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Oakland

Custom Kicks and Sustainable Style: The Art of Sneakers

by | Oct 15, 2024 1:47 pm | Comments (0)

Vita Hewitt Photos

“C’est la Vic” by Vicky Vuong

The Art of Sneakers Vol. 1 by SoleSpace Lab
Oakland Style Lab
369 3rd St.
Oakland
Oct. 12 & 13, 2024


Do you find the topic of fast fashion versus affordability to be daunting? 

The Art of Sneakers, Vol. 1 offered an alternative and a tantalizing glimpse into that topic, into the ever-growing field of sustainable fashion, this past weekend in Oakland. Jeff Perlstein, co-founder of Oakland Style Lab and an artist, activist and shoe enthusiast co-curated the show. The first of its kind, the show immediately drew me in to the world of sneakers. Featuring 15 top creators in the industry, the shoes on display ranged in style and form; while some emphasized their sustainable roots, others brought a more sculptural approach to the shelves.

Sneaker by Jeremy Novy

Continue reading ‘Custom Kicks and Sustainable Style: The Art of Sneakers’

New Haven

Artists Get Amplified

by | Oct 14, 2024 11:51 am | Comments (0)

Karen Ponzio photos

A multicolored fabric sculpture created by Kat Wiese seemed to float between the trees that framed one entrance to the Eli Whitney Barn. At the other entrance, visitors were greeted by the vibrant bodies and faces painted in vivid colors by artists Jasmine Nikole on the left and Darnell​“Saint” Phifer on the right. 

The music of R&B legends, courtesy of DJ Q‑Boogie, could be heard from everywhere, boosting the vibe of each and every artistic creation as Amplify The Arts entered its second year at the storied Hamden location and third year in total, continuing its mission — as reiterated on Sunday by organizer Karimah Mickens — of presenting a space for especially BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and young artists. 

Continue reading Karen's review

Oakland

Upcycling in Uptown

by | Oct 14, 2024 11:39 am | Comments (0)

Agustín Maes photos

Melanie Walas in her Teletubby jacket, Mercury 20 Gallery.

Oakland Style
 Fourth Wall Gallery, Manna Gallery, Mercury 20 Gallery, Slate Contemporary Gallery, Uptown Fine Art
25th St. between Broadway and Telegraph Avenue
Oakland
Oct. 12, 2024


A habitué of thrift shops, flea markets, and similar bazaars near and far, artist Melanie Walas is attracted to stuffed animals and toys she finds at the discount emporia she visits. ​“I feel bad because they’re abandoned,” she said of the items she collects. ​“They were once loved by someone.” 

A few years ago Walas imagined incorporating the stuffed playthings into clothing. She began integrating the discarded playthings — often deconstructing their parts — by sewing them onto garments that seemed to match the clothes’ character. The result are wonderfully whimsical wearables that are eye-catchingly quirky and hilariously fun. The jacket she wore at Mercury 20 Gallery as part of Oakland Style, ​“A Celebration of Art, Fashion, Music, Cuisine & Culture,” pictured above, featured plush toy Teletubbies in red, green, and yellow. Her kind of thinking turns the corner from merely humorous and enters the realm of outright awesome.

Continue reading ‘Upcycling in Uptown’

New Haven

“Open Studios” Steps Into The Suburbs

by | Oct 14, 2024 11:37 am | Comments (0)

Victor Smith: "If my heart had not been broken, if I had not been in so great distress, if I had not decided to express my hurts through my paintings, I probably would never have been discovered."

People chatted in the corners among the sculptures. One viewer shared a long moment with a figure in a boat. People exchanged waves and hugs. It was all part of New Haven Open Studios’s second weekend, which encompassed Amplify the Arts in East Rock, but reached to the Gilbert Street studios in West Haven as well, where artists threw open their doors — as they will again next weekend, Oct. 19 and 20, in Erector Square and MarlinWorks, and in Westville, NXTHVN, and elsewhere the weekend after that, Oct. 26 and 27.

Continue reading Brian's review

LA

Queer History Redux: ​“They Learned To Stop Interrupting”

by | Oct 13, 2024 11:58 am | Comments (0)

DISCOVERING LONG BEACH’S UNKNOWN QUEER HISTORY
Hamburger Mary’s
Long Beach
October 5, 2024

The rich queer history of Los Angeles has long been overshadowed by that of San Francisco and New York. That misperception is rapidly changing, thanks to documentaries such as L.A.: A Queer History (2021), historical publications such as Lillian Faderman and Stuart Timmons’s Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians (2009), and now Circa, the nation’s ​“first and only Queer Histories Festival,” which is currently in its second year and features events in and around the city throughout October.

Continue reading ‘Queer History Redux: ​“They Learned To Stop Interrupting”’

Tulsa

Talking Shop with Jad Abumrad

by | Oct 13, 2024 11:51 am | Comments (0)

university of tulsa photo

TU Presidential Lecture Series: Jad Abumrad
Lorton Performance Center
Tulsa
October 8, 2024

I wasn’t the only one who was excited to see Jad Abumrad. The Lorton Performance Center’s 635 seats were all full as the former host of WNYC’s RadioLab took the stage as part of TU’s Presidential Lecture Series. Abumrad delivered a tight, strong, fascinating lecture about the nature of conversation — and as a radio host, he should know.

