Category: Blog post

Art in NYC: The Colmar Treasure at the Met Cloisters

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Art in NYC: The Colmar Treasure at the Met Cloisters

A Medieval Jewish Legacy, the Colmar Treasure exhibition highlights the tragedy of persecution by featuring the art and jewels hidden away around 1349 by a Jewish family from Colmar in Alsace (France)

Jewish ceremonial wedding ring from the Colmar Treasure at the Met Cloisters
Jewish ceremonial wedding ring, from the Colmar Treasure, ca. 1300– before 1348. Musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Âge, RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY

The Met Cloisters presents the precious objects of Colmar Treasure from Musee de Cluny in Paris alongside the Judaica from its collection and the private funds. The Cloisters are situated in a picturesque medieval castle surrounded by the lush greenery of Fort Tryon Park, which overlooks the sprawling Hudson River. The exhibition is curated by Barbara Drake Boehm, the Paul and Jill Ruddock Senior Curator, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters.

Colmar, a town in the modern-day Alsace region of France, was part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 14-century and traded hands between Germany and France up until World War I. A fast-growing and wealthy wine region, the town was a home for a thriving Jewish community that built a synagogue, a mikveh, and a school there.

The Colmar Treasure was accidentally discovered on Rue de Jiefs in 1863 during the construction of a confectionary shop. First kept in the private hands, in 1923 it was acquired by Musee de Cluny in Paris. While personal and small in its size, the stash of rings, coins, delicate silver belt, and appliqué, and the rest of the decorative objects discovered in Colmar presents a cautionary tale of hope, intolerance, tragedy, and societal betrayal in medieval Europe. The collection serves as a cautionary reminder of the past tragic mistakes driven by intolerance and mistrust.

Visit the exhibition, stroll the Cloisters, and admire the art that celebrates piety, devotion, sacrifice, and mercy. The Colmar Treasure occupies only one small hall of the museum but it tells a profound story. On view from July 22, 2019 – January 12, 2020.

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Ballet in NYC: Complexions Contemporary Ballet at the Joyce Theater

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Ballet in NYC: Complexions Contemporary Ballet at the Joyce Theater

Complexions Contemporary Ballet presents three dynamic programs for its 26th season at The Joyce Theater from January 21-February 2, 2020

Scene from Bach 25 by Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Bach 25; photo credit Sharen Bradford

Under the artistic direction of Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, the company presents three dynamic programs over two weeks combining new and already established works. Filled with a roster of some of the most diverse and exciting young stars, Complexions fills the Joyce Theater stage with their signature style of athleticism, virtuosity, and passion.

In the first week’s program (Program A), Complexions will present the world premiere of “Love Rocks” a full-company ballet set to works by the iconic GRAMMY Award-winning singer and songwriter, Lenny Kravitz.  Inspired by his vision and eclectic musicianship, this piece will follow Kravitz’s musical exploration where his lush melodies and retro musical style lay a foundation for passionate storytelling through edgy, athletic and theatrical movement as we examine our humanity and its vulnerability.

Returning this season due to popular demand is “BACH 25.” Set to the music of Johann Sebastian and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the work features the full company in continuous movement to the Baroque composers’ dramatic compositions. A festive, athletic, neo-classical work in the signature style of Complexions; this romantic, playful, and intensely physical piece celebrates the union of music and movement.

Shanna Irwin, Jared Brunson
Shanna Irwin, Jared Brunson in Bach 25; photo credit Sharen Bradford

In the second week (Program B), the company will reprise “WOKE,” a physical reaction to the daily news. A bold and dynamic socially conscious one-act ballet featuring the full company that examines our humanity in conjunction with today’s political climate. Set to an eclectic musical track that runs the gamut from electronica to rap, this work is inspired by the enlightened awareness and challenging moral compass of today’s generation. “BACH 25” will also be a part of this program.

All matinee programs (Matinee) will feature “Love Rocks” and “Essential Parts,” a compilation of audience favorites spanning the 26-year history of the company along with a new world premiere solo.  Highlights will include excerpts from classics such as “Rise” featuring the music of U2 (2008), and “Choke”(2006) among other audience favorites.

 

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Music in NYC: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra & Vadim Gluzman, Violin at Carnegie Hall

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Music in NYC: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra & Vadim Gluzman, Violin at Carnegie Hall

World premiere arrangement for chamber orchestra of Tchaikovsky’s beloved collection of piano vignettes The Seasons and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons will be performed at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, January 25, 7PM

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; Violinist Vadim Gluzman
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, photo credit Neda Navaee; Violinist Vadim Gluzman, photo credit Marco Borggreve

Jessie Montgomery and Jannina Norpoth’s world premiere arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s endearing collection of piano miniatures The Seasons is paired with Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, performed by violinist Vadim Gluzman with the insight and warmth that make him one of Orpheus’ favorite collaborators.

Program:

TCHAIKOVSKY arr. Jessie Montgomery and Jannina Norpoth: The Seasons, Op. 37a

VIVALDI: The Four Seasons

 

Tickets start at $25 | Student tickets are $15 | Groups of 8 or more save 25%

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Art in NYC: Hans Haacke at the New Museum

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Art in NYC: Hans Haacke at the New Museum

Hans Haacke: All Connected, an exhibition of artworks from the 1960s to the present is on view at the New Museum until January 26, 2020

Hans Haacke, Gift Horse, 2014
Hans Haacke, Gift Horse, 2014. Commissioned by the Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth Program. © Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Gautier Deblonde

A retrospective of works by conceptual artist Hans Haacke at the New Museum is the first major survey of the artist’s works in 30 years. It presents the artist’s oeuvre from the 1960s to the present.

Renown in the art world for his interest in the systems, from mechanical to environmental to social, Haacke’s explorations in the field of investigative art made a splashy headlines in 1971 when his exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum was canceled because it included Shapolsky et al Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a Real-Time Social System which probed the real estate dealings of the landlords of Manhattan’s slums. This time Shapolsky et al is on view at the New Museum.

The exhibition also includes Haacke’s kinetic and mechanical art which was created at the start of his career in Germany in the early 1960s. It progresses throughout the years to the recent Make Mar-a-Lago Great Again arrangement from 2019.

Spread over the four floors and the lobby, there are loaded installations that cover such topics as the troubled corporate sponsorship of the arts, the duplicity of business culture, and the societal biases in how the public values and appreciates the art. Haacke’s famous entry for the Fourth Plinth project was Gift Horse, 2014. Conceived in 1998, the project selects artwork for a temporary exhibition on the unoccupied corner on the Trafalgar Square in London. A tribute to Scottish economist Adam Smith, the bronze skeleton of the thoroughbred with the electronic ribbon which displayed the ticker feed from the London Stock exchange (for the exhibit at the New Museum it displays a feed from the New York Stock exchange) was commissioned by the Mayor of London to stand alongside the permanent sculptures of King George IV and the two generals Henry Havelock and Charles James Napier.

The exhibition is a strong reminder about the societal disharmonies of the past and current times. Stroll through the galleries, ponder over the peculiar physics of wave formation or condensation process which are the subjects of Haacke’s early period, participate in the museum visiter’s survey as a participatory piece of art, and get deep into an uneasy relationship between the business and the art.

Hans Haacke: All Connected exhibit is on view at the New Museum from October 24, 2019 – January 26, 2020.

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