Twenty years ago, talking about the Triangle’s art scene would have been like talking about its great public transit system or its plentiful vegetarian restaurantsmore aspirational than accurate. A lot has changed. The number of artists in the region, and the number of places they can showfrom small, flexible galleries to large, world-class facilitieshas skyrocketed. […]
Chris Vitiello
Bio: Chris Vitiello lives in Durham and writes for INDY Week on art, music and hockey.Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrisvitiello
Posted inArt
Durham Art Guild’s 61st juried exhibition, Hiroshima revisited and Third Friday FOMO
I set myself an ambitious itinerary for the Sept. 18 Third Friday in Durham. I went out early; I didn’t dawdle in casual conversations; I made a French exit at each gallery. But I still didn’t hit everything worth seeing. Durham’s art scene is like that nowFOMO fuel. DURHAM ART GUILD’S 61ST ANNUAL JURIED EXHIBITION […]
Posted inMusic
A former librarian helps define bluegrass with the comprehensive Bluegrass Discography
Fred Bartenstein knows Charley Pennell’s massive database, Bluegrass Discography, will likely never reach the mainstream. “It’s more of a needle in a haystack than a flashing neon sign in Times Square,” explains Bartenstein, a bluegrass musician, scholar, author and broadcaster. Pennell’s project, launched in 1996, aspires to list every known bluegrass music recording in existence, […]
Posted inArt
Guatemalan artist Regina José Galindo makes real political change through performance
REGINA JOSÉ GALINDO Friday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m. free 21c Museum Hotel 111 Corcoran St., Durham 919-956-6700 www.21cmuseumhotels.com/durham Recently, I had a moment of clarity. I was engaged in the requisite chitchat with an artist at a gallery opening when she suddenly looked at her own work on the walls with a degree of disdain, […]
Posted inArt
Reinstalling its contemporary collection, the Ackland Art Museum makes a tacit case for a better space
TESTING TESTING Ackland Art Museum 101 S. Columbia St., Chapel Hill 919-966-5736 www.ackland.org Reception: Friday, Sept. 11, 6–9 p.m. Through Jan. 3 I’ve got good news and bad news about the Ackland Art Museum‘s new show. First, the good news: It’s packed with artworks that are very much worth seeing. And now, the bad news: […]
Posted inMusic
A memorial for Paul Jeffrey, Duke’s late jazz champion
Paul Jeffrey Memorial Sat., Aug. 29, 8 p.m., free Baldwin Auditorium 1336 Campus Drive, Durham music.duke.edu 919-660-3300 When jazz great Paul Jeffrey died in March at the age of 81, a flood of obituaries enumerated his accomplishments: Saxophonist, bandleader, arranger. Played with Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Count Basie. Directed Duke University’s jazz studies program and […]
Posted inMusic
The show must not go on: Does The ArtsCenter have a cancellation problem?
So, you missed the RighteousGIRLS show at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro last Wednesday? Everybody did, actually: The venue canceled the flute-and-piano duo’s appearance 48 hours before showtime. Despite a price point of just $5, ArtsCenter Managing Director Brad Porter says they had not sold a single advance ticket as of last Monday. Rather than risk […]
Posted inArt
Rachel Herrick’s pepper spray paintings of police violence sting at Flanders Gallery
RACHEL HERRICK AND MEGAN SULLIVAN: SIGNS OF DISASTER Flanders Gallery 505 S. Blount St., Raleigh 919-834-5044 www.flandersartgallery.com Aug. 1–31 (opening reception Aug. 7, 6 p.m.) Rachel Herrick’s new artwork makes me gag and cry. That’s why we’re wearing respirators. In April, we stand in the lot outside Herrick‘s studio, a sun-drenched garage-like building near Boylan […]
Posted inArt
Lump director Bill Thelen makes his mark at CAM Raleigh with a high-concept drawing show
The Nothing That Is CAM Raleigh 409 W. Martin St., Raleigh 919-261-5920 www.camraleigh.org Through Sept. 7 Why do people stop drawing? As kids, most of us drew all the time, compulsively filling notebooks with cats and superheroes, tanks and ponies. Shaking out the cramps in our hands, we lost whole afternoons in the minute details […]
Posted inArt
In the Nasher’s Colour Correction, vibrant screen prints tell the story of modern art’s mechanization
COLOUR CORRECTION Nasher Museum of Art 2001 Campus Drive, Durham 919-684-5135 www.nasher.duke.edu Through Aug. 30BIG, BENT EARS CAM Raleigh 409 W. Martin St., Raleigh 919-261-5920www.camraleigh.orgThrough Dec. 3 Bright colors in art usually turn me off. To my eye, they obscure form. But summer, with its popsicles, swimwear and neon cocktails, always wins me over for […]
