CricketToes

When A Gallery Closes For The Love Of Art

There's a credo shared by every smart artist/musician/writer/craftitioner--new word alert!--who has ever owned a gallery, produced another band, written a review, or otherwise aided other artsy folks, and that doctrine goes a little something like this: There's a time to advance the art of others and there's a time to advance your own, and these two efforts cannot always exist simultaneously.

While it may sound short and sweet, the decision to shift focus entirely to one part of the above equation is not an easy one by any stretch. So much effort and care invested, so much fervor and devotion spent that it seems a cruel thing to just walk away, even if it is for the best and most honorable reasons.

This is exactly the kind of tough yet necessary decision that Kaitlin Rathkamp and Joseph Ledger had to make last month when they closed the doors of their gallery Caggio: An Art Experiment on Brady Street.

Now, before you get all blubbery on their behalf, understand that they know this was the most sensible choice they could have made. Gallery ownership is one of the hardest roads of business anyone can tread no matter who you may be or where you may come from. And if you actually care about the artists and their artwork, the emotional level of attachment is akin to that of a loving relationship. When that's the case, a huge amount of your energy is poured into making it work, which means there isn't much left in the tank for anything else.

Caggio was just over two years old when it closed on August 7--a remarkable run for any brick-and-mortar gallery--and could have continued on, according to Kaitlin and Joseph, as interest from artists and collectors was still growing. But the call of their own art could not be silenced or ignored.

For Joseph, his art is music--a creative form of expression that, at its best, continually evolves, requiring a brainload of attention. As a member of Married to the Sea, Joseph carries on the tradition of drawing from the historic annals of American bluegrass and folk, with all its twangy goodness intact.

Even a rehearsal is well worth a listen, so check it out:

 

Don't tell me your feet weren't tappin', people, 'cause that's a doggone lie! For identification purposes, that's Joseph on drums, Eric "Doc" Holliday on guitars/vocals and Tim Koehler on bass.

And Kaitlin's passion? Well it's none other than the ancient mind/body art of yoga. Bikram Yoga--a.k.a. Hot Yoga--to be exact, is the super challenging form she practices and now teaches at the Bikram Yoga Studio, 2084 North Commerce Street, on Milwaukee's Eastside.

Being a practitioner of yoga myself--though the more moderate form of Hatha-Vinyasa suits my needs quite well--I know just how much it can become a full-fledged part of one's life.

Kaitlin is so committed to Bikram Yoga that she dreams of opening her own studio sometime in the future, and to that we say, "Whoozzah!"

And so you see that the closing of Caggio, though a loss for the community, was done for the love of art--a thing that is so noble, it negates any sorrow we may feel.

(Thanks, Kaitlin and Joseph!)

Related:
The Caggio Experiment: One Year And Counting!
Photo Walkin' Brady Street
Just When You Least Expect It BAM! A New Gallery Opens

RIP Gil Scott-Heron

It was with great and profound sadness that we learned of the passing of Gil Scott-Heron on May 27, 2011, at the age of 62.

A master poet and extraordinary musician, Scott-Heron was not only a major influence on the hip-hop and rap artists who followed in his footsteps but legions of spoken-word artists, writers and poets--like old Cricky here--introducing us to the power of socially conscious art.

His most famous piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," originally recorded in 1970, is laced with sardonic humor and timely cultural references, serving as both a scathing indictment of racism in America and a controlled yet sure warning that change is coming, ready or not:

 

Here's how he explained the piece in an interview for the series The 90's:

 

Though brilliantly insightful, Scott-Heron was plagued with drug addiction that waxed and waned for decades, proving that even the most remarkable among us can fall into downward spirals of self-destruction and self-abuse that at times exert such force we cannot free ourselves.

But that is not how those of us who owe so much to Gil Scott-Heron will remember him. No, we shall remember him as a man of intellectual and artistic prowess who taught us that truth-telling is the path to honorable art and a critical component to creating a just world.

Related:
The Art Tim Hetherington & Chris Hondros Left Behind
RIP J.D. Salinger
In Honor of Two African American Artists

The Art Tim Hetherington & Chris Hondros Left Behind

Very few of us in the industrialized western world know or understand what it's actually like to live day to day in a war zone, and even fewer of us can truly comprehend the courage it takes to leave our loved ones and creature comforts to head straight into the deadly conflicts of foreign, often poverty stricken lands. Sadly, those who do gain that knowledge sometimes pay for it with their lives.

Such was the case for photographer/filmmaker Tim Hetherington and photographer Chris Hondros, who were killed on April 20, 2011, while covering the upheaval in Libya. In the wake of their tragic deaths, both men have left stirring and evocative images that reach beyond journalism and come to rest within the realm of art.