Continue reading ‘Talking Shop with Jad Abumrad’

New Haven

Human Animals Watch One Last Doc

by | Oct 11, 2024 4:02 pm | Comments (0)

Flicker

Are these prairie dogs wondering what makes them prairie dogs?

Human standing room only at the Cannon.

Prairie dogs have a word for​“human.” They talk about us in a language with nouns, adjectives, and variable dialects — even though, to most of us, their words sound like unintelligible squeaks.

I learned that delightful fact at the last-ever film screening by NHDocs, from a vegan advocacy film about what it means to be human in a world of other animals.

After 10 years of hosting local documentary film festivals, NHDocs held its final gatheringWednesday at the Cannon pub on Dwight Street, collaborating with the vegan festival Compassionfest to show animal rights activist Mark Devries’ movie Humans and Other Animals. The screening was followed by a Q‑and‑A with Devries himself.

Continue reading Laura's review

Tulsa

Reel Twisted: Forging Community Through Film

by | Oct 11, 2024 3:58 pm | Comments (0)

twisted arts film festival photo

Twisted Arts Film Festival
Circle Cinema
Tulsa
Oct. 2 – 5, 2024

In 2021, Tulsa added two much-needed film festivals to its CV: the all-online Greenwood Film Festival, which debuted in the midst of the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and the Twisted Arts Film Festival, dedicated to promoting stories by and about the LGBTQ2S+ community. Both are still going strong in 2024. 

Continue reading ‘Reel Twisted: Forging Community Through Film’

LA

“God Is Dead. I Believe In Topaz”

by | Oct 11, 2024 10:17 am | Comments (1)

SINISTER SUNDAYS
Jumbo’s Clown Room
Los Angeles
Oct. 6, 2024


If you ask any fun-loving person in Los Angeles who the best Jumbo’s Clown Room dancer is, they’ll be able to come up with an answer. On Sunday night, I find myself partial to Topaz, who, while speaking to me, gives me the nostalgic sensation of eavesdropping on my cooler older sister’s sleepovers as a child. She learned to dance on the job, she tells me while fiddling with a jukebox. My friend jokes that she belongs in a Tarantino movie, but instead, she is here, materialized in front of me in a glittering white jacket and red lipstick. She is funny, charming, and beautiful. She is also a writer. She asks if I would come to her play reading. Yes, of course. At that moment, I would do anything she asked of me. I briefly wonder if this is how men feel all the time. An hour later, I overhear a man mutter: ​“I no longer believe in God. God is dead. I believe in Topaz.”

Continue reading ‘“God Is Dead. I Believe In Topaz”’

New Haven

Island On My Mind

by | Oct 11, 2024 10:11 am | Comments (0)

Robert De Matteo

The diptych, by Robert De Matteo, offers two shapes that strongly echo each other, but are from quite different models. The one on the left is easier to identify right away, as a brain scan from an MRI. The image on the right, though, might require a look at the title. Sure enough, it’s drawn from a satellite image of Charles Island, off the coast of Silver Sands State Park in Milford, the sandbar that connects it to the mainland at low tide clearly visible. The visual pun is funny. The idea that the forms would mirror each other closely says something a little deeper, about recurring patterns in nature, perhaps about how we aren’t as separate from our environment as we might like to think.

Charles Island On My Mind is just one of a panoply of small works that are part of​“Glorious Index,”​“a tactile, miniature visual compendium exhibition” running at the Institute Library on Chapel Street through Dec. 15 that also introduces the artist-run New Haven Open Studios, the month-long, city-spanning celebration of visual arts running through the end of October. Designed by Bailey Murphy, the show includes the work of no less than 50 artists, many of whom will be opening their studios at events this weekend and for the rest of the month at various locations around town.

Continue reading Brian's review

Philadelphia

Sticks Swing In Cyrano Modernization

by | Oct 10, 2024 11:07 am | Comments (0)

Roxanne turns on the spotlights.

Cyrano De Bergerac
Quintessence Theatre
7137 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia
Oct. 5, 2024

A name already shrouded in mystique and mythology — Roxanne — arrives on stage in a gorgeous gown while up-tempo club music blares, the lights flash pink and purple as she vogues stiffly. 

That was my introduction to Alex Burns’ adaptation of the 19th century play Cyrano De Bergerac, currently showing at Quintessence Theatre. The modernization of the original catfish plot line brings new life to an old script, using fresh humor and flashy visuals to transpose complicated characters into the modern age without watering down the story’s words.

Continue reading ‘Sticks Swing In Cyrano Modernization’

New Haven

City Gallery Opens Wide For Open Studios

by | Oct 10, 2024 11:00 am | Comments (0)

Rita Hannafin

Rita Hannafin’s Float hangs in the midst of City Gallery’s latest show on Upper State Street, a quilt of bright, shifting colors, surprising shapes, dynamic contrasts, and ultimately, cohesion. 

It’s an apt encapsulation of City Gallery’s October show. Normally, City Gallery’s monthly shows feature one or two of its member artists. For this month, through Oct. 27, all 16 of the gallery’s member artists are participating in a show, which is itself part of New Haven Open Studios, a month-long celebration of visual arts loosely centered around Erector Square’s warren of artist studios but in fact stretching from one side of New Haven to the other, and this year, into surrounding towns as well.

Continue reading Brian's review