OPERA ON TAP. Opera is fun. Most people don’t seem to realize how much fun it really is. In order to prove it, Opera on Tap has taken its act to barrooms where they found out that beer on tap enhances the operatic experience. The company is made up of young singers and instrumentalists who relish the direct contact with audiences not inhibited in their reactions by the looming menace of giant chandeliers.
With its cautionary title, Triumph skewers the hubris and folly of human ambition. This cavalcade of epic works references mythology, the occult, and organized religion, and uses age-old techniques of visual storytelling to voice personal angst. Depicting grand themes with extravagant embellishments, Kuksi’s assemblages of small, mass-produced materials are intrinsically narrative. Like gilt Baroque altarpieces, their stunning excess of detail is the ideal vehicle for the artist’s critique of power and piety. And like those early works of public art, they appeal to the viewer to transcend the strife and striving associated with greed.
99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film Filmmakers Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites in attendance for discussion including a video conversation with other film collaborators. Film critic Christopher Campbell will be moderating the discussion. Williams Cole will introduce the event.This feature length documentary film is spearheaded by over 50 independent filmmakers, photographers, and videographers across the country. We have come together to pledge our time, skills and gear to cover the events taking place in NYC and around the country. The end product will be a compelling, cinematic, resonant, and honest portrait of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Founded by NYC filmmakers Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites, the project currently counts among its collaborative many award winning documentary producers, directors, musicians and editors (as well as PR people and distributors) including Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley (Battle for Brooklyn, Horns and Halos), Ava Duvernay (distributor of independent black films via AFFRM, dir/prod I Will Follow), Aaron Yanes as supervising editor (a frequent Barry Levinson editor, he’s also edited many award-winning features and documentaries, from Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Padre Nuestro to James Toback’s Cannes prize-winningTyson, Tyler Brodie (Another Earth, Terri), Bob Ray (Total Badass) and many more.
In the vein of Oddities (Discovery Channel), Observatory kicks off The Midnight Archive with more in-depth look at the strange stories and alternative lifestyles and beliefs that make up the city of New York. Check out their first two episodes, “Modern Mummies” and “Occult New York,” online now.
August 26 – September 21, 2011 Reception: Thursday, September 8, 6 – 8pm Visual Arts Gallery
Panel Discussion Moderated by Lindsay Pollock
Tuesday, September 13, 7pm
SVA Theatre
School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents “The Influentials,” an exhibition featuring distinguished female alumni of the College and the diverse group of artists who have influenced their practice. “The Influentials” is both an investigation into the creative lineage between contemporary artists and a dialogue between mentors and mentees that crosses generations, gender and media. The exhibition is co-curated by independent curatorAmy Smith-Stewart and SVA Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Carrie Lincourt.