Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on February 8, 2010 at 11:10 am Share this

Singer Stephanie Porter. Photo courtesy Northwest Sinfonietta.

A sexy, jazzy Valentine's Day date in Puyallup? You better believe it. If you haven't already planned your date for this Sunday, here's a great idea all laid out for you: the Northwest Sinfonietta Jazz Quartet in "Music for Lovers" with sultry singer Stephanie Porter, cabaret-style in the Pioneer Park Pavilion at 7 p.m.

It's the first concert for the Sinfonietta since their move to be the resident professional orchestra in Puyallup a few weeks ago. The residency adds to existing ones at the Rialto Theater, Tacoma, and Seattle's Benaroya Hall and means regular appearances there by the orchestra, as well as a better rental (free, actually) and a chance to play in an informal, cabaret-style venue. Plus, it's a new audience.

"It's a very enthusiastic community there," says NS executive director Neil Birnbaum.

The Northwest Sinfonietta Jazz Quartet at Pioneer Park Pavilion. Photo courtesy Northwest Sinfonietta.

The kick-off program this Sunday evening features a small version of the Sinfonietta – the jazz quartet, made up of Pearl Django guitarist Neil Andersson, violinist James Garlick, bassist Todd Larsen and conductor Christophe Chagnard playing guitar. The group plays the hot-club Paris jazz of Django Reinhardt and the like, and will be collaborating later in the month with Tacoma City Ballet. Their guest artist Stephanie Porter is Seattle-based, and for 15 years has sung jazz and blues up and down the West Coast including festivals and gigs like the Triple Door. There'll also be light snacks, dessert and drinks available for purchase at the show.

The Sinfonietta's Puyallup residency means a whole lot more than just a Valentine's Day concert, however. April 18 will see the orchestra play Mozart's beloved "Requiem," and tomorrow will have the ensemble at Puyallup High School for its educational program "Orchestra at Work," which lets students into the rehearsal process, sitting close to the instruments they themselves play and allowing them to chat with musicians.

"Music for Lovers," featuring the Northwest Sinfonietta Jazz Quartet and Stephanie Porter, will play at 7 p.m. February 14 at Pioneer Park Pavilion, 300 S. Meridian Ave., Puyallup. Tickets are $20, from 800-838-2006 or www.brownpapertickets.com. For more information, visit www.nwsinfonietta.org

Categories: music - chamber
Tags: Northwest Sinfonietta, Pearl Django, Pioneer Park Pavilion, Stephanie Porter
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Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on February 3, 2010 at 9:45 am Share this

Book art by Shereen LaPlantz. Photo courtesy UPS.

When you think Tacoma art, you maybe don't think of the Collins Memorial Library in the heart of the University of Puget Sound campus. But since Jane Carlin took over as director last year, the library has started to offer some really interesting art, connecting to the community and broadening the idea of what a library is.

Up right now is an exhibition of book art by Shereen LaPlantz. The California artist, who died in 2003, was known both for her unique handmade books and her teaching on how to make them, including her 1995 bok "Cover to Cover." The collection up in the Collins belongs to Rochelle Monner, a Tacoma educator and personal friend of LaPlantz, and it's a fascinating look at different bindings, papers and structures of books in two and three dimensions. A lot of the books are in earth-tones, which doesn't exactly add to the wow factor, but get up close and the beauty of the work is evident.

The concept of art in libraries isn't new to Tacoma: The Handforth Gallery at the main downtown branch of the Tacoma Public Library has shown local and national artists for years, and other branches (Lakewood, especially) host shows from local art groups.

But it took Carlin to spice up the Collins. The program there isn't pure art – it's always something that has a wider connection to either UPS or the community. The Abby Williams Hill show last year gave the university a chance to show off not just its collection of well-known paintings by this Northwest Impressionist, but the letters, diaries and artefacts that made her life so unusual. Small items displayed in lucite cases dotted around the reading room (just after the entryway) aren't, to be honest, the best venue for seeing art – the work gets lost amid the tables and soaring ceilings. But it's a good start, and the library takes the prize for the longest opening hours of any art show in town.

Other permanent art at Collins includes work by Dale Chihuly, Paul Horiuchi, Chandler O'Leary and more.

The work of Shereen LaPlantz is on view at the Collins Memorial Library on the campus of University of Puget Sound through March 12. Entry is free. Library hours are 7:30 a.m.-2 a.m. Mon.-Thur., 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri., 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sat., 9 a.m.-2 a.m. Sun. North 17th and North Warner Street, Tacoma. 253-879-3257, www.pugetsound.edu

Categories: art - galleries
Tags: Collins Library, Shereen LaPlantz, UPS
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Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on February 1, 2010 at 10:47 am Share this

Like hip-hop? Want to support local youth? Check out KRUNK. The annual hip-hop-a-rama is back again this Saturday night courtesy of D.A.S.H. (Dancing, Acting and Singing in Harmony), the Hilltop school for low-cost tuition in dance and singing.

