State of the Arts

State of the Arts: June 16, 2010 Archive

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Your weekend outlook: campy and sentimental

Posted at 8:52 AM on June 16, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Fashion

IrmaVep.jpg
Bradley Greenwald as the lady of the house in The Mystery of Irma Vep, opening this weekend at the Jungle Theater. Photo by Michal Daniel.

Looking for a bit of nostalgia? Or maybe just some ridiculous fun? We've got oodles of both this weekend.

Jungle Theater presents "The Mystery of Irma Vep," a send-up of Victorian melodrama featuring a werewolf, a vampire and an Egyptian princess, as well as the acting talents of local luminaries Steven Epp and Bradley Greenwald. Performances run through August 1.

Ballet of the Dolls founder and choreographer Myron Johnson is a huge fan of John Waters, and it shows in his work. He describes his latest creation, "Dance of the Pink Flamingos" as "human nature at it's most perverted, danced out live on stage." You can enjoy the freak show this weekend and next at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.

You can check out the work of two local choreographers, Penelope Freen and Megan Mayer this weekend at the Southern Theater. Freeh is remounting her piece "We'll Survive if We Don't Protect Ourselves" which explores notions of safety and danger. Mayer's work "We Tried to Throw the Light" is inspired by The Lawrence Welk Show and '60s foreign films.

It's billed as the "first and only choreographers' evening dedicated to Hip Hop dance and its' roots in the Twin Cities." Patrick's Cabaret presents "Rooted: Hip Hop Choreographers Evening" curated by Maia Maiden and showcasing high school emerging and established choreographers. Shows are this Friday Saturday and Sunday.

Franconia Sculpture Park celebrates the summer solstice this coming Monday. Wander the park, enjoy dinner with resident artists and maybe even get your dancing shoes on. From 5pm to sunset, $10 donation for dinner.

Along the lines of sharing food with artists, Intermedia Arts is hosting its summer kickoff BBQ on Saturday, right in the middle of its art installation "We Work Here." This community project asks what does it take to make art work? How are artists and arts organizations re-imagining the creative economy? What ideas and projects does the community value, and what resources will it take to realize them?

Plan your driving wisely this weekend. The Minnesota State Fairgrounds is hosting the annual "Back to the 50s" car show, and approximately 11,000 street rods are going to be on display, and touring around the area. Add plenty of extra time to get from point A to point B, and enjoy the view.

The 2010 Twin Cities Jazz Festival livens up downtown St. Paul this weekend in Mears Park. Featured artists include Joe Lovano and US Five, John Scofield and Piety Street Band, John Ellis and Double-Wide, and trumpeter Sean Jones.

Of course this is just a fraction of what's out there on any given weekend. So what will you be doing?

The complex portraiture of Robert Bergman

Posted at 12:15 PM on June 16, 2010 by Euan Kerr (2 Comments)
Filed under: Photography



Minneapolis Institute of Arts photography curator David Little just got struck by curatorial lightning a second time.

"I just want to make clear that we aren't, here at the MIA, showing only photographers who won't have their pictures taken," he laughs.

He's standing beside Robert Bergman whose portraits go on display at the MIA starting on Thursday evening.

The images are simply remarkable. They are individual color portraits of people Bergman met on road trips around the US between 1986 and 1995. As had been said many times before the modern world is so flooded with images it's hard for individual pictures to stand out.

However Robert Bergman's pictures have a magnetic quality which is hard to escape. The 30 portraits show people who appear to have lived a tough life. Some are gaunt, many wear clothes which have seen better days. Yet there is a dignity and power about these people which can be breathtaking.

But don't go looking to Bergman for details about the people in the pictures. All of them are untitled, and other than a brief explanation at the entrance to the show outlining the time period and the rough geographic scope of the project, there is no further information on display at the show.

Nor is there a picture of Bergman himself.

"Why would anyone make my portrait?" Bergman said as he stood in the MIA gallery surrounded by the images he created.. He says he wants there to ne as little interruption as possible of the interaction between people looking at the art, and the art itself. Images of him, and details about who and where his subjects are would only interfere.

This is the same argument made by Marco Breuer, a photographer who showed his work at the MIA in February. His pieces however were abstracts.

Bergman is working on abstracts now, but don't look for any pictures of Bergman anytime soon.

"My job in taking the picture, choosing the picture, and being the artist, is to vanish. My job is to disappear," he says.

(2 Comments)
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