In 2010 Hetherington made an experimental short film entitled Diary, an extraordinary examination of the physiological turmoil he experienced as he moved from peace to war to peace and back again to war:

 

For Hondros' part, his photography speaks powerfully of the human condition that we all share and we all suffer.

While we should never hold the value of the lives of some over others, for the people who die everyday around the globe without recognition deserve our full and deepest respect, the art Hetherington and Hondros left behind serves as much as a legacy for those they encountered as it does for them.

RIP (Rest In Punk) Malcolm McLaren

Word has come from Switzerland that Malcolm McLaren, Punk's most adept and manipulative architect, died yesterday at the age of 64.

Equal parts visionary artist, tireless promoter, exploitative control freak and cold fish, McLaren managed a slew of bands in the 70s and 80s, including Adam and the Ants, New York Dolls, Bow Wow Wow and, most famously, The Sex Pistols--a band he not only created but also helped to destroy.

For many of us who watched McLaren's shameless and powerful dance of Life As Art, his uncanny ability to utilize provocation as a means to shock and scam The Man, attracting the disenfranchised and angry youth of a crumbling Western society, and somehow making it pay, well, we simply stood in awe.

But the ruthless and callous methods he sometimes employed to achieve this art, operating as if unaware that the players he directed were actual human beings, could not be ignored and made us feel hollow and empty.

There is no doubt that McLaren's influence and impact on the music and entertainment world was monumental, but his death leaves us no less conflicted and no closer to a satisfactory understanding of the artist or the man.

(via NPR's Morning Edition)

Related:
Punk Lives On In The Cyber Universe

RIP J.D. Salinger

News has come today that literary giant, wordsmith extraordinaire and reclusive author J.D. Salinger has died at the age of 91 at his home in New Hampshire.

Though it is his novel The Catcher in the Rye that receives the most accolades, it was Salinger's brutally funny and unfathomably deep Franny and Zooey, published in 1961 as one novella, that made the biggest impression on me and many others. Focused on the two youngest members of the Glass family--the much storied and beloved group of geniuses, quick-wits and troubled souls--it is a tale of intellectual and artistic crisis that manifests itself as a spiritual quest.

Franny is a twenty year old college student with aspirations of becoming an actor. Her brief experience thus far has taught her that theatre can often be corrupt and fake--a realization that sends her into a tailspin and she returns to the family's home in New York a nervous wreck. Her brother Zooey tries to snap her out of her despair using his usual caustic and sardonic style, but to no avail. He is then left with no other choice but to seek guidance from his two older yet wholly absent brothers, Buddy and Seymour, in order to help her.

In the end, Zooey councils Franny on what it means to be an artist and it is a revelation that bridges all mediums:

"Did you know we saw you in 'Playboy of the Western World' one night? One god-awful hot night...

And I'll tell you, buddy. You were good. And when I say good, I mean good. You held that goddam mess up. Even all those sunburned lobsters in the audience knew it. And now I hear you're finished with the theatre forever--I hear things, I hear things. And I remember the spiel you came back with when the season was over. Oh, you irritate me, Franny! I'm sorry, you do. You've made the great startling goddam discovery that the acting profession's loaded with mercenaries and butchers. As I remember, you even looked like somebody who'd just been shattered because all the ushers hadn't been geniuses. What's the matter with you, buddy? Where are your brains? If you've had a freakish education, at least use it, use it...

But the thing is, you raved and you bitched when you came home about the stupidity of audiences. The goddam 'unskilled laughter' coming from the fifth row. And that's right, that's right--God knows it's depressing. I'm not saying it isn't. But that's none of your business, Franny. An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's. You have no right to think about those things, I swear to you. Not in any real sense, anyway. You know what I mean?"

Indeed I do, Mr. Glass/Salinger, indeed I do.

In a closing comment for the story aired on NPR's All Things Considered this evening, Robert Siegel made the observation that, because he refused to give interviews for the last 50 years of his life, Salinger didn't tell us much. I couldn't disagree more. Through his work, he told us everything we need to know.

In Honor of Two African American Artists

This weekend, all are invited to pay homage to two outstanding Milwaukee-based African American artists who have sadly passed from this mortal coil in recent times: Patrick Turner (1953-2008) and George Ray McCormick, Sr. (1945-2009).

Artist and musician Patrick Turner was born in Milwaukee in 1953 and worked in the collage medium for over 30 years. His extraordinarily vivid and challenging pieces reflected his spirited, complex nature. Over the years he was a regular at juried art fairs, including the Powderhorn Art Fair in Minneapolis, MN and locally at the Greer Oaks Community Art Festival organized by Thee Art Guild, receiving many awards. Turner died on December 17, 2008.

Multimedia artist George Ray McCormick, Sr. died on July 30, 2009, as noted here on CricketToes.