Now in its fifth incarnation, KRUNK is a celebration of all things hip-hop, and this year features all dancers from the past nine years of D.A.S.H.'s dance troupe Reality Check doing their thing along with other Tacoma and Seattle dance teams.

All proceeds directly support D.A.S.H Center programming and its mission to provide quality performing arts education to inner-city youth at no or low cost.

KRUNK 5- "The Reunion" is at 7 p.m. February 6 at Mt Tahoma High School auditorium, 4634 S. 74th St., Tacoma. Tickets $8 advance. 253-507-9466, www.thedashcenter.org

Categories: dance - contemporary
Tags: D.A.S.H., hip hop, Krunk
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Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on January 29, 2010 at 6:41 am Share this

“I Love You, You’re Perfect…” at Encore

Encore! Theater Company in Gig Harbor presents the hilarious off-Broadway musical revue “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” a series of scenes with four actors exploring relationship quirks. Opens 7:30 p.m. tonight, then 7:30 p.m. Fri-Sat-Sun through Jan. 14. $18/$14. 6615 38^th Ave. NW, Gig Harbor. 253-858-2282, www.encoretheater.org

Korean art in the Woolworth Windows

Just up in the Woolworth Windows downtown: a collection of work by Korean artists organized by Art Connection Korea, and sponsored by Tacoma Contemporary. 24/7 through Apr. 25. Free. Corner Broadway, Commerce and South 11^th Streets, Tacoma. www.tacomacontemporary.org

Barefoot Collective dance evening

“On the Margin” is an evening of original contemporary dance by Barefoot Collective members 8 p.m. Jan. 30, 5 p.m. Jan. 31. Jan Collum studio, Merlino Arts Building, 508 6^th Ave., Tacoma. 253-272-4219, www.barefootcollective.org

Enormous wooden sculpture at Kittredge

Recent work by UPS art associate professor Michael Johnston scales up ordinary objects to giant size in wood, focusing on texture and shape. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sat. Free. University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma. 253-879-2611, www.pugetsound.edu/kittredge

Categories: Critic's Picks
Tags: Barefoot Collective, Encore Theater, Kittredge Gallery, Tacoma Contemporary, Woolworth Windows
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Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on January 27, 2010 at 6:54 am Share this

Troy Gua, "Monument." Photo courtesy of the artist.

Walk into Fulcrum gallery and you've got a choice. Turn left, and it's mangled limbs and a blood-red war memorial. Right, and you can see three Michael Jacksons and Boy George reincarnated as Queen Elizabeth II.

Hmm, choices, choices. The irony is that the two sides of the gallery are both by the same artist – Troy Gua – and they don't, in fact, either mock or detract from each other. They don't exactly dialogue, but then you can't expect too much.

On the left, Gua has constructed an eloquent testimony to soldiers who have lost limbs and lives in war. "Monument" has as its center an installation that flows down the wall onto the floor: On the wall, a grid of hand-cut tiles in rest-room-icon images, only with arms, legs or complete self missing. On the floor below is a blood-red 'reflection pool' of plexiglass, broken into segments. The utterance of loss is stark.

The other elements of "Monument" aren't quite as powerful: a series of photographs of delimbed mannikins seem like cheesy Cindy Sherman, and the missing limbs are regurgitated as doll parts in a sculpture of plastic boxes – more gruesome than articulate.

Troy Gua, "The Michaels." Photo courtesy of the artist.

On the gallery's right side, though, are Gua's Pop Hybrids series. Photographs of pop or social icons that have been superimposed and rendered into glassy acrylic, enamel and resin on MDF, these are, for the most part, fantastic to look at. "The Michaels" layers Michael Jackson as child, teen and alien 50-year-old into a black and white portrait that's both  troubled and ghostly, with evil-shaped eyes.

Troy Gua, "The Queens of England."

"The Queens of England" combines Queen Elizabeth II with – of course – Boy George, with the Union Jack for color, and it's amazing how similar those half-lidded eyes and half-smile are in both. "Davids 2.0" mixes Michaelangelo's sculpture with his modern counterpart David Bowie, the two of them narcissistically beautiful with pointed chins and aquiline noses.

But the point of the Pop Hybrids, rather than similarity, seems to be the uncanny beauty that close dissimilarity affords, teasing our eyes and brain.

