Weekend Reading: November 15 Edition

Around Ohio

• A shakeup is afoot in the local gallery community, with Short North mainstays Lindsay Gallery and Brandt Gallery moving to the Gay & High area downtown alongside new art space Chaos Contemporary Craft. Lindsay Gallery will be having its final opening in its current Short North space next Friday evening.
• A major fundraiser has been planned for in-limbo DIY arts space Skylab; it happens next Saturday at Maroon Arts Group’s Culture Lab and the killer lineup includes local premieres of films by Cameron Granger, Liz Roberts, and former Wex Learning & Public Practice staffer Maria Joranko.
• Columbus arts multi-hyphenate Scott Woods published his latest collection of poetry, and it’s already sold out around town—although the Wex Store should be getting copies early this coming week.
• The Wex Store is also excited to have copies in now of Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund by Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Curator (and Wex extended family member) Caitlin McGurk. Here’s a review of the accompanying Shermund exhibition, now on view at Lancaster’s Decorative Arts Center, from Columbus Underground’s Jeff Regensburger.
• And ICYMI, here’s Regensburger’s wonderful write-up of our current exhibition Rotimi Fani-Kayode: Tranquility of Communion.
• There’s a new show at the Cultural Arts Center featuring work by Christopher Burk and Nicki Crock.
• And Dublin Arts Council is hosting the latest edition of Accessible Expressions Ohio.
• Orange, the latest addition to an ongoing short film series by locals Essie Baird and David James—and costarring Wex Visitor Experience Coordinator Francesca Mouery—dropped on YouTube.
• The Arts Council of Westerville is seeking artists to contribute to a silent auction at WesterBall 2025, in which sales would benefit both the artist and the arts council.
• An Ohio election result you might not have heard about: Cuyahoga County approved Issue 55, which will raise cigarette taxes to support the arts.
• Wednesday, Greater Columbus Arts Council has an info session for artists on the Columbus Arts Fest, at Maroon Arts Group’s new space.
• Thursday, the intriguingly titled Franklinton exhibition Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Arts Show by Tracy Brown has an artist reception.
• Also Thursday, ReelAbilities Film Festival Columbus screens short films at Dublin Arts Council.
• Or you can spend the evening discussing the year in local music at Two Dollar Radio.
• Or watch the Suds & Cinema Short Film Festival at Crooked Can Ohio.
• Looking ahead, next weekend, you can catch Oyo Dance Company’s One Light: A Multicultural Holiday at the Franklin County Harmony Center.
• And looking back to last week, the city lost the great Anthony Johnson Walter West, better known in the arts and music communities as Baba Tony.

Around the Globe

• In viral news this week, The Onion made headlines for purchasing Alex Jones’s Infowars at auction. Here’s the rationale direct from the buyer.
• And then there was the haka performed by outraged members of New Zealand’s Parliament.
• Here’s a thoughtful take on the revival of Bill T. Jones’s Wex-supported work Still/Here.
• The Pitchfork Music Festival will no longer take place in Chicago.
• Here’s a new piece on how dance is making its way into galleries.
• Researchers are looking at AI to address ongoing issues facing cultural institutions.
• Art historian and author Claire Bishop spoke to The Nation about the influence of tech on audience engagement with art.
• Here’s the latest proof that the art world is not immune from targeted social trolling.
• Art in America cast a critical eye at the current work of post-internet artists Joshua Citarella and Brad Troemel.
• H/t to newly published Columbus author Scott Woods for this piece questioning the racial makeup of the museum acquisition pipeline.
• The Guggenheim has a new show dedicated to the overlooked movement of Orphism.
• Yes, that is a George Condo painting spotted on the wall in this feature on music producer Benny Blanco for People’s Sexiest Man Alive issue.
• Björk is bringing a sound installation to the Centre Pompidou.
• Montreal-based Aamjiwnaang First Nation artist Nico Williams won the Sobey Art Prize.
• Joan Jonas won the 2024 Nam June Paik Prize.
• Films made by Gerard Malanga at Andy Warhol’s Factory are newly restored and screening in Pittsburgh next month.
• Steve McQueen is one of the artists choosing to pull films from Poland’s Camerimage Film Festival following some ill-considered comments about women cinematographers by the fest’s director. Filmmaker Coralie Fargeat is another, pulling her film The Substance.
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defended its film preservation efforts following significant layoffs at the Academy Film Archive.
• A partnership led by India’s Film Heritage Foundation is working to strengthen film preservation efforts across borders.
• Variety checked in with cult favorite actor Udo Kier to celebrate his 80th birthday.
• Merch for the upcoming movie Wicked has inadvertently reinforced the need for copy editors.
• A new study reveals how the brain reacts to movie scenes.
• Tony Todd, the actor best known for playing the title role in the original Candyman, died at 69.
• Judith Jameson, who danced with Alvin Ailey and went on to lead his company, passed away at 81.
• Painter Frank Auerbach died at the age of 93.