The two-day tribute begins tomorrow, August 21, with the opening reception for The Art of Patrick Turner: Urban Contemporary Renaissance Artist exhibition from 5:30-9PM at the Marshall Building, 207 E. Buffalo Street. On Saturday, a continental breakfast will be served at 10:30AM, to be followed by an Investing In Art panel discussion at 11AM, and a closing reception and gathering of artists from 1-4PM. Turner's work will be available for purchase during both days.

Those who would like to celebrate the life and art of George Ray McCormick, Sr. should head over to the Riverwest Artist Association's Jazz Gallery, 926 East Center Street, on Saturday from 4-8PM, featuring a short program of poetry reading, thought sharing and music beginning at 6PM. Some of McCormick's work will be on display and available for purchase.

(via Evelyn Terry on MARN & Della Wells)

Related:
RIP George Ray McCormick, Sr.

RIP Les Paul

For over sixty years, the name of guitarist and inventor extraordinaire Les Paul could not be spoken or written in any forum without at least one mighty descriptive noun attached to it--genius, wizard, legend, creative madman--and these weighty words of honor could not be bestowed on a more worthy human being. Yet he was mortal and, like all mortals, his time upon this planet was destined to come to an end. And so it was yesterday, August 13, 2009, that Les Paul passed away at the age of 94, leaving a legacy unmatched in the world of music.

Born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9, 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin--Whoot!--Paul changed his moniker to a less, um, fussy one for performance purposes in the 1930s. With the aid of an uncommonly wise mother who allowed him to pursue his natural curiosity and inventive tendencies--even letting him punch new holes in her player piano rolls when he was not yet 10 years old so he could experiment with a burgeoning multitrack effect idea--Paul was the epitome of what we now call a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) übercool geek.

A genuine self-taught artist--he never did learn to read music--Paul had the type of instinctual sense for melody, chord progression, instrumental layering, and composition that turns even the most balanced of us tune makers green without absolute envy. That, combined with an astonishing work ethic, made Paul one of the greatest and most innovative musicians of all time.

In 1941, Paul invented "The Log", a solid body electric guitar. Gibson Guitar Company very shortsightedly turned down his monumental achievement, but changed its mind when Leo Fender introduced his own commercial solid body electric guitar in 1950--nothing like a poke from the sharp competition stick to wake ya up, eh?--and the much prized Gibson Les Paul Guitar line was born.

From there he went on to fundamentally change the way we perform, record and experience music through the invention of the multitrack recorder, making overdubbing possible and giving us the ability to record a number of tracks separately--no more fear and loathing of erasing previously recorded tracks. Ingenious! He also developed the first echo and reverb techniques and tools, providing a richer and more compelling sound.

Along with his wife Mary Ford--a.k.a. Iris Colleen Summers--Paul rocketed up the charts with a number of hits in the 1950s, including their unique version of "How High The Moon", and had a seven-year run of Les Paul and Mary Ford at Home, a radio and television show. Paul and Ford were pioneers in home recording, creating records in their living room that sold millions of copies. Sadly, the couple eventually divorced when Ford decided that she didn't want to continue on in the hurly-burly music life and Paul couldn't give it up. Mary Ford died in 1977.

Paul retired for about ten years for health reasons in the 1960s. An injury sustained in a near-death car accident in 1948 had left his arm permanently crooked--a position he'd insisted the doctors set it in to avoid amputation--and that old devil arthritis began to make its painful presence known in his hands. But he just couldn't stay away and he came back in 1974 to make a record with renowned guitarist Chet Atkins. Chester and Lester won a Grammy.

From 1984 to 1995, Paul played every Monday night at Fat Tuesday's in New York City, then he took his weekly gig to the Iridium Jazz Club in 1996. His arthritis worsening, he taught himself to play the guitar in a whole new way by rethinking the possibilities offered up by his extremely stiffened fingers. He continued to play nearly until to the end.

Honored by various music and science institutions, Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Kev and I had the awesome pleasure of seeing his collection, including the Les Paul "Clunker"--that's a modified 1942 Epiphone Broadway electric guitar--in the Architects of Rock and Roll exhibit last year. If ya ever get to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, head up to level 2 and get ready to be stunned.

In 2007, the PBS series American Masters aired the documentary Les Paul: Chasing Sound and I encourage all who have never seen this film to do so immediately. Here's a clip:

Also, Terry Gross did a great interview with him in 1992, which was rebroadcast today on Fresh Air.

Mr. Les Paul, we shall deeply miss your no-holds-barred, creative, knowledgeable and high-spirited presence here among us, but we shall continue to sincerely thank you everyday for all the gifts you have so generously granted us.

Related:
It's True: Rock and/or Roll Lives in Cleveland

RIP George Ray McCormick, Sr.

