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Weekend reading: February 5 edition

Melissa Starker, Creative Content & PR Manager

Feb 05, 2021

A scene from Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie's French animated film Aya of Yop City

Around Ohio

An abstract painting by Columbus Black artist Chantal Stone entitled Conscious

Chantal Stone, Conscious, on view at Emergent Art & Craft; image courtesy of the gallery

  • Virtual Gallery Hop goes all day and night on Instagram. Included in the lineup is the debut show from the new Short North gallery focused on local Black artists, Emergent Art & Craft
  • Australia-born artist Calista Lyon has new work at CCAD and 934 Gallery.
  • The National Veterans Memorial and Museum is reopening this weekend.
  • Chamber Music Columbus is streaming a Black History Month program including performances by the Afro-American Chamber Music Society
  • The call for entries is now open for the Ohio Arts Council’s Biennial Juried Exhibition.
  • Columbus Monthly shared an interesting mix of perspectives on the removal of downtown’s Christopher Columbus statue from contributors including artists Lisa McLymont and Michael Mercil and mega-collector Ron Pizzuti.
  • Here’s the latest update on the state of local arts from Greater Columbus Arts Council president Tom Katzenmayer.
  • Filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar have shared a fun new intro for the PBS premiere of their latest doc 9to5: The Story of a Movement.
  • Looking ahead to next weekend, Franklinton Fridays brings a new exhibition by Eric Murphy exploring racism in America at 400 West Rich and a love-themed show at Secret Studio.
     

Around the globe

A mock-up of a billboard by artist Chris Myers

Billboard art by Chris Myers; image courtesy of Orange Barrel Media

  • Kudos to all the recipients of a 2021 United States Artists fellowship, including filmmaker/Columbus native Jennifer Reeder and Climate Changing contributor Carolyn Lazard.
  • Here’s the list of award winners from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, including Natalia Almada; she won Best Directing honors in the documentary category for her Wex-supported feature Users.
  • Animation lovers, the Animation First festival is streaming through February 15 via The French Institute. Offerings include the feature Aya of Yop City (pictured at top of page) and a program curated by Wes Anderson
  • The 2021 Golden Globe nominations are out.
  • So are the Screen Actors Guild Award nominees.
  • PBS issued an open call for shorts and features by “next generation content creators”; submissions could receive funding and distribution from the broadcaster.
  • Film professor Dr. Alexandra Juhasz wrote about interviewing Barbara Hammer, Agnès Varda, and others on the subject of why feminist artists often aren’t recognized until late in life.
  • Monday at 5 PM, you can watch a free YouTube conversation between Shirin Neshat and Stanford University’s Abbas Milani.
  • For Black History Month, The Root launched “28 Days of Album Cover Blackness” with the great Al Green.
  • The editors of Time shared how Ibrahim X. Kendi prompted their latest issue recognizing the arrival of a Black cultural renaissance.
  • Keijuan Thomas has been awarded Queer|Art’s inaugural Illuminations Grant for Black trans women visual artists.
  • Human rights nonprofit PEN America has produced a new handbook for artists at risk of persecution.
  • Aid is coming for US performing arts venues who’ve been mostly shuttered for the past year, but the situation is complicated
  • Looking for a good graphic novel? Here’s a list from the Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table of the best options for adults from 2020, including Derf Backderf’s Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio.
  • And here’s a rave review of a new graphic novel by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson about The Black Panther Party.
  • Here’s a piece about how decisions around reopening museums around the US reflect a broader issue of inconsistency in COVID-19 restrictions.
  • Plans are now on again for a national Latino museum.
  • The latest public battle over “But is it art?” was won in New York City this week by Nick Cave.
  • Related, The Guardian considers where the line is drawn between graffiti and street art.
  • Columbus’ own Orange Barrel Media has partnered with New York City gallery We Buy Gold for a new artist billboard project and online exhibition. 
  • Here’s a sneak peek of Sadie Benning’s new body of work, on view through the end of the month in Milan’s kaufmann repetto gallery.
  • Architecture professor Ronald Rael, designer of the Teeter-Totter Wall installation at the US-Mexican border, has announced a new project.
  • The quilters of Gee’s Bend have a new partnership with Etsy.
  • You haven’t heard the Beatles’ “Blackbird” until you’ve heard it sung in the Native American language Mi’kmaq.
  • Lastly, in departures, veteran actor Christopher Plummer passed away this week at the age of 91.
  • And Ricky Powell, the photographer who captured New York scenes of icons from Andy Warhol to The Beastie Boys, died at 59.

 

Top of page: Aya of Yop City; image courtesy of French Institute/Animation First

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