Visual Arts
Weekend What's What: Funkytown
It seems to be the winter dance party season opener this weekend! With both Friday and Saturday dominated by l'étoile-worthy club jams and secret location parties, you'll be hard-pressed not to run into an opportunity to get your "Butterfly" on. At this rate we'll be sweatin' right through the hard freeze! Of course, there's plenty of awesome art to go around and even a few can't-miss rock n' roll shows—so those with two left feet, fret not—we've gotcha covered!MORE »
VISUAL ARTS | With "Event Horizon" and "Benches & Binoculars," the Walker rolls out new views of its collection
In exhibits opening to the public on Saturday—with a preview at Friday night's After Hours party—the Walker Art Center is not just re-envisioning the way it presents work from its own collection, it's offering provocative new ways of thinking about the display of contemporary art.MORE »
Carleton gallery hosts "War Work" show
“I wanted to have breakfast.” MORE »
"80 Years Young": In new exhibit, the American Swedish Institute tells its own remarkable story
The American Swedish Institute is ringing in its 80th year with a retrospective exhibit titled 80 Years Young: American Swedish Institute.MORE »
Arts Orbit Radar: 11/12/09
What's Happening This Week
On the radar: It's hard to pass up a chance to see the dance that the Washington Post calls "one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe," but be warned (or get excited): in costuming, notes Camille LeFevre, Martha Graham "certainly liked her men with buttocks bared."
Under the radar: MNfashion opens its holiday boutique tonight with winin' and snackin'. Stop by for a first look at the cool stuff Minnesota designers have created for you to tuck under the tree this year.
On the radar: The Seafarer, one of the darkest (but also, according to reports, funniest) of this season's holiday entertainments, opens at the Jungle. Downtown at First Ave, "national treasures" (per City Pages) Solid Gold headline a show that also features The Hood Internet and, just for good measure, Lookbook.
Under the radar: Tara Yule of the much-missed Pi Restaurant & Bar is convening a "Pi Family Reunion" tonight at BarFly. Pi patrons won't want to miss this chance to rub elbows (and, who knows, maybe more) with old friends.MORE »
VISUAL ARTS | He comes from Iowa with a banjo on his knee
The banjo has a place of honor in Dan Mackerman's art. Not that the award-winning Lauderdale-based painter and sculptor features banjos in his canvasses. Music rarely figures as a subject of his art. But without the banjo, Mackerman probably wouldn't be the artist he is today.MORE »
VISUAL ARTS | CVA casts a "Minnesota Eye" on contemporary photography
Why are numerous Twin Cities galleries showing photographs this month? Because the esteemed Society for Photographic Education (SPE) held its annual three-day Midwest conference here last week (October 29-31) to great success. Titled Freeze/Thaw: Cycles in the American Heartland, the regional Midwest conference drew photographers, educators, historians, and critics from 13 states.MORE »
Weekend What's What: The pre-holiday spirit
As we delve into November, we bid adieu to any possibilities of running around sans jacket—and we've come to terms with that (the first real snowfall, however, is another matter entirely). And what better to turn our focus to than the holidays? Thanksgiving is right around the corner, followed directly by the gifty season, and the Twin Cities artsy types seem to be easing us slowly but surely into the spirit of, um, buying their cool stuff. This weekend, hit up the Northrup King Building to peruse and purchase local art and related wares during Art Attack; check out The Affair at the Convention Center for festive tastings of chocolate, wine and the like; or stop into local boutiques such as Drama and Cliche to catch deals on fancy frocks for all the swanky parties that approach.MORE »
Arts Orbit Radar: 11/5/09
What's Happening This Week
On the radar: For most of human history, no one ever said, "Fo shizzle, my nizzle." Then Snoop Dogg said it, then everyone said it—and now, thank God, we're back to no one (except your awkward uncle) saying it. The West Coast drawler will be at Epic tonight, playing to a crowd of former frat boys, aging gangstas, and hipsters who face a tough choice between Snoop and A Fine Frenzy.
Under the radar: Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble isn't coming to Minnesota in the near future, but tonight we have the next best thing: Robaybat and Güvenç and Burk Orchestra, an all-star cast of local musicians who promise to lead "a musical journey through Greece, Turkey, into the Balkans, through Central Asia and Persia."
On the radar: This weekend's Art Attack gives you a chance to see the work of Northrup King artists without having to fight the Art-a-Whirl crowds. If you're looking for a crowd, try to squeeze in to the Paramore show at Roy Wilkins.
Under the radar: Lowertown has been pushing hard to compete with Minneapolis as an entertainment destination, and at least according to Sean McPherson, it's working. Tonight, the newly-anointed Lowertown Entertainment District hosts its first monthly First Friday open-studio event.MORE »
VISUAL ARTS | Saving time in a pinhole: League of Midwest Pinholers convenes at MPC
On November 1, the Bill Erickson Chapter of the League of Upper Midwest Pinholers met at the Minneapolis Photo Center (MPC) for a fascinating exploration of the art of pinhole photography. About 20 pinhole enthusiasts listened to guest speakers talk about the art form in MPC's beautiful gallery tucked in a warehouse in North Minneapolis. MORE »
