, visit miguelgutierrez.org.
NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA: MEDITATION ON AN UNDER-REPORTED CATASTROPHE BY A POET
Tokyo-based writer, filmmaker and spoken word artist Yuri Kageyama’s solemn and provocative “literary prayer for Japan” combines her poetry with documentary footage, a trio of actor-dancers, and a multicultural cast of musicians. “News From Fukushima” seeks to bring Japan’s March 11, 2011 nuclear disaster back into the realm of public awareness.
“Some 100,000 people were displaced from the no-go zone,” Kageyama reminds us, “But the story barely makes headlines. Radiation is still spewing from the multiple meltdowns, reaching as far as the American West Coast.” By exploring different dimensions of friendship between women who were impacted by the disaster, Kageyama provokes by juxtaposing the loss of home and the emotional chasm between people, as well as the intimate and the catastrophic.
Free. Sept. 11–13. Fri. & Sat. at 9 p.m. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. At The Club at La MaMa (74A E. Fourth St. btw. Bowery & Second Ave.). For info: yurikageyama.com. Also visit lamama.org.
––BY SCOTT STIFFLER
