Celebrating Community
Vera Iliatova sometimes accidentally leaves her studio in the same outfits as the women she’s painting. That’s because the draped, familiar trenches and sensible skirts that outfit the women in her work are painted from the mirrored reflection of her own body. Her work reverberates with the warmth of the same lifeforce. It animates her lush dreamscapes to feel eerily familiar and […]
By Casey Mahoney For those familiar with the exquisite essays of Siri Hustvedt, Memories of the Future will be comforting terrain. Hustvedt’s latest circles her more pressing themes of female erasure, the fallibility of memory, and the bizarre fact that imagination always plays a role in our sense of the “present.” The situations in this novel are also familiar, namely, artists behaving oddly, cruelly, or bravely. While readers of Hustvedt’s […]
How does one make art from catastrophe? Look to Eleanor Kipping for her answer. Strange Fruit, a hybridized art performance and installation piece, is a sculptural, theatrical, and poetic representation of Black oppression throughout American history. Hundreds of black plastic afro picks dusted with gold leaf are suspended from the ceiling by transparent fishing line. They hang at various, scattered heights, […]
Originally hailing from Toronto, Canada, The Sadies have been playing their unique brand of psychedelic country rock for over 20 years. For those unacquainted, imagine Graham Parson-era Byrds mixed with Nuggets garage grit.
While the Brooklyn Folk Festival generally features underrepresented artists, indie folk fans might recognize Ian Felice of The Felice Brothers as a national touring act. Hailing from Palenville, New York, The Felice Brothers are an American folk rock/country rock group. With brother James on accordion and keys, and a cracking band behind them, they are well established on the roots-rock […]
Now in its 11th year, the Brooklyn Folk Festival brings three days of music, workshops, film screenings, contests, and jam sessions to the beautiful, historic St. Ann’s Church located at 157 Montague St. in Brooklyn Heights April 5-7th. Presented by the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music, the Festival is produced by Eli Smith, a banjo picker and passionate aficionado […]
Girls on Grass are actually only 50% girls but they are indeed smokin’. “Dirty Power” is the Brooklyn band’s second album – their self-titled debut having been released in 2015 with a slightly different lineup. The four-piece features songwriter Barbara Endes on lead vocals and guitar, drummer Nancy Polstein, and “two guys named Dave” (Mandl on bass and on Weiss […]
As the band’s bio explains: “Old-time is the music of square dances and school houses, church picnics and farm potlucks. It is the music heard on front porches while your hands are busy threshing beans or shelling corn. It is the music of the country, before country music was commercial… We are passionate about playing an Ozark music repertoire not just because it’s a local tradition that deserves to be carried on, but also because it’s a vibrant part of an ever-growing community in the Ozarks. Our rich tradition of music goes far beyond the “hillbilly” stereotypes and cultural tourism that often mask our region.”