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Showing posts from December, 2011

Under leaves so green

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Jasmine Thomas-Girvan's Gardening in the Tropics Sculpture Photo by Michelle Jorsling, courtesy y art gallery. How to describe it? The extraordinary work of Jasmine Thomas-Girvan, who twists pieces of palm fronds into tongues of flame, who places a cage within a cage within a cage, whose human figures twist into tortured, glorious creatures: bodies illuminated by the mahogany that encases them? I am referring, of course, to Thomas-Girvan's most recent show held at the Y Art and Framing Gallery at Taylor Street, Port of Spain. The show took its title from Olive Senior's now classic collection of poetry and fused poetry with sculpture to create meditations that, for me, were profound and deeply affecting. This was work commenting on society: Caribbean and beyond (Thomas-Girvan was born in Jamaica but lives in Trinidad). Consider 'Seeing Red', a lacquered box painted post-box red (of is it blood red?) with a figure sitting with legs split atop it, fingers to its ears.

FILM REVIEW: The Skin I Live In (La Piel Que Habito)

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Antonio Banderas in The Skin I Live In This is the creepiest Almodovar film yet, and that's saying something for the great Spanish director. La Piel Que Habito is an uneasy blend of suspense/thriller and melodrama. To describe the plot is to rob the film of part of its considerable power. That said, the movie follows a crazed plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas in the performance of his career) and his experiments on a woman he keeps captive at his home. From the start, an overwhelming sense of mystery intrigues each scene. Slowly, bit by bit, Almodovar lays down plot pieces of a complex puzzle which coils into a frenzy of sex, violence, gore and murder. The film falters and lags, however, in its middle section, especially after Almodovar deploys the device of the expository conversation to reveal crucial plot points. Also, the film sometimes lacks the flair we expect from Almodovar. It's as though the weirdness overwhelms key plot sequences which, in an Almodovar film, normally

Studio Swap // Che Lovelace

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FROM THE ORGANISERS: Opening Reception Thursday 08 December 2011 6.30 - 9.00pm at 37 Fitt Street, Woodbrook, Port of Spain RSVP 740 7597 / medullaartgallery@gmail.com Exhibition continues until 22 December 2011 ABOUT THE SHOW Conceived as an open studio event that takes place outside of Lovelace’s studio, Studio Swap will showcase many new, large-scale paintings, smaller works, and a projected piece. Lovelace’s new, large-scale paintings demonstrate the artist’s increased focus on the human body in various environments and situations. He has been using performance as part of his work process, executing and photographing specific actions, out of which he then develops his paintings. Short stop-motion films are also produced from these performances. Parallel to his work with the body and movement, Lovelace has continued his long-standing series of Carnival and 'Mas' oriented paintings. A selection of the most recent of these works will also be presented. The artist has also been

Poem For My Brother

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    Sent to you by terry via Google Reader:     My Poem For My Brother via Every Day I Write The Book by ShesAllWrite on 12/2/11 Poe's Raven , a photo by bryanwright5@gmail.com on Flickr. Okay, so I REALLY hate sharing my poetry because I always think it sucks, but I was inspired to share this when I read  Michael Lassell's How To Watch Your Brother Die  today. Here is something I wrote the morning my brother died. "It's okay", I told him "I want to be scared." And I meant to hear him read aloud Poe, you know? The Raven and Lenore Not a 43-year-year-old never more He held me And he read to me And he crashed the brown station wagon and fell down laughing He disappeared under Daddy And he just laid still And he stayed on the floor long after Daddy had forgotten the morning I sat there trembling Afraid to touch him, afraid to leave him there We rehearsed this scene so many times Until we got it right, even Daddy When he came home from work At parti

So, I Have These Weird Dreams

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    Sent to you by terry via Google Reader:     So, I Have These Weird Dreams via Every Day I Write The Book by ShesAllWrite on 12/2/11 The Ringmaster , a photo by Nevin on Flickr. And occasionally I write them down. I was just going through an old blog to find a poem I wrote about my brother (I will be posting that next) and I stumbled across a post about one of my weird dreams. Here goes: I was on an intercontinental flight with a hot guy who like-liked me, but was not my boyfriend. Even before the plane crashed, the dream was very sexy. The clouds took the shape of people having sex in unusual settings and when I got up close to the clouds, the figures turned into giant humans in the flesh...there was this one couple I distinctly remember--the guy was doing the chick from behind and she was pretty normal except for the strands of crystals hanging from her waist (like chandelier ornamentation), but as I passed the guy, I could see that he was wearing a bright yellow rubber

Fwd: Art Knowledge News -Dec. 5, 2011

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Art Knowledge News - Keeping You in Touch with the World of Art... The Stanley Spencer Gallery Shows Spencer's World War II Clyde Shipbuilding Paintings Steven Holl Architects presents a new book ~ Horizontal Skyscraper The Fondation Cartier in Paris Shows "Mathematics: A Beautiful Elsewhere" The Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen Features a Retrospective of Antoni Tàpies Hanukkah Lamps selected by Maurice Sendak at The Jewish Museum in NYC Artist named for $1Million Sculpture Commission for GoMA 5th birthday Pablo Picasso 1936: Traces of an Exhibition at Museu Picasso in Barcelona The Tyler Museum to Show "Reflections on Water in American Painting" ¡Cuba! A Voyage through This Island's Art ~ A Retrospective at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts "Jan Gossaert's Renaissance" Exhibited at the National Gallery in London Best Works by Sarah Morris on View at Gallery Meyer Kainer Large Select