Third Friday weekend overflowing with arts events in the Bull City
August 20, 2009
Maybe it's the return of students to Central and Duke. Maybe it's the summer heat finally building to a creative explosion. Or maybe it's just time to get out and see some art.
Regardless, this weekend is shaping up to be a big one on the local arts scene. It's Third Friday, and everyone and their mother seems to have a collection or showing starting up.
Of course, today marks the opening of "Picasso and the Allure of Language" at Duke's Nasher Museum; a collaboration with Yale's art museum and the Nasher's eponymous founding donors' collection, the exhibition (which runs through January 2010) examines the Spanish painter's lifelong interest in and love for writers and language.
The museum is open Thursdays until 9pm and all other days until 5pm (closed Mondays.) General admission charges apply in addition to a ticket fee for the exhibition; however, the Nasher is free (general admission only) to all on Thursdays from 5-9pm. See more about the Picasso exhibition at the Herald-Sun or at Steve Jones' Take the Bull by the Horns blog, or at the Nasher web site.
At Golden Belt, Friday marks the opening of Public Healing, a collection of works curated by Branch Gallery, and visible in Golden Belt's Room 100 through early October. From Golden Belt's description:
Drawing from her surroundings and personal experience, Amanda Barr incorporates familiar cultural idioms and imagery, playing with the childlike sense of wonder that comes from the discovery of the natural world. She also explores the physical and spiritual dimensions of the human body via sculptural, textile and installation works. The fragility of both the human body and spirit is explored, ripped apart and stitched together again, works bearing the sutures of metaphorical healing. An on-site shaman guide will invite guests to participate in a ritual search for meaning.
Also on Friday the 21st (6-9pm), the second floor of GB's Building 2 will also host the sound installation unrelenting IS from Durham-based sound artist/designer Khristian Weeks, an installation described as "transforming physical structures into a pulsating, whirring sound-field of tones and unearthly, disembodied voices."
GB on Friday night also hosts Nia -- a "non-impact, dynamic blend of dance arts, martial arts, healing arts, and self-expression" -- along with LabourLove Gallery (with paintings by Wendy Kowalski, and the artist herself present), the artist studios, and (por supuesto) the OnlyBurger and Sabor Taco trucks. (MindWorks Studio is also open, and will be featuring more works by local artist Lisa Creed.)
Meanwhile in the city center on Friday, the CCB Plaza will host the second annual "Durham, Be Easy" (DBE) street party.
Designed to encourage community unity through art and culture in the words of its organizers, DBE will include a range of Durham performers, from Pierce Freelon's collective The Beast to author/poet Ashanti White, Durham-based singer-songwriter flavored band The Mountain Goats, and more.
DBE, which is co-sponsored by Parks & Rec and other local organizations, runs at the CCB Plaza until 10pm on Friday. Find out more at durhambeeasy.com.
While you're downtown, swing by the Durham Arts Council at 120 Morris St. near the SouthBank Bldg. and the Carolina Theatre. Durham-based artist Annemarie Gugelmann will be opening her exhibition "New Glimmers of Old Glamour: Painting Durham." A Bryn Mawr graduate, Gugelmann begins studies in industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design this winter.
Gugelmann's take on the DPAC appears at left.
A reception runs 5-7pm, followed by a talk by the artist at 6pm. Gugelmann's first solo exhibition features scenes from Durham, mostly downtown. The exhibit, which opens Friday, runs through November 1.
Learn more in this week's Durham News article, at the artist's web site, or at the DAC web site.
Also at the DAC: An exhibition by Brad Williams at the DAC's Semans gallery. More at Brad Williams' web site.
On the later side: the Durham Cinematheque outdoor under-the-stars movie screening series at Durham Central Park presents "Crazy Italian Night," a series of 1920s film travelogues and "some fractured narratives" from the 1950s, including everything from a young Sophia Loren to the canals of Venice to waiters in a Roman nightclub.
More than 60 shows in, the Cinematheque series by Tom Whiteside has been a real-celluloid feature in Durham since 1991. Bring a lawn chair or blankets; the show starts around 8:30, as soon as it's dark enough. It's free admission, pass-the-hat donation style.
There's much more happening around town too, including:
- Art from Josh Heisey and Artie Barksdale on display at Kung Fu Tattoo Parlor on W. Chapel Hill St.
- Paintings by Alisha Arneth at the Durham Central Market temporary offices at 538 Foster St.
- Scrap-made quilts at the Scrap Exchange's Green Gallery
- And more at Broad Street Cafe, Claymakers, Joe Van Gogh's and more
One additional note: Friday is the opening of "Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn & Chicago's Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-1968," a collection of paintings, drawings, prints, manuscripts, ephemera, and video produced by and about Sun Ra and his associates -- much of it previously unseen.
Hosted by the Durham Art Guild, the Duke University Center for International Studies and the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, the exhibit runs August 21-October 18 at the CCB Gallery, 120 Morris Street.
Co-sponsors include: Downtown Durham, Inc., Raleigh Little Theater, Durham Blues Festival and the Duke University Vice Provost for the Arts.
More Sun Ra Arkestra events are forthcoming, including a performance with the Mingus Big Band.
Posted by: Dan S. | August 20, 2009 at 09:27 AM
The Warehouse Blues Series will feature Cool John Ferguson at The West Village from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.
Posted by: Annette | August 20, 2009 at 10:06 AM
Second instance in two months of the use of the word "eponymous" at BCR.
I'm impressed. :-)
Posted by: Doug Roach | August 20, 2009 at 10:10 AM
Anybody know what the order of appearance will be for the bands playing the Durham Be Easy gig? The DBE site only details who's playing, not when or in what order.
Posted by: Tooth | August 20, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Plus, Tanya Olson, who puts Third Friday together each month, is going to be on the radio tonight with Kevin and me.
7:30 PM , WXDU 88.7 FM
Posted by: barry | August 20, 2009 at 06:56 PM