It was with much sadness that we learned of the sudden death of multifaceted, self-taught artist George Ray McCormick, Sr. last Thursday, July 30, 2009, at the age of 64. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, George called Milwaukee home for fifty-nine years, but did not begin to seriously create his often vibrant, striking artwork until he was in his forties, and we are all the better for the opportunity to have experienced his remarkable talent.

Working in the varied mediums of wood carving, painting, metal working and sculpture, George was fully deserving of the support offered to him by Evelyn Patricia Terry, Della Wells and many others within the African American artistic community and the larger art world. With their encouragement, his career as an artist quickly took off, with one of his most notable accomplishments being the Journey from the Secular to the Spiritual: Works by George McCormick Sr. exhibition at the Charles Allis Art Museum in 2008. He also received the honor of participating in the Smithsonian Institution's 1998 ten-day national folk art festival in Washington, D.C., and having a sculpture commissioned for the White House in 2004.

Evelyn Patricia Terry posted details of the final arrangements on the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN) listerv yesterday, which I dutifully reproduce here for those who would like to pay their last respects:

Visitation
Wednesday, August 5
3PM-7PM
Serenity Funeral Home
4217 West Fond du Lac Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53216

Church and Burial Service
Thursday, August 6
11AM
Wisconsin Memorial Park
13235 West Capitol Drive
Brookfield, WI 53222

In a show of deep respect, the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MWA) in West Bend has extended George's solo One From Wisconsin exhibition through Sunday, August 9, made possible by the kindness of fabrics artist Sonji Hunt, who has postponed the opening of her show until Wednesday, August 12. MWA is open Wednesday–Saturday from 10AM to 4:30PM and on Sundays from 1PM to 4:30PM.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Mary Louise Schumacher has a very nice post about George's passing and an obituary, to be penned by Amy Rabideau Silvers, will be up on Art City when ready.

Also, WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio aired a Lake Effect interview with George back in May of 2008 and it's well worth a listen.

A man of hard-won insight, true and honest artistry, and profound humility, George will be greatly missed.

(Thanks, CJ)

RIP Merce Cunningham

Merce Cunningham, a towering figure of modern dance, passed away on Sunday, July 26, 2009, leaving an incomparable legacy of movement that will continue to challenge dancers and choreographers around the world for as long as the art of dance exists. He was 90 years old.

Along with his partner, the late groundbreaking musician John Cage, Cunningham defied traditional choreography by fundamentally altering its relationship to the musical composition. Instead of the movement serving as a literal narrative of the music, its connection was tenuous, sometimes contradictory, and often offbeat.

Even so, Cunningham's love of bodily grace was evident in every work he created. To wit, this truly lovely excerpt of Septet (1964):

In 1953, after a five year stint as a soloist with the company of Martha Graham, he founded the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Working closely with Cage, the exploration of the possibilities of movement and the opening of thought and theory were paramount at the company as they practiced a type of improvisational creation process. The lessons that dancers and choreographers were taught within conventional training of "natural" progressions of steps and poses were throw out the window and to amazing effect.

While we understandably mourn the loss of such an outstanding and influential artist, we also give the highest praise for all he has given us both in life and in dance.

Read or listen to NPR's remembrance on All Things Considered. You can also access videos of performances there, hosted by the phenomenal avant-garde Internet archive UbuWeb.

RIP Walter Cronkite

Celebrated newsman Walter Cronkite passed away on Friday, July 17, 2009, at the admirable age of 92. Known as "the most trusted man in America" and the personification of calm and steady, Cronkite was on a par with the legendary Edward R. Murrow, maintaining a journalistic integrity seldom achieved or witnessed.

Cronkite cut his journalistic teeth as a newspaper reporter and subsequently moved to television in 1950. Covering the news of the world during some of the most turbulent and significant times of the 20th Century--the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., President John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and the Apollo XI moon landing--Cronkite brought a sense of clarity and reason to a U.S. audience struggling to navigate its way through uncertainty, fear and massive social and political change.

Interestingly enough, one of the most profound and memorable moments of his long career occurred while he was anchor of the CBS Evening News as he broke the sacred rule of journalistic objectivity and called for an end to the Vietnam War in 1968--an action that prompted President Lyndon Johnson to reportedly say, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost America."

As a great lover of classical music, Cronkite served as host of the annual international telecast "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration" from 1985-2008, which aired in the U.S. as a part of the PBS television series Great Performances.

Cronkite was preceded in death by his wife Betsy, but is survived by two daughters and a son, to whom we offer our deepest condolences and sympathies.

For the rest of us, the life and death of such an accomplished, intelligent, insightful, honorable, and humble human being should give us pause to reflect on his remarkable and enduring place in history... and thankfully we were there.