Winter/Spring 2014 Season Announced

Columbus, OH—The upcoming season at the Wex will see the culmination of Via Brasil—the four-year initiative focusing on the vibrant culture of Brazil—in a major exhibition, Cruzamentos: Contemporary Art in Brazil; an expansive film series, Cruzamentos: Contemporary Brazilian Documentary; education programs; and performing arts programming. Member presale began Sunday, December 1; tickets are on sale to the general public at tickets.wexarts.org beginning December 12. More on the upcoming season highlights:

• Public events surrounding Via Brasil, an initiative made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, began unfolding in 2012 and come to a head next year with a major exhibition and documentary film series, a translation of film criticism (which will be published in the fall), and performing arts events. This includes:
  • February 1—April 20, on view at the center will be Cruzamentos: Contemporary Art in Brazil, a major exhibition that explores the work of 35 dynamic Brazilian artists whose practices and influences are as varied as the social, racial, and geographical composition of the country itself.
  • On screen beginning January 22, the film series Cruzamentos: Contemporary Brazilian Documentary seeks to show and explore Brazil’s rich legacy of documentary filmmaking, with visiting filmmakers and films that have rarely screened in the United States.
  • Brazilian dance troupe Companhia Urbana de Dança makes the US premiere of their full-evening work Eu Danço—8 solos no geral on February 28 at the Capitol Theatre at the Riffe Center. Dance maker Sonia Destri’s dynamic group of all-male dancers drawn from the street dance scenes of Rio’s favelas have earned raves for their athleticism and her smart choreography.
  • An evening with guitarist and composer Gary Lucas on March 1, who will perform a solo guitar score for the 1967 cult horror classic from Brazil Esta noite encarnarei no teu cadáver (This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse) by the director/screenwriter/actor José Mojica Marin (popularly known as Coffin Joe, an underground folk antihero).
  • A live performance on March 6 from master percussionist Cryo Baptista’s Banquet of the Spirits, a, dynamic quartet that feasts on many strains of Afro-Brazilian sounds, samba, and freewheeling jazz as well as Indian, Arabic, Celtic and Aboriginal music.
  • And a concert from Brazilian hip hop sensation Criolo on April 5 featuring songs from his latest album, Nó na Orelha (Knot In The Ear), a major hit in Brazil, thanks in part to politically engaged lyrics deeply in sync with the nation’s widespread civic content.
• Best known in the US as one of the great Italian postwar filmmakers, Pier Paolo Pasolini was also an influential, outspoken, and openly gay poet, novelist, critic, journalist, playwright, and painter. In January and February, we’ll screen Retrospective: Pier Paolo Pasolini, a nearly complete retrospective with many titles screening in newly restored 35mm prints.
• Japanese director Kuro Tanino, who heads the company Niwa Gerkidan Penino, originally crafted his work The Room Nobody Knows in his tiny Tokyo apartment. The unforgettable show, onstage at the Wex January 23–26, boasts a visually rich dreamscape, outrageous imagery, and dark humor. 
• Cellist and composer Erik Friedlander returns to the Wex on February 22 with American Power, a new collaboration with photographer Mitch Epstein that examines how we coexist with our diverse sources of energy and power. The evening includes live music as well as Epstein’s images and anecdotes about the people and towns he visited across the country.
• Off the Grid, the hottest contemporary art party of the year, returns March 8 in an evening inspired by the tropical sights, sounds, and rhythms of Brazil. DJ Cosmo Baker headlines.
• Jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch will lead his trio on March 28 in a live performance presented in conjunction with Ohio State School of Music Jazz Festival.
• Wexner Center Artist Residency Award recipient Young Jean Lee returns in April for the world premiere of her new play STRAIGHT WHITE MEN April 10–13. The work marks the conclusion of her creative residency supported by the Wex; it will then tour throughout North American and Europe.
• May 17–August 3, the Wex will exhibit Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes, which offers the first major survey of the work of cartoonist and illustrator Daniel Clowes; as well as Comic Future, an exhibition which showcases work from the 1960s through 2013 and surveys political satire and cultural commentary through art movements ranging from capitalist realism to contemporary pop art.

Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St.