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"Uncle" Walter Austin passes - 5/11/2008 5:37 pm
REVIEW: HANSEL & GRETEL - 5/9/2008 6:17 pm
Adams featured in The New Yorker - 5/8/2008 10:20 am
FIRST FRIDAY RAMBLES - DID YOU SEE THE SHOW? - 5/2/2008 10:49 am
Review: Wooten woos a Bear Tooth crowd - 5/2/2008 2:47 am
Alaska Junior Theater announces next season, includes Black Violin - 5/1/2008 5:06 pm
Head's up: Put on your armor and prepare for satire! - 4/30/2008 12:16 pm
ASO's next season peppered with premieres - 4/27/2008 7:04 pm
Review: "The Nerd" - 4/27/2008 9:29 am
REVIEW: Anchorage Symphony with Naoko Takada - 4/27/2008 12:37 am
Did you see the show? - 4/25/2008 10:57 am
Review: Franti's show volcanic, if you don't mind a few lectures - 4/18/2008 1:59 am
ACA announces next season: Make way for the Knights Who Say "Ni!" - 4/16/2008 11:49 am
Review: "Cirque Dreams" jungle scene dazzles the eye - 4/16/2008 5:03 am
Review: Opera's latest big on laughs, style - 4/13/2008 12:53 am
Review: You should've seen these dancers! Wait, you still can. - 4/12/2008 1:27 am
REVIEW: UAA NEW DANCES - 4/11/2008 11:46 pm
REVIEW: FLAMEL'S DREAM - 4/11/2008 11:44 pm
NATS Voice Competition - 4/11/2008 1:54 pm
WARHOL COMING? Mayor's Arts Awards - 4/8/2008 11:02 am
Anime-ted argument - 4/7/2008 6:19 pm
REVIEW: Anonymous 4 - 4/5/2008 10:43 pm
Posted: May 2, 2008 - 10:49 am
Root basket: By Atz Kilcher of Homer. Photo: Aurora Fine Arts
Downtown Anchorage was not our first choice for this month's Ramble. Events at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, a concert at the Egan Center, the Taste of Anchorage and the chaos brought on by some of the stupidest construction misplanning in the history of the city made parking an even bigger headache than usual. I don't think I'll try going downtown for any further events until the snow flies - probably in June.
But I finally found a vacant meter on the far side of the Federal Building and walked to the Alaska Native Arts Foundation's elegant gallery where new work by Da-ka-xeen Mehner made me set all my peckishness aside. "Weapons of Mass Defence" was not what I'd expected. The artist has created four super-sized replicas of traditional Tlingit knives out of steel. There's a Claes Oldenburg aspect to the things, but the spacing and simple elegance of the pieces also reminded me of the late James Schoppert's work. A series of masks - with Mehner as the model - complemented the set-up. Also at the gallery, some intriguing caribou skin masks by Aakataq. I cannot recommend this gallery too highly.
Over at Aurora Fine Arts, Homer's Atz Kilcher was singing and playing guitar. The troubadour, potter, jeweler, was displaying root baskets at the gallery. He gathers the raw material from a location and, after making the basket, writes a little tile explaining where it came from. There's a connection to his mother, former Daily News columnist (and grandmother of pop star Jewel), Ruth Kilcher Marriott. I complimented him on finding really cheap raw material, but the end product seems practical as well as attractive. One especially fun piece is an actual bird's nest he found and removed, in tact, with the forked branch in which it was made. On the other end of the branch, he assembled his own basket, mimicking the bird's work. A sign on the finished piece has arrows indicating which item is Atz's and which is the bird's. A really unique collaboration.
The All Alaska Juried Art Exhibit opening at the Anchorage Museum coincided with the Museum's singles night event, which made it particularly crowded. The juror's selections are, for the most part, quite good and well displayed, with the sad exception of three photos from Bonnie Landis' "Abandoned in Whittier" series, displayed in shadow. They look better in the brochure. When we first saw Landis' remarkable photos at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art, they received much better treatment. Sheila Wynn's large, tarry "Raven Chooses to Leave this World," the biggest piece in the show, is also the most stunning.
Even more stunning, however, is Michael Joo's display in a gallery on the other side of the museum, with floating life-size caribou models and interactive video. This work, which will be described in detail in the Daily News arts section on Sunday, May 4, with a review to follow later in the month, will need to be revisited when the crowds are gone.
That's what we saw. What shows did you see and what did you think? Whether gallery displays or performances, let us know about it here.
3 May 5, 2008 - 7:47pm | FreddieFlatliner
When I read the sentence about "the stupidest construction misplanning in the history of the city"...etc... I thought I was reading an article submitted by a 5th grader... Mother of Mary, take a vacation out of alaska... I recently moved here and didn't even notice there was construction going on down there and I'm down there a lot...
2 May 5, 2008 - 4:14pm | AKvasari
construction comments not necessary
I fail to understand why you would think a piece for evaluating and reviewing art exhibitions is a relevant place to take a cheep shot at the city regarding construction planning? It's quite an aside, as well as not very accurate. Do you forget that a large part of the construction is to provide us, and you, with a new and exceptionally lit space for more art exhibitions and concerts? Surely you're not opposed to that. or the museum expansion. And the parking garage, which is by the state not the city, provide parking so you don't have to complain about not finding that meter you found. And as for the road and pedestrian improvement construction, I would have assumed you'd be in favor of increased accessibility to galleries during first fridays in winter. And if you're going to say, well they didn't have to do it all at once, then I'd let you pick up the bill for the astronomical increase in construction materials and fuel that is incurred every year you put off a project. You think these projects are expensive now, how would you like an additional couple mill in expenses because you waited until gas hit $5 a gallon? grin and bear it, you live in a city, not a village.
1 May 5, 2008 - 4:13pm | AKvasari
construction comments not necessary
I fail to understand why you would think a piece for evaluating and reviewing art exhibitions is a relevant place to take a cheep shot at the city regarding construction planning? It's quite an aside, as well as not very accurate. Do you forget that a large part of the construction is to provide us, and you, with a new and exceptionally lit space for more art exhibitions and concerts? Surely you're not opposed to that. And the parking garages, which is by the state not the city, provide parking so you don't have to complain about not finding that meter you found. And as for the road and pedestrian improvement construction, I would have assumed you'd be in favor of increased accessibility to galleries during first fridays in winter. And if you're going to say, well they didn't have to do it all at once, then I'd let you pick up the bill for the astronomical increase in construction materials and fuel that is incurred every year you put off a project. You think these projects are expensive now, how would you like an additional couple mill in expenses because you waited until gas hit $5 a gallon? grin and bear it, you live in a city, not a village.
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4 May 7, 2008 - 2:37pm | concerned
Construction very relevant
I came downtown for dinner and to check out First Friday. It was a beautiful evening, until we tried to find a parking spot. We drove and drove and with all of the people on the road also trying to find parking it became a nightmare. We left and went home.
Missed the whole first Friday experience.
Why can't the city get together with all of their departments and plan better.
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