The Greatest at his best, courtesy of photographer Michael Brennan
Nov
21
2011
We enjoyed seeing art photos of the sweaty Muhammad Ali muss up the otherwise pristine Design Within Reach’s furniture-exhibition halls. The sports-and-boxing theme was an odd fit for the tony Beverly Boulevard retailer, but a good crowd milling ’round the rooms made it all work. Even a glimpse of Ali gives everyone a little more ...
African-American photojournalists capture L.A.’s rich post-War arts world 1
These arts images are drawn from “Identity and Affirmation: Postwar African-American Photography,” an exhibition of 125 images produced by Los Angeles African-American photographers during the postwar years from 1945 to 1980. The marvelous show, now on at Cal State Northridge, also includes social and political photographs. It’s part of the Getty’s “Pacific Standard Time” survey ...
Alluring mix of mid-century jazz & photography comes to Northridge
October 23 is as good a day as any, no better, to trek to the deep San Fernando Valley. On that Sunday, the campus of Cal State University, Northridge, will be super alive in an extraordinary double-bill highlighting the best of African-American art. [slideshow id=38] Featured photographers: Roland Charles, Willie Middlebrook, Jack Davis, Calvin Hick ...
Oy. Harry. Would you please lighten up? Harry Houdini goes for a dip.
European financial system on the brink … Steve Jobs dead at 56 …. distraction and dissolution everywhere. It all feels so dire. Not sure whether this photo of major meshuggenah, Harry Houdini, will lighten your mood or not. Something in this shot of Mr. Ball-and-Chain spoke to me. Seems to suit the zeitgeist. World, could’ja ...
What art looks like 1
The snapshot at left captures a moment that is precious, ephemeral, and intimate. Three artists, each immersed in private thought, prepare to perform. [Click for detailed view.] It’s a backstage photo of Ballet Alicia Alonso, now the Cuban National Ballet, dating from the 1948-49 season. Then, a spirited young American ballerina, Edith Brozak McMann, danced ...
Why art matters: Eiko & Koma and photographer Johan Elbers on lower Manhattan sand dune in 1980 2
Photo featured in Eiko & Koma: Time is not Even, Space is Not Empty Photo credit: (c)Johan Elbers (1980) Like this? Read more: Eiko & Koma’s “Event Fission” at the landfill created for the World Trade Center, 1980
Dance photog Christopher Duggan shoots Lar Lubovitch Dance Company 1
New York-based dance photographer Christopher Duggan snapped these amazing rehearsal photos of Lar Lubovitch Dance Company performing this weekend at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Lar Luvovitch Dance Company first performed at the Pillow in 1971, and since then five more times, including the troupe’s fortieth anniversary celebration in the Ted Shawn Theater. photo credit: Christopher ...
Mick Jagger’s ‘Exile,’ says fellow traveler John Van Hamersveld, named in downtown Los Angeles 1
Who knew? When we were high school kids in suburban Pittsburgh in 1972, devouring the images on the cover of The Rolling Stones’s unspeakably great double album, “Exile on Main Street,” who knew that 39 years later, in a Los Angeles art gallery, I’d have a nice chat with the graphic artist who created the ...
Hoppé’s impromptu Nijinsky photo session 1
This dapper fellow is E.O. Hoppé, Great Britain’s German-born society-and-arts photographer (1878-1972) whose current show at London’s National Portrait Gallery has spawned very positive reviews. [Click on E.O.’s photo for better view] And it all has a Los Angeles connection. arts·meme friend, Graham Howe, who divides his time between Sydney and Pasadena, is a distinguished photography ...
L’Enfer: Clouzot’s movie project from hell 1
Film director Henri-Georges Clouzot nearly lost his mind, as well as his career and even his life, obsessing over the Austrian-born multilingual actress Romy Schneider. In 1963, Clouzot, then one of France’s most acclaimed filmmakers, began work on “L’Enfer,” a tale of male jealousy and madness. A blank check from Columbia Pictures burning in his ...