The Blanton’s Vertical Leap: What a Difference a Rehang Makes
I’ve had a soft spot for the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin since it was the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery.
Austin
Borders, Ritual and Awesomeness: Five Days of Fusebox
Fusebox, Austin’s contemporary, cross-disciplinary visual and performing arts festival, and all round benevolent force in the struggle to keep Austin weird, consolidated its offerings in 2016, going from a 10 or 12 day schedule to a five-day festival lineup.
Concepts at Work: Nina Katchadourian at the Blanton Museum of Art
Nina Katchadourian has a mindfulness or awareness that might make a Buddhist blush.
Austin’s Zach Theatre continues the LBJ Saga with The Great Society
When Dave Steakley, producing artistic director of The Zach in Austin, decided to stage the first of two Robert Schenkkan plays about the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson, he thought it might have special meaning to Texans. After all, Johnson was a Texan from the day he was born till the day he died, and he made sure the entire world knew it.
Fresh Start: Austin Welcomes Trey McIntyre
The word is out: renowned American choreographer Trey McIntyre calls Texas his home once again. McIntyre cut his teeth as a dancer and a choreographer at Houston Ballet.
Sonic Expansions: Austin’s Experimental Music Scene
This year I unintentionally celebrated National Bird Day (Jan. 5) at an avant-garde jazz show. The newly-established Austin Cultural Exchange, together with local record label Astral Spirits and Brooklyn-based journal Sound American, presented Nate Wooley (Brooklyn) on trumpet and Ken Vandermark (Chicago) on clarinet and saxophone—in solo and duo sets that destroy common notions of what these instruments can do or the fullness of sound one or two horns can create.
Leaving a Mark: PrintAustin Deconstructs Diverse Art Form in 4th Citywide Festival
Austin is a capital of printmaking with many different components. Using several venues to host a deluge of events, PrintAustin ties all the components together. The month-long festival from Jan. 13-Feb. 18 at venues including Gallery Shoal Creek, FlatBed Press, and La Pena Gallery, draws a diverse crowd of art snobs, artists, hipsters, and novices. It’s printmaking on a huge scale.
Nothing Is What it Seems: Monika Sosnowska at the Austin Contemporary
In Warsaw, Monika Sosnowska lives across the street from a forest that was once a Jewish cemetery. During the Second World War, Germans destroyed it to use headstones as material for construction work. Polish people quickly responded by planting trees. They eventually started a project to restore the cemetery, which continues to this day
Taking the Lead: ZACH Theatre provides Access to All
Lee Nguyen from the City of Austin gave the latest work at ZACH Theatre a thumbs-up review. But it wasn’t exactly for the company’s latest drama, comedy or musical.
Behind the Curtain: Big Medium Hosts its Wildly Popular East Austin Studio Tour
Since 2003, Big Medium’s East Austin Studio Tour (or EAST for shorthand), Nov. 12-13 & 19-20, has offered Austin artists the chance to open their doors to the public.
Identity and Mortality with ARCOS Dance
ARCOS Dance is known as an experimental platform for dance technology – a merging together of bodies in space and digital creation. It’s like a modern brand of philosophy, an embodiment of human history alongside a projection of its uncertain future.
The Dance of Work: Forklift Danceworks reflects on past projects and looks to the future
Convention is not a part of Allison Orr’s vocabulary. The Forklift Danceworks artistic director has carved out a particular niche in the site-specific performance world of Texas—one that draws attention to the people and systems that keep our communities ticking, often without thanks or notice. This is Orr’s specialty: bringing the invisible to the forefront.