"Movement" is open at Fulcrum noon-6 p.m. Thur-Sat through Mar. 13, with artist talk 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18. Free. 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma. 253-250-0520, www.fulcrumtacoma.com

Categories: art - galleries
Tags: Fulcrum Gallery, Troy Gua
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Posted By Craig Sailor on January 26, 2010 at 2:23 pm Share this

The Bodies exhibit currently showing in Seattle is opening up for artists and their sketch books Wednesday night.

Best of all, admission is only $10 (half off).

I've seen the exhibit once. It's a fascinating look in to the human body that until now only medical school students have been able to see.

However, as much as I was intrigued and educated by it, I was repulsed by some of the fanciful and playful positions the bodies are posed in.

Ultimately, it's a highly personal choice as to whether you want to see this show.

Click on the "more" button at the bottom of this post to see a photo. WARNING: It's not for the faint of heart.

Here's the details:

What: Seattle Sketch Night at BODIES…The Exhibition

When: Wednesday, Jan. 27. Tickets on sale from 7:00-7:30 p.m.

Where: 1505 Fifth Ave. (Corner of Fifth and Pike) Seattle

Details: BODIES…The Exhibition in Seattle is hosting a sketch night for local artists. The exhibit will stay open late this Wednesday to offer professional and amateur artists full access to the exhibit for only $10, half the usual admission price.

This is a unique opportunity for local artists to sketch studies of carefully preserved, real anatomical specimens as well as deepen their appreciation of the human form. Many of the full-body specimens are dissected in vivid athletic poses, allowing artists to observe how internal structures influence the movements involved in everyday activities.

Click here to see a photo from the exhibit: Continue reading “Calling all anatomy artists” »

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Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on January 25, 2010 at 12:59 pm Share this

Nancy Johnson, "Artist Floating - McCall, Idaho." Photo courtesy Brick House gallery.

If you haven't stopped into Brick House yet, that's understandable. Tucked away on a rather abandoned section of South Fawcett Street, neither downtown nor Hilltop, this residence-cum-gallery looks just like the other old houses on the block. But inside it's different, and totally worth a stop.

Peter MacDonald, along with his wife Sandy, is the man behind the living-room gallery. A painter in Tacoma for many years, he in fact used to live in the Brick House before renovating it. Now he's turned the front two rooms (former living and dining) into gallery space, renting the upstairs to artist Zachary Marvick. Marvick and his partner share out their homey kitchen space when the gallery's open during third Thursday ArtWalk, with snacks on the central table, and there's a comfy old sofa in the front room. What with the big windows and soaring ceilings, it makes for excellent art space with a cosy warmth.

Get there this weekend (you'll have to call for an appointment outside ArtWalk) and you'll catch the last of a retrospective of Nancy Johnson. A respected Northwest painter who showed regularly at Foster/White gallery until recently, and made it into the Painting and Sculpture 85 show at Tacoma Art Museum, was also MacDonald's teacher, and this is, he says, her first retrospective.

The reason for Johnson's success, at least in the 1980s-1990s, is obvious, and a delight to look at: Her gorgeous water paintings, big and bold, carve tanned muscle and shimmering liquidity out of thickly swirled daubs of paint. In "Artist Floating," the water goes from a green foreground through turquoise to aqua, the light blended in mesmerizing white curls.

Nancy Johnson, "Sonatina #6". Photo courtesy Brick House gallery.

There's not a whole lot of 1990s work at Brick House, just a couple of beach scenes that could be anybody's. But the front room is occupied by Johnson's 2001-2002 "Sonatina" series, and things have radically changed. The landscapes are abstract, and formally interesting; but the light has dimmed, the colors muddied into gray-greens and browny pinks, and the paint strokes are flat, dull. Except for one or two (like "Sonatina 6, above" it's a landscape where the sun never quite comes out. (Sound familiar around here?) The joy has gone.

But whatever Johnson is doing with her painting, it'll be interesting to see what MacDonald does with this tiny, friendly gallery.

Brick House is located at 1123 S. Fawcett St., Tacoma. Open 5-9 p.m. third Thursdays, noon-5 p.m. this Saturday only, or by appointment. 253-627-0426, www.thebrickhousegallery.com

Categories: art - galleries
Tags: Brick House gallery, Nancy Johnson
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Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on January 22, 2010 at 6:49 am Share this

Elizabeth Sandvig, "Peaceable Kingdom at Night." Photo courtesy Tacoma Art Museum

Animals on the walls at TAM

As well as an animal-themed concert, Tacoma Art Museum opens an animal-themed art exhibit tomorrow, “The Secret Language of Animals.” Opens 5:30-8 p.m. Jan. 23, then Sundays noon-5 p.m., Wed-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., third Thursdays 10 a.m.-8 p.m. through June 27. $9/$8/free for five and under and third Thursdays. 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. 253-272-4258, www.tacomaartmuseum.org

Teddy Bears’ Concert

Kids under seven will enjoy singing along with Lisa and Linda at “The Teddy Bears’ Musical Picnic,” a classical kids’ concert presented by Tacoma Philharmonic. Bring your own stuffed animal, too. 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Jan. 23. $5. Theatre on the Square, 915 Broadway, Tacoma. 253-272-0809, www.tacomaphilharmonic.org

“Peter and the Wolf,” times two

Two local groups are playing the Prokofiev favorite “Peter and the Wolf” this Saturday. The Tacoma Youth Symphony combines it with other symphonic works like “The Sabre Dance”, while the Northwest Sinfonietta Quintet is accompanied by narrator Marilyn Strickland and also plays “Carnival of the Animals”. TYS: 3 p.m. Jan. 23, $10/$5. Schneebeck Hall, University of Puget Sound, North 15^th Street and North Union Avenue, Tacoma. 253-879-3419, www.pugetsound.edu. NWS: 5:30 p.m. Jan. 23, $15/$10. Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. 253-272-4258, www.tacomaartmuseum.org

Danish glass at Traver

Danish glass artist Jeannet Iskandar has her first U.S. solo show at Traver Gallery, featuring sculpture that melds filigree swirls of glass into a bouquet of light. Tue.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. through Feb. 7. Free. 1821 Dock St #100, Tacoma. 253-383-3685, www.travergallery.com

Categories: Critic's Picks, Uncategorized
Tags: Jeanet Iskandar, Peter and the Wolf, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma Philharmonic, Traver Gallery, UPS
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Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on January 20, 2010 at 6:22 am Share this

Ann Johnston-Schuster, "Shock and Awe." Image courtesy TCC gallery.

There's "Social Injustice" at Tacoma Community College gallery – from the point of view of artists, that is. A new group show features 24 local artists in a big group show addressing social justice issues, and as you'd expect from such a big show, the effects are as diverse as the issues opened up, from racism to violence to poverty to war.

In the entry are a mixed bag of paintings. Karen Benveniste uses stark color fields and shadows in her neo-Cubist oils of cityscapes, contrasting corporate wealth with black poverty. They're not subtle, but they're striking, and portray tough survivors instead of victims. Alain Clerc is less successful with a New Age-y wash of blues, with a bright white supernatural figure in the middle. The fact that he's moping over his own situation doesn't help the triteness.

Alice di Certo, "Untitled" from "Skin and Flesh" series. Image courtesy TCC gallery.

Further inside, the gallery showcases some of the best of local work (though not always new.) The untitled photograph from Alice di Certo's "Skin and Flesh" series is beautiful to see again, the black and white body parts melding and anonymously, sensually unidentifiable. If only there were more...although her "Voices" video, cropping interviews about racial discrimination to just a mouth, makes its meta-racial point well.

Continue reading “"Social Injustice" at Tacoma Community College hits many issues with many artists” »

Categories: art - galleries
Tags: Social Justice, Tacoma Community College
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Posted By Rosemary Ponnekanti on January 19, 2010 at 1:47 pm Share this

Andy Warhol, "Debbie Harry," 1980 Polaroid. Image courtesy Evergreen State College.

The Evergreen State College was recently one of 183 college and university art museums around the country to receive a gift of original  Andy Warhol photographs from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

The gift, part of the Foundation’s Photographic Legacy Program, comprises 103 Polaroid and 50 black and white photographs by the famous artist, who changed the direction of modern art by incorporating photographic images of popular icons and celebrities, known as pop-art. Among the photographs donated are shots, both posed and candid, of famous figures of the 1970s and 1980s including singer Debbie Harry, artist Keith Haring, designer Calvin Klein and more. P

Andy Warhol, "Calvin Klein, Debbie Harry and Jelly Bean Benitez," undated. Image courtesy Evergreen State College.

The Warhol works will join Evergreen's significant photography collection, which includes more than 50 photographs by prominent artists such as Diane Arbus, Richard Misrach, Edward Weston and others. There are no immediate plans to put the Warhol works on exhibit, says Evergreen spokesperson Jason Wettstein.

Other regional institutions that received the donation include Gonzaga University’s Jundt Art Museum; Montana State University’s Northcutt Steele Gallery; Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery at Reed College; Southern Oregon University’s Schneider Museum of Art; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon; the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington; and Washington State University’s Museum of Art.

Categories: art - galleries
Tags: Andy Warhol, Evergreen